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Analysis Of The Book ' Much Ado About Nothing '

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In the book Much Ado About Nothing, the author Shakespear, introduces to the audience a woman named Beatrice who is not afraid to speak her mind. Through her lengthy lines and her witty tongue, the audience can see that, Beatrice is nothing like any other female characters. Beatrice is extremely free-spoken and is not afraid to use her sharp tongue. It is evident that, Beatrice is holding back her feelings from Benedick to protect her heart; her verbal abuse is a humor mask that hides how she longs to be loved, cherished and ultimately married. This paper is limited to discussing how Beatrice uses her wits as a defense and a humor mask as a shield to protect her heart from being hurt again.
In act 1 Scene 1, the audience is introduced to Beatrice. It is apparent that, she is not one of those individuals who would bite her tongue. Also, her witty comments illustrate her great sense of humor. From an insider’s point of view, it appears that, Beatrice has had a prior attachment to Benedick. Beatrice’s first line in this play projects an insult to Benedick. This scene begins with a messenger arriving to inform Beatrice and her family that, the prince of Aragon is on his way to Messina and that he is being accompanied by a few men. Beatrice responds to the Messenger by asking, “I pray you, is Signior Mountanto returned from the war or no?”(Shakespear 27)
Beatrice refers to Benedick as “Signior Mountanto” (I.i.28)-literally, “Lord Upward Thrust”-also implies, through a

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