Beatrice and Benedick in Act 1 of Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
In 'Much Ado About Nothing' we learn about Beatrice and Benedick.
Benedick is a very confident, witty man who appears to have a love
hate relationship with Beatrice. He is very self sure with women and
makes it known to others that he would prefer to remain a bachelor for
the rest of his life rather than marry a woman. Beatrice in a way is
very similar to Benedick, she also is very intelligent and witty but
she seems to have more of a fiery nature which seems to hide most of
her true feelings. She challenges men, which would seem quite
insulting to a Shakespearean audience as it would not be expected of
an Elizabethan woman. Beatrice is a very modern woman and is seen to
be the complete opposite of her cousin Hero.
Beatrice's first words in the play, 'I pray you is Signior Mountanto
returned from the wars or no?' she immediately asks about Benedick but
covers herself by insulting him. Here the audience would be aware that
Benedick and Beatrice are known to each other well. She manipulates
the messenger's words, 'and a good soldier to a lady but what is he to
a Lord?' suggesting that Benedick is a womaniser, which could be
relevant later in the play to the audience when observing Beatrice's
words of 'I know you of old' and the remark about sharing Benedick's
heart, 'a double heart for his single one' suggests that there may
have been a previous relationship between the two.
The audience would learn that Beatrice is very abrupt and shrewd as
Beatrice sees herself as better than Benedick when it comes to their
wit and confidence, 'so that if he have wit e...
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...of background and significance between the two.
Although there seems to be something between Beatrice and Benedick
they seem reluctant to show their feelings. Shakespeare presents their
relationship to the audience as complex and deep and their love for
each other seems to be evident but is deeply hidden under a veil of
wit and a show of hatred. Signs of this suppressed love are the fact
that Benedick and Beatrice are always on each other's minds, shown by
their first words to each other. Another sign of this unspoken
affection could be that Beatrice also has hatred towards love as
Benedick, when she exclaims, 'I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow
than a man swear he loves me'. Shakespeare has presented to the
audience their relationship through the pretence of their hatred and
their reluctance to marry anyone else.
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.
Beatrice and Benedick show their apparent distaste for each other right from the first scene. Beatrice mocks Benedick to the Governor of Messina, claiming that she always beats him in a battle of wits and the last time they crossed paths Benedict’s “five wits went halting off, and now is the whole man governed by one” (1,1,50). Clearly relishing resuming their ‘merry war’, Beatrice cuts Benedick down at the first opportunity, telling him “I wonder that you still will be talking, Signor Benedick, nobody marks you” (1,1,105). Incredulously, Benedick retorts, “what my dear lady distain! Are you yet living?” (1,1,95). So, the dynamic of the two is set and it goes on from there in the same vein. Yet, the reader, even at this early stage may ponder if the lady doth protest too much.
A large portion of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” greatly focuses on the relationship between Benedick and Beatrice: two characters who provide comedic relief and romance. Even from the beginning of the play, their bantering rapport shows a deep connection, a fact known by everyone in the play but them. Their relationship between each other is what strengthens each other’s character, and the more the story progresses, the more we see the changes of each character. Both are very round characters, since they both go through a huge transition. This is most evidently seen in Benedick, who shows a huge change due to his new found romance, because his love for Beatrice not only changes his
put it into.’ We can see from this that Claudio is a romantic. He is
Beatrice and Benedick seem to have had some relationship before the beginning of the book that ended badly. This suggests that the initial situation between Beatrice and Benedick was one of mutual attraction, not of the overt hate they seem to flaunt at the beginning of the play. Scorn of this magnitude is rare among people who dislike each other from the start, and seems very unlikely in a broken up couple. In addition, both Beatrice and Benedick turned out to be very willing to abandon their smear campaigns as soon as they are convinced the other is aching for them. It is ridiculous that one would abandon one's own principals to bail out a hated enemy in trouble. This makes clear that their attitude toward each other is an act. If this is so, what is the purpose of the act...
She seems to be unprovoked, but very rigid in her opinion of him. In Leonato's house, the discussion of Beatrice and marriage leads her uncle to conclude that, "Thou will never get thee a husband if thou be so shrewd of thy tongue.... ... middle of paper ... ...
...e down by weeping. Shakespeare shows us that Beatrice is the only character despite some of these positive attributes of Beatrice’s character, she is very rude about men. She says ‘but manhood is melted into curtsies’ showing Benedick her lack of respect towards men. However it is possibly her refreshing honesty that leads her to be a positive role model.
But at the end of the book, he is rejected by Beatrice when they find out the whole thing was a plan by Hero, Claudio, Ursula, Don Pedro, and Leonato. Here, Benedick truly believes Beatrice loves him, but then is rejected. “A miracle! Here’s our own hands against our hearts. / Come, I will have thee. But by this light, I take thee / for pity.” “I would not deny you. But by this good day, I yield / upon great persuasion.” (Shakespeare 101). One might say “But they most likely started dating at the end of the book, and they kissed!” While yes, they did kiss, but that was when Benedick kissed her, she didn’t go in for the kiss, or go in for anything in that last part of the book. Even though it was revealed by Claudio and Hero that they both wrote love notes to each other, Benedick was still rejected by Beatrice in the end, but only starting actually “liking” him when Benedick kissed her. But why is the story like this? Why does Benedick love Beatrice, instead of the other way around? Well, in the book you can see as the plan unfolds, Benedick is the one to start loving Beatrice, but Beatrice was never really sure that she loved him back. “Stand I condemn’d for pride and scorn so much?” (Shakespeare 45) In this passage, she starts to really consider is she is what she says she is, and how she really feels about Benedick. But in the end
Beatrice and Benedick are equal in wit and intelligence could be another reason why they are an ideal couple, because they are so equal in both wit and intelligence means that they will never have a boring conversation between them. Furthermore, to explain my reasoning is that having a not so boring conversation means that their lives would be a lot less dull and boring. Also them being equal in wit and intelligence means that they will always have something to say about one another’s opinions, thus making it impossible to have a boring conversation. An example of this would be when Beatrice says to Benedick in, “As strange as the thing I know not. It were as possible for me to say I love nothing so well as you, but believe me not, and yet I lie not, I confess nothing, nor I deny nothing. I am sorry for my cousin” (Act 4, scene 1, lines 283-287). In this quote Beatrice is telling Benedick that she can easily say that there is nothing in this world that she loves more than him. She also says that not to believe her even though she is not lying and then she says that she will confess nothing, and deny nothing. Then Benedick replies to her by saying in, “By my sword, Beatrice, thou lovest me”(Act 4, scene 1, line 288). This quote means that Benedick is asking Beatrice if she loves him. And it also means that he is very
profess their love to one another. “I love you with so much of my heart that none is left
...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.
At the beginning, Benedick’s attitude is negative towards women in general. He swears he will never marry, as he is very critical of women and does not trust any of them not to cheat on him. He seems to oppose with Beatrice in a competition to outwit, outsmart, and out-insult each other. Obviously he has been in some sort of past relationship with Beatrice because when he meets her at the masked ball, she describes him as a selfish pig. We can infer that Benedick has some kind of deep feelings for her because after she insults him he is hurt and says, “Will your grace command me any service to the world’s end? I will go on the slightest errand now to the Antipodes that you can devise to send me on. I will fetch you a toothpick from the furthest inch of Asia . . . do you any embassage to the pigmies, rather than hold three words’ conference with this harpy” (II.i.229–235). This blatantly means that he does not wish to talk to her.
Beatrice is by far the best character Shakespeare created; because of how effortlessly she lightens the mood. Beatrice is gifted with wit, humor, and strength uncommon in Shakespeare’s time. One can tell Beatrice’s drollness is at its best when speaking about or to Benedick. When Benedick greets her as “Lady Disdain” (I.i.109), she snaps, “Is it possible disdain should die, while she hath such meet food to feed it as Signior Benedick? Courtesy itself must convert to disdain, if you come in her presence” (I.i.110-113). Instead of taking offense, she welcomes the name and essentially tells Benedick that she acts contemptuous only because she’s talking to him. She adds that she’s agreeable with everyone, with him as an exception. Benedick retorts that she’s lucky that she doesn’t love him like all the other women he knows, because he loves no one especially not her. Beatrice responds, “A dear happiness to women, they would else have been troubled with a pernicious suitor. ...
adds to the comedy of the rest of play. It is obvious to the audience
...he other hand, Beatrice and Benedick are comedy-makers and Beatrice is not ruled by her father as Hero clearly is. It does take Don Pedro’s benevolent plot to bring Benedick and Beatrice together, however. A modern audience would prefer Beatrice to Hero as she is her own self and admirable. The relationships also differ because Benedick and Beatrice’s relationship slowly grew whereas Claudio and Hero’s relationship was love at first sight. Perhaps it was a little hasty as we see in Act 4 how their love turns sour.