Beatrice And Benedick In Much Ado About Nothing

The heart wants what it wants. Before this obvious, but quite metaphorical statement , became a well known saying, it isn’t always true as pride in the way of the authenticity of love. In William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, he shows a clear exposition of this. Love can only grow if an individual is able to set aside their pride and allow themselves to be both vulnerable and receptive to authentic feelings. Benedick depicts that although many people fall in love and enjoy it, he will not be vulnerable to give himself to the world of love.

Shakespeare has a way of making his plays have a whole array of themes and perspectives to see the story from. One can argue that the main theme can usually be something along the lines of Love or Deception or even Honor. In particular, looking at Much Ado About Nothing, you can apply the same. I would argue that shakespeare chose to develop the theme of deception throughout this play. In particular, the way that Beatrice and Benedick end up falling in love is all thanks to deception.

Love in Much Ado about Nothing William Shakespeare presents love very differently in his play, Much Ado about Nothing. There is paternal, philia, innocent and romantic relationships; all that are key in the plot of the story. In 1 Corinthians 13:4-5, love is described to be and not to be many things; however, two descriptions really connected to Much Ado about Nothing. Leonato’s paternal love for Hero proves itself to not be lovable because of the biblical definition of the emotion; in fact, one of the only true loves, in my opinion, that Hero experiences is her philia with her cousin Beatrice.

Cousins Who Are As Different As Day and Night Throughout Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing play we explore the similarities and differences in cousins Beatrice and Hero. Beatrice speaks her mind and makes her own decisions in every aspect of her life. That is what contracts the two, Hero is portrayed as property and her beauty is her asset. Beatrice comes off as very bold, coldhearted and independent. However, both of the characters represent both traditional aspects of feminism in the sixteenth century.

Shakespeare’s play, Much Ado About Nothing, is a play about multiple relationships. Hero and Claudio are the first relationship, and Beatrice and Benedick are the other relationship. The play talks about the ideal traits of a couple in the Shakespearian time period. Times have changed, as couples have evolved and have generally become less “traditional”. Back in the day, the female would submit to the male. It was a set up marriage and she would just try to make the male proud. Relationships, in the modern day, are more egalitarian than they use to be. This allows Benedick and Beatrice to represent more of a modern time ideal couple, than Claudio and Hero.

Character foils can be found all over in Much Ado about Nothing by WIlliam Shakespeare. In “Much Ado about nothing” by William Shakespeare, there is a romance between Beatrice and Benedick, Claudio publically shames Hero, and character foils are the ones who make the play better, and show other characters traits. Beatrice is a foil for Hero because of their different actions, opposing personalities, and their differing thoughts and opinions.

In my second quote Leonato says to Claudio and Prince “O, when she had writ it and was reading it over, she found “Benedick” and “Beatrice” between the sheet? Claudio, Prince and Leonato think the Beatrice wants to have sexual intercourse with Benedick. That is how the three men trick Benedick into thinking Beatrice loves Benedick and wants something else from of too. In Act III, Hero, Margaret, Ursula, are going to trick Beatrice into thinking Benedick loves her.

While they are conversing, Beatrice plainly states that she wants Benedick to “kill Claudio...a villain, that hath slandered, scorned, dishonoured [her] kinswoman (Shakespeare 74-75).” Beatrice makes very bold actions, and she is not afraid of doing so. This shows how Beatrice and Hero are foils of each other because Hero takes actions that are safe and pleasing to others, while Beatrice does what she wants and doesn’t care about what others think of her actions. Another example of this occurs during the Masquerade Ball. Beatrice talks with Don Pedro and is quoted to have said, “My cousin tells him in his ear that he is in her heart (Shakespeare 27).”

Relationships based on love, like Benedick and Beatrice 's, have a strong foundation that will stand the test of time since they are rooted in love. Benedick and Beatrice 's relationship showed that love and friendship being involved in a relationship is both healthy and necessary. True love involves more than just the physical attraction Hero and Claudio experience. Without being able to relate to a person on an intellectual and emotional level, there 's no way the relationship will be able to overcome any problems. Despite Beatrice’s request for Benedick to challenge Claudio and Hero’s shame weighing heavily on them, their relationship still prevailed.

It is truly fascinating to see how two plays that could have been written in the same century (although the chances are low) by different playwrights differ or have similar traits. It is well known that drama has seemed to grow wherever men have gained the piquing interest to know- the facts, the reasons, and the cause. However, as does men change and evolve, so does drama. So what is the next “new” way to capture an audience and express the feelings locked in every writer 's’ heart?

It is an intrinsic battle that takes place over the course of the play, but comes to a head during the concluding moments, in which Claudio is deceived by his apprehensions of marriage into rejecting Hero, showing that perhaps he prides his honor above the love he so freely professes. Hero is placed in the uncomfortable position of being rejected by nearly everybody she cares for, necessitating that she fake her demise and be reborn as a new woman, resurrected from the grave and cleansed of the impurities she was accused of. Benedick and Beatrice have both pledged never to find love, and therefore must remove the guises behind which they labor- for indeed, both characters desire love, but hide their wish for fear of being rejected. In each instance, past beliefs must be discarded in the name of securing future happiness, which causes consternation in each individual. In the case of Benedick, he is forced to challenge his best friend to a duel in order to win the hand of his lover- an appendage of the central conflict, which is the inner battle between love and personal reservations which takes precedence over life and death (at least for the Christ-figure maiden

Hero express that you must manipulate someone's love life no matter the consequences when she explains, “some cupids kill with arrows, some with traps” (3.2.112). You must use trickery, to reveal their true feelings for the other person. In Much Ado About Nothing trickery and deception are central themes in the play. At least, every character in this play have been a victim of trickery or deception. This comes to show that manipulation can reveal the true feelings and thoughts about one another.

In his play Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare indicates that love cannot grow in the presence of pride. The poor Benedick shows this when he refused to fall in love, until he lost his self-centered pride. Beatrice does the same when she says, “Stand I condemned for pride and scorn so much? Contempt farewell, and maiden pride, adieu! No glory lives on behind the back of such” (3.2. 114-116)

In William Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing many characters are compared and contrast as many are paired up. Two characters in particular who could be contrasted and compared are Hero and Beatrice. Hero and Beatrice are cousins and a very different from one another. However, as the play progresses and the characters begin to develop, some similarities between the two begin to show up. Leonato is Hero’s father while Beatrice has no parents. As a result of her not having any parents she has more freedom. Beatrice is best described as cynical and sharp while Hero is very quiet, respectful and gentle. The ways the two react and don’t react to things creates a very huge difference between them and it reveals a lot about who they are. Shakespeare constant use of dramatic irony and contrasting plots show just how easy it is for Hero and Beatrice to be compared on contrasted.

Play Analysis – Essay 1 “Much Ado About Nothing “ Submitted by Noor Ul Ain Shaikh (BSMS 2A) What seems to be a comedy play for an audience who enjoys a theatre with good humor and romance, “Much Ado About Nothing” contains much more than just entertainment. If we dig in deep, William Shakespeare’s play has much more than a tragic story with happy ending; even that is debatable. The theme of this play revolves around deception, plotting against your own, personal gains and rejection.