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Beatrice much ado about nothing character analysis
Benedick and beatrice character analysis
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In Act One of ‘The Changeling’, is Beatrice portrayed as an innocent victim or a sexual predator?
Throughout Act 1, the portrayal of Beatrice is one of contradicting extremes, depending of the characters she is interacting with. With Alsemero, she is presented as sweet and romantic, whereas with De Flores, she is presented as petty and vindictive. However, I would argue that she is portrayed as a victim instead of a predator, although to what extent she is innocent is questionable.
Our first impression of Beatrice is shaped by Alsermero’s idea of her. His language is centred on her purity, and the constant reference to religion emphasis this: “The church hath first begun our interview and that’s the place that must join us as one”. The church
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His language is disturbing, and his attitude towards Beatrice may make an audience uncomfortable. One example of this is “I’ll please myself with the sight of her… if but to spite her anger”. De Flores seems to take pleasure in angering Beatrice, and so her outbursts against him become more excusable. This speech is in an aside, and the extra secrecy surrounding his statement adds to the uncomfortable nature of it, as he is keeping his emotions for Beatrice hidden from the rest of the characters, implying that it is possibly sordid. His focus on himself is emphasised through the use of “I’ll”, and the reference to Beatrice’s negative emotions show a lack of regard for her. This hints that his ‘love’ for Beatrice could be harmful to her, leading the audience to see her as a victim. However, Beatrice’s response to De Flores tarnishes the audience’s opinion of her. Her hatred for him seems to overpower her love for Alsemero, and her sudden change in attitude highlights this. Her dramatic statements of hatred “such to mine eyes is that same fellow there, the same that reports speaks of, the basilisk”, seem extra venomous when compared to De Flores’ statement that her reactions are due to her “peevish will” . The reference to the basilisk reminds the audience that De Flores is currently watching this interaction, and this may make Beatrice seem extremely rude (however, this could also
Benedick and Beatrice both benefit from the deceit that they encounter. At first, both are enemies in a battle of insults and wit, until they are each fooled into thinking that the other loves them. When Benedick hears that Beatrice is supposedly attracted to him, he thinks that it is “a gull, but that the white-bearded fellow speaks it: knavery cannot, sure, hide itself in such reverence” (111). Little does he know, Leonato, the "white-bearded fellow," is also in on the joke (111). Benedick starts to admire her when he is aware that Beatrice might actually be attracted to himself, as well. She is also astonished when she first hears that he loves her. However, when Beatrice comes to terms with their affection, she hopes "Benedick [will] love on... And [she] Believe it better than reportingly" (134). In other words, she falls in love with Benedick as soon as she believes that he, too, is fond of her. They each start to fall in love with one another under the pretense that other was hiding their affection from them. Now that they are both in love, they start to open up to each other and prove that the deception they endured was worth it in the end.
...e story unfolds in a very neutral and unbiased manner. We see things happen and get to make our choice as to who is the protagonist and who is the antagonist. I have no doubt in my mind that Lorca very well knew what he wanted the reader to think, but he didn't force anything down our throats. We hate Bernarda for what we saw her do, and how others acted around her. She truly was a woman that throughout the play failed to show one redeaming quality. It can be argued that she did what she did out of love for her family and respect for her husband, but I don;t buy it. She did what she did out of fear. She was afraid of what the public would say. She gave off the aura of a big powerful woman, but in reality she was small and weak. She demanded that her family mourn for eight years not because she felt that was proper or because she couldn't face the world without her husband, but because she felt that it would give her family the best reputation. She did this in spite of all of her children's happiness. Those are the reasons we hated Bernarda, we didn't need to be told, we saw it with our own eyes. That is the sign of a good playwright; the ability to show without telling.
The men are also all sinful for being selfish. This male flaw reflects onto Beatrice and it ultimately causes her death. Beatrice is considered evil in nature, but she is not actually evil herself. She was created to be evil, but is really an innocent, delicate, and naive girl. None of her evilness is her fault but is directly the fault of the male characters.
Catherine of Siena. The Dialogue of the Divine Providence . Trans. Algar Thorold. 1907. 25 Feb. 2004 .
Beatrice is deceived by Hero and the others, but the nature of deception is not on a par with the scheming of Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream or Claudius in Hamlet. The supposedly false premise on which Don Pedro's plot against Beatrice is based -- Benedick's passionate love for...
Beatrice is an extremely crucial character in ‘Much Ado About Nothing’. She is one of the reasons that many plans and schemes fall into place to provide us with the outcome that the play finally reaches. Shakespeare depicts Beatrice as a very strong character who knows what she wants and how she wants to achieve it. Her characteristics of sharp wit and her ability to be acutely opinionated allow her to be a notable contrast from the other women in the play, whether this be in a positive or a negative way.
In order to analyze further what this means, her biography will need to be told. Sister Rosanna grew up in the Church in Turin, an importa...
...o asks Hero about Claudio she responds with: "So you walk softly, and look sweetly, and say nothing, I am yours for the walk, and especially when I walk away." (2.1.81-83). Beatrice is what a woman should be. A more modern view of feminism would have had Beatrice not only make her own decisions but follow through with them on her own. While Much Ado About Nothing seemingly questions the traditional gender roles of men and women in Messina through Beatrice's resistance to them, at the same time, the play decidedly ends Benedick saying, "Peace! I will stop your mouth" (5.4.96), silencing Beatrice with a kiss. Still, it cannot be denied that Beatrice, for a time, equates herself with men and the power they hold. Unfortunately, she gives in to love and in so doing, she relinquishes her independence and self-control in the male-dominated world of Much Ado About Nothing.
The first scene gives good insight to Beatrice’s character. Benedict is telling Beatrice how he will never marry a woman, and he will be a bachelor forever. To this Beatrice responds: “A dear happiness to women. They would else
` Benedick and Beatrice hated each other at first. In the beginning of the play Beatrice makes a statement of “...will happily go to hell with Benedick.” This proves that Beatrice does not like Benedick, more hate. There is clearly tight tension in between them, and some background hatred as well. At the beginning of the play, Benedick and Beatrice had a hateful relationship.
...God's creature, and craves love as its daily food" (Hawthorne 625). If she is evil, it is only because she was made that way. Her heart is pure. So in the end, the beautiful and innocent Beatrice is betrayed by the man she loved, Giovanni. For Giovanni betrays Beatrice because he thought she was evil, and truly Beatrice is the one who demonstrates to have true love. Beatrice proves to be very human, but with a poisonous body and a loving soul.
This love story of Benedick and Beatrice, we are shown a love/hate relationship they have for each other. Beatrice doesn’t hold back as she verbally insults Benedick even prior to his arriving by stating “It is so, indeed: he has no less than a stuffed man: but for the stuff, ---well, we are all mortal”. () I can only laugh as this relationship is so witty, candid and such a play on words that are used as almost like a weapon. One has to question why there is such hatred between Beatrice and Benedick, because we know that he is a war hero and respect as such. I think Shakespeare wanted their bantering back and forth to almost be a flirtatious relationship, but neither wants to admit it how they truly feel. This deflection of real feelings is another example of deception that carries on in this play. Their verbal exchanges are harsh but in reality, the truth of their relationship is being hidden behind these words as though they were wearing masks. There is a strong connection between these two when Beatrice was exchanging words with Don Pedro about Benedict when she said “indeed, my lord, he lent it me awhile; and I gave him use for it, a double heart for his single one: marry, once before he won it of me with false dice, therefore your grace may well say I have lost it”.
adds to the comedy of the rest of play. It is obvious to the audience
This is part of her “merry war” with Benedick. Beatrice appears to loathe Benedick and vice versa; they engage in many “skirmishes of wit.” However, although Beatrice appears hardened and sharp, she is vu...
... heart in the marketplace.” (A4; S1; L 315-321). When Hero was wrongly accused is when Beatrice showed this the most. She believed that because of what he had done, Claudio deserved to be dead. She wanted no bad deed to go unpunished and what she seen fit was for Benedick to challenge Claudio to a dule and she didn’t want Benedick to stop until he was dead.