Much Ado About Beatrice Essay

Submitted By 078910
Words: 626
Pages: 3
Open Document
Much Ado About Beatrice
Known as one of William Shakespeare’s best comedies, Much Ado About Nothing, addresses many themes including love, honor, infidelity, and gender roles. The final conversation between Beatrice and Benedick, during Act 4, Scene 1, highlights many of these themes and provides insight to the strong and convincing character, Beatrice.
First and foremost, this scene is critical because it serves as a turning pointing for the relationship between Beatrice and Benedick, as the couple confesses their feelings to each other. This is their first amicable scene together, as all the pairs’ previous interactions involves the two engaged in a somewhat antagonistic banter of clashing ideals. Their reunion juxtaposes the event right before of which is the dissolution of Claudio and Hero. As his best friend, one would assume Benedick follows Claudio’s departure out of loyalty and support. However, he stays behind to comfort Beatrice. This action demonstrates his shifting alliance to Beatrice out of love and concern. Following their admission,
“Benedick: Come, bid me do anthing for thee. Beatrice: Kill Claudio. Benedick: Ha! Not for the world.” Beatrice: You kill me to deny it. Farewell. “
-(4.1.302-5)
Although Benedick did choose to stay behind for Beatrice, he refuses to her request, and she, feeling dismissed, begins to leave. Their communication shows that the two people, although likely swept up by their newfound love, are still levelheaded and retain their general loyalties to their friends. This is definitely in character with their intelligent and reason-based personalities. In addition, it also draws a contrast to Claudio’s immediate acceptance of Hero’s supposed betrayal, and Hero’s despair of the accusation. However, eventually Benedick yields to Beatrice’s demand. It is important that he questions her at first, but slowly out of love and trust to her, Benedick agrees to defend Hero for Beatrice. This represents a transference of power and influence between the couple. His relent of male dominance brings the couple to a level with more equality, overall showing their compatibility and commitment to each other.
Aside from the meanings of love, this scene also shows the imbalance of power between the opposite sexes. Beatrice cries “O God, that I were a man! I would eat his heart in the marketplace,” (4.1.320-21) after witnessing her cousin, Hero, being slandered and accused of infidelity by Claudio, the Prince and his brother. She is upset, and as a woman, there is nothing she can do to right this wrong, whereas if
Show More

Related Documents: Much Ado About Beatrice Essay

Much Ado About Nothing Beatrice And Benedick Similarities

In the play, “Much Ado About Nothing” by William Shakespeare, a comparison between two characters named Benedick and Beatrice is made. This play shows the similarities and differences between them. The first similarity between them is their sense of humor. They’re all about themselves and they make fun of each other a lot at the beginning of the play. Like the time when they went back and forth insulting each other and making their peers laugh during their first encounter. The second similarity between…

Words 246 - Pages 1

Beatrice And Benedick In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

own pure brain, fashioned to Beatrice. (Shows a paper) [Hero]: And here’s another, writ in my cousin’s hand, stol’n from her pocket, containing her affection unto Benedick. (Shows a paper). ” (Shakespeare 234). The beginning of Much Ado About Nothing, from Beatrice and Benedick’s view, is shown to be indifferent, straightforward, and consistent of fights that leave Beatrice bragging on how she always beats Benedick in everything; a champion. Plus, Beatrice asks about a “Signior” who is later identified…

Words 1146 - Pages 5

Hero Vs. Beatrice In Much Ado About Nothing

differences in characters? “Much Ado About Nothing” by William Shakespeare is a play about soldiers who return to their home in Messina, Italy. Some of the soldiers fall deeply in love with some of the women they see, and others seem to hate each other. All the characters are extremely different from one another, and act in odd ways. The play is full of mischievous and surprising actions that create many problems and a ton of confusion for everybody. In “Much Ado About Nothing” by William Shakespeare…

Words 695 - Pages 3

Much Ado About Nothing: Comparing Beatrice And Hero

To compare or not to compare Beatrice and Hero. In the book Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare Beatrice and Hero are the two leading characters in the book. They both have love interests and their love interests are the same as the girls. In the beginning Beatrice is in refusal that she is in love while Hero is agreeing. Hero is getting slandered and Beatrice marries Benedick, in the end everyone ends up buoyant. In the book Hero serves as a foil to Beatrice by which Beatrice’s audaciousness…

Words 510 - Pages 3

Much Ado About Nothing Beatrice And Benedick Essay

a quote spoken by William Shakespeare. The play “Much Ado About Nothing” written by William Shakespeare is about the citizens of Messina, Italy and everybody's complications. At a dramatised ball, Claudio a well-known soldier is told by Don John the bastard brother of the Prince Don Pedro that the prince is wooing Claudio’s love Hero for himself, but Claudio soon learns that this is not so, and that Hero is his. Further antagonism between Beatrice and Benedick leads The prince and the others to trick…

Words 880 - Pages 4

Benedick And Beatrice In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

Love is one of the most essential elements in Shakespeare’s play Much Ado About Nothing.. Benedick and Beatrice are two main characters in the play, both are very strong opinionated people that clash when it comes to love. Benedick and Beatrice play very strong dogmatic characters who both believe that falling in love will lead to a complete loss of self and possible heartbreak. Due to this, throughout the play their relationship is put on hold, and continuously deny their feelings for each other…

Words 1726 - Pages 7

Beatrice And Benedick In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

‘Thou and I are too wise to woo peaceably’. To what degree is it credible that Beatrice and Benedick should end up marrying at the end of Shakespeare’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’? Brought together by deception and disguise, Beatrice and Benedick are not the conventional archetypal lovers, yet their love story is still one to be noted. Deception plays a key role in bringing them to the point of marriage; as they first try to deceive themselves that they do not like each other, yet later we see them…

Words 1387 - Pages 6

Comparing Benedick And Beatrice In William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

them, but sometimes that love has to be formed from other people. In Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare Both characters Benedick and Beatrice dislike each other and go back in forth telling each other their feelings through quick witted arguments, and don’t want to be married in their lifetime especially to each other. Except what they each don’t know is that there wit pulls them together. Benedick and Beatrice each have their differences including having equal humor in a battle of…

Words 383 - Pages 2

Benedick And Beatrice In William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

B: The scene we will be doing is Benedick and Beatrice flirting, with me playing the part of Beatrice and Andrew playing the part of Benedick. A: Unfamiliar words that will be encountered include: Bid: The action of stating a farewell or greeting. Noisome: A disagreeable, rancid, smell. Subscribe: To align, or associate, someone with an idea. Epithet: A term, or expression. Monument: A building built to commemorate a person or event. Clamor: Excited, confusing, noise with no discernable meaning…

Words 1817 - Pages 8

Shax Paper

Magic Trick: Why Beatrice and Benedick take center stage in Much Ado About Nothing Shakespeare portrays love in a very new way in Much Ado about Nothing. He challenges the ideas of courtly love, which was an unrealistic version of love at the time, by carefully displaying two versions of love: one in Beatrice and Benedick and the other in Claudio and Hero. The especially unique aspect of this play is that while Claudio and Hero are examples of an idealized couple of the time, Beatrice and Benedick…

Words 1602 - Pages 7