It's probably worth bearing in mind that the whole Hero/Claudio plot thread was meant to aid weight to what Beatrice and Benedict were bantering about. Also, the time period - Virgin Queen who ruled England for a very long time. A lot of Shakespeare's plays can be read as sharp political commentaries on Elizabeth's rule and the prevailing sentiment that she should have gotten married and let a guy run things. Taming of the Shrew definitely can be read that way, as can Twelth Night. Much Ado is bit less blatant than Taming, but not as deft as Twelth Night.
I can see why Whedon and others have done it in modern times - it's a nice critique of Romantic or "physical" love. But if you don't look at the political undertones...you miss half the story, and the critique comes across as bit more chauvinistic and sexist than it should.
Much like Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, a lot of the meaning of the story is lost when you pull it too far out of context - because all three writers were to an extent commenting on social politics and political structure of their time. To some degree that is timeless, but not entirely. A portion, perhaps the most interesting portion, gets lost in the translation.
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I can see why Whedon and others have done it in modern times - it's a nice critique of Romantic or "physical" love. But if you don't look at the political undertones...you miss half the story, and the
critique comes across as bit more chauvinistic and sexist than it should.
Much like Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, a lot of the meaning of the story is lost when you pull it too far out of context - because all three writers were to an extent commenting on social politics and political structure of their time. To some degree that is timeless, but not entirely. A portion, perhaps the most interesting portion, gets lost in the translation.