Stereotypes.

Well, this is another topic that I might have fun with. I guess might is the key word though, I bet this will turn out pretty boring. Anyway, those of you who know probably know that well, I think stereotypes are very accurate. And they are. They had to come from somewhere and be based on some truths and nowadays, most subjects seem to a do a fairly good job of supporting their stereotypes. No further comment.

Annnnyway, back to business. Shakespeare does seem to work quite a few stereotypes into his literature, mostly centered on class differences. Obviously, Shakespeare himself belonged to the middle or upper class for at least the latter part of his life and this most likely gave him strong opinions, valid or not, on the lower classes. In Much Ado about nothing he portrays the lower class as something to be made fun of, to mocked, and possibly to be ignored. The prime example of this is the character Dogberry. He is, well, an ass. From the first moment we hear him we can tell that he is not quite as mentally adept as all of the other characters based on a couple of things. First of all, he continually repeats himself (and others), whether it is necessary or not. This makes him seem like he is trying to get attention or just trying to sound informed. In addition, his dialogue make very little sense. For instance, when he is trying to tell Leonato about Borachio and Margaret, he uses the word tedious as if it is a good thing, a godly thing. It, of course, isn't and Leonato knows this. But he doesn't say anything. This brings up another point, showing how the upper class in the novel looks down upon the lower. He just kind of blows off Dogberry, assuming he could have nothing important to say, and tries to escape as soon as possible.
But there also seems to be a slight stereotype on the upper class. All of them are portrayed as decent, educated people that always have their wits about them. But Shakespeare contrasts this by making all of these characters engage in relatively pointless pursuits of love and similar. This suggests that the life of the aristocracy was like a rococo painting, playful, happy, and utterly useless.
And, quickly, one more thing seems to stick out to me. There is a lack of stereotypes towards women. This was written in a time where women were just thought to be child factories and sex objects but the women in this (Beatrice at the very least) are portrayed as smart and independent. This is quite opposite to the belief of the time and suggests that maybe Shakespeare was 200 years ahead of the game.