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The portrayal of women in 19th century literature
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My opinion of Much Ado About Nothing is that it is a love story even though it is supposedly a comedy. I thought that all the "funny" bits of the play were hidden and hard to understand and the play seems to centralise greatly on relationships. There are two main relationships in the play, that of Benedick and Beatrice and that of Claudio and Hero. Which of these couple’s relationships is more interesting? Throughout the play Beatrice is shown to be unhappy with the way women are treated in this time period. She shows her unhappiness of the treatment of women by rebelling to the normal traits of women, such as: being strong willed and strong minded (which she shows by insulting people or more specifically, men) “I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me,” she says this because a crow symbolises death this means that she would rather that her dog would tempt death than fall in love. Also Beatrice has a very sharp wit unlike other ladies of the time and she doesn’t hesitate to use it on Benedick “Well, you are a rare parrot teacher.” Beatrice, estrange to all the other women of that time, does not like the idea of marriage. Benedick also shows all these traits of being strong minded, strong willed, having a sharp wit “what, my dear Lady Disdain! Are you yet living?” By referring to Beatrice as Lady Disdain, He is saying that she thinks she is above everyone else. Benedick also dislikes the idea of marriage and says that “truly [he] love none” in the play he is saying this to confirm to Beatrice that lots of ladies have loved him but he does not love any of them. Because Benedick and Beatrice both share most of their more weird traits (especially for that time period) it makes their relationship much more interesting than Hero and Claudio’s, which is relatively normal of a couple from that time period. In the play Hero represents the formal courtship traditions from the time. When marriage is talked about in the play she tends to not have an opinion on it even if it is her own marriage. At the start of the play she is apparently in love with Claudio but, Leonato has heard that Don Pedro means to ask Hero’s hand in marriage and tells
...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.
The difference between Beatrice,Benedick,and the other two Claudio and Hero though is that, these two are very headstrong characters with a different outlook on love, but have very much love for one another. Benedick believes in just being a bachelor and spending the rest of his life messing with as many women as he pleases, well as for Beatrice she believes there is no man good enough and willing to show her the love she wants so she much rather be left alone. But the fact that they honestly want to believe what they say is what makes this get way more interesting. What they don’t know is that they are going to soon become curious trying to figure out what they truly feel for one
When you walk down the street you notice millions of different kinds of people. Some with a piercing, some with bunch of friends and some with a book in their hands. What is it that makes people so different from one another? Our personality and our character are not born with us, but they are influenced by our actions and the people around us. When we are young we are around our family and they teach us their tradition, which becomes the building blocks for our personality. However, where do traditions come from and what happens when someone fails to follow the traditions? Questions like these have no definite answers but different point of views. Shakespeare for example shares his point of view about traditions in his two famous plays “Romeo and Juliet” and “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.
` 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.
The main plot of Much Ado About Nothing is that of the relationship between Claudio and Hero. Their story is a melodramatic saga concerning the realities of relationships based on love at first sight. Claudio has no sooner seen the pure face of Hero than he professes his undying love and seeks her hand. This gesture could be regarded as the quintessence of romantic love. However, Claudio's admiration for Hero comes across as a school-boyish crush, rather than deep felt love and respect. He seeks the opinion of his friends to reinforce his judgment on Hero, thereby showing that he is not convinced of his own feelings. Claudio sees Hero as a flawless angel, a naive, boyish assumption.
Much Ado About Nothing is a William Shakespeare play that was performed in 1612. It is a play about love and complications. The important love in this play includes Beatrice and Benedick, and Hero and Claudio. Hero and Claudio played the part of new puppy love and Beatrice and Benedick being the old dog love. This is about the two women of the love’s, Beatrice and Hero. Their acceptance of marriage. What made them so different and how would a modern feminist view their acceptances; which would be that a modern feminist would disagree with their ways of life interpreting love.
Whedon's production of Much Ado About Nothing is a modern, black and white retelling of the famous Shakespeare play of the same name which tells the story of love and deceit between two couples: Hero and Claudio, and Beatrice and Benedick. While Hero and Claudio court and prepare to marry each other, Beatrice and Benedick steal the show away with their wit, humor, and constant bickering. Though they both insist that they hate each other, the flashback presented at the start of the film suggests that there is far more to the story than meets the eye. While the style of the film certainly enhances the story being told, making it a timeless classic entangled with modern society, it is the ensemble cast that work both individually and as a unit which make the film a true masterpiece, as well as the genius idea of a change in scenery that propels a sense of realism not often found in your average Shakespeare adaptation.
Beatrice is a woman who is very witty and does not believe that a husband is the right life path for her. She and Benedick argue with each other about marriage. To validate her point Beatrice says, “I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me” (I.i.129). This shows that Beatrice is outspoken because she is saying that she would rather hear a dog bark over and over again and be annoyed at a crow than hear “a man swear he loves” her. Beatrice is not fitting the standards because she is very independent and does not feel like she needs a mad to be happy. As the story progresses, Beatrice disobeys traditional society by saying she doesn’t need a man and that she would publicly attack someone like a man. As Claudio publicly humiliates Hero, Beatrice is furious and says, "O, that I were a man! What, bear her in hand until they come to take hands, and then, with public accusations, undercover slander, unmitigated rancor- O god, that I were a man! I would eat his heart in the marketplace” (IV.i.317). Beatrice is saying that if she were a man, she would fight. She would kill him with “slander” and “rancor” if she were a “man”. Beatrice would violently “eat his heart in the marketplace” Beatrice wants to hurt Claudio and it angers her that as a woman, she can not defend her cousin for what Claudio did. This defies the gender expectation of a Renaissance woman because as
When Benedick hushes her with a kiss, you begin to see that perhaps Beatrice acted the way she did throughout the play because she craved male attention and affection. We understand that her behavior towards the male characters is so that she gains more attention for being independent but can being interpreted that she was just lonely. However, it could also be suggested that Beatrice’s aim of is go subvert from the stereotype to get Benedick’s attention and that she always loved him. When Beatrice says ‘I would not deny you’ we as an audience could interpret that as a way of her saying that she has always wanted husband. We could believe that Beatrice is a mirror image of the character Benedick because they both say that they do not wish to marry but when they express their love for each other, they are very convincing characters.
Beatrice's courtship with Benedick greatly contrasts with the courtship of Hero and Claudio. Hero gladly and willingly submitted to marriage, and she accepted the role of the relatively powerless woman. In contrast Beatrice chose her submission after openly criticizing the institution of marriage.
Shakespeare’s play ‘Much Ado about Nothing’ has two main female characters, Beatrice and Hero, who are cousins. Both appear to be completely different in the beginning of the play but, as things progress and their characters develop, there are also some very obvious similarities between them. Hero and Beatrice have a very close relationship; they are best friends. Leonato is Hero’s father but Beatrice has no parents, which gives her greater freedom. Where Hero is polite, quiet, respectful and gentle, Beatrice is feisty, cynical, witty, and sharp.
From the very start of the play Beatrice shows her independence but openly admitting to everyone that she does not, by any chance, want to be married, especially to Signior Benedick. Whom it was hinted at throughout the play had a past with Beatrice and the “relationship” ended up with her being hurt and him going off to battle. She makes it clear in their battle of wits after he says “….But it is certain I am loved of all ladies, only you excepted; and I would I could find in my heart that I had not a hard heart, for truly I love no one.” (A1; S1; L122-125). After hearing Benedick say that she then replies with “A dear happiness to women. They would else have been troubled with a precious suitor. I thank God and my cold blood I am of your humor for that. I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.” (A1; S1; L126-130). This was basically her way of telling Benedick that she does not want someone to swear the love her when in reality the love is not actually there. She would rather not deal with the nonsense of someone who is not true to their word. Even at another moment in the play, Leonato says to h...
"Much Ado About Nothing" is a play intertwining two love stories. One story follows the romance of a young woman Hero (daughter of Leonato, governor of Messina) and a young officer Claudio. When Claudio returns from war, he realizes he's deeply in love with Hero. With the help of his commander, Don Pedro, Claudio proposes to her. The other is a less likely couple, Beatrice (Hero's cousin) and Bene*censored* (another officer). Both being witty, strong-willed and outspoken, the two seem to bare distaste for each other. However, when their friends arrange for them to overhear conversations revealing how much each is loved by the other, it doesn't take long before they declare their love for one another. Meanwhile, self...
Shakespeare makes sure that Beatrice comes off as a woman who is not afraid to speak her mind to anyone. This is portrayed in the beginning of act one, when the mail messenger comes to announce that the soldiers are on their way to Messina. They start a conversation about Benedick and he tells Beatrice that Benedick is a "lord to a lord, a ...