How Is the Relationship between Benedick and Beatrice Presented in Shakespeare’s Play and One or More Performed Versions?

Much Ado About Nothing presents a picturesque love story between two characters that meet us as individuals full of hate, and leave us as an inseparable pair. These two characters are Benedick and Beatrice and act to us as sweethearts who have fallen deeply and passionately IN love in a way that we would all fantasize over- slowly, and then all at once. Their relationship in Shakespeare’s play has been presented through their matching characteristics, the way they speak and the way the language has been written to show their affection, the events that occur to push them together, other people influencing a bond, the connections between how Shakespeare has presented love in his other plays and finally the different versions of this portrayal through movies and theatre productions. Much Ado About Nothing shows us the difference between Perfect love and perfect love and also depicts the social hierarchy of around the time of the play through characters doing things out of honour and reputation, and not because it is the right thing to do. The title of the play plays a huge role in depicting the ideas of Shakespeare, as nothing is similar to the word ‘noting’ -slang for gossip and therefore it is ideal as the play is entirely ‘A whole lot of fuss about gossip’. This is because the characters are under false knowledge and create aggravation over fabricated rumours.

We can tell from the start of the play that Beatrice and Benedick are perfect for each other, simply by their matching characteristics and a similar level of intellect, which is a perfect basis for marriage. They are both shrewd evident through their skill of twisting other people’s words, loyal shown through Benedick not killing Claudio and Beatrice never doubting Hero,...

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...g every time Don John entered creating a powerful, dramatic ambiance. On the contrary, I prefer reading the play as Shakespeare has written a play that is known for it’s language and it is preferable to read and understand the language in a way where one can stage it themselves instead of watching an unoriginal version. Therefore, the different methods of staging the play are all vital to the representation of love as they create a different surrounding and one seeing the characters live and there interaction verses reading and using our imagination take on a whole new experience of feeling the love.

To conclude, character traits, language, occurrences, Claudio and Hero, the comparison against other Shakespearean plays and the unique variations of the performance are all vital aspects to the representation of Beatrice and Benedick’s love in Much Ado About Nothing.