Beatrice And Benedick In Much Ado About Nothing

Benedick’s attitude to love & marriage in ‘‘Much Ado About Nothing’’ In the play ‘‘Much Ado About Nothing’’ by William Shakespeare, the character of Benedick shows mixed emotions towards loves and marriage throughout. In the two extracts we studied, Benedick shows a large contrast of opinions: In Act 1 Scene 1, Benedick portrays strong feelings of contempt towards love and marriage, whereas by Act 2 Scene 3, Benedick has completely changed his views and he is prepared to make the commitment and marry Beatrice, a woman he appeared to dislike in the beginning of the play and who seemed to have mutual feelings towards Benedick. Act 1 Scene 1 portrays that Benedick has a very negative attitude towards love and marriage. When conversing with

In the play of Much Ado About Nothing, the characters of Benedick and Beatrice have a love-hate relationship. On the surface, it appears that their relationship is built on a war of wits and insults. However, in Benedick’s soliloquy, the reader discovers that at the core of their insults actually lie the true feelings of love. It is also apparent that Benedick even sees loving each other as a competition, in that he wants to love her to a point of outdoing her love for him. Not only is Benedick constantly warring with Beatrice, but he is also undergoing an internal struggle, which is made quite apparent in Benedick’s soliloquy in Act 2 Scene 3.

'No; and he were, I would burn my study' she indicates that she has a

The fact that Benedick has feelings for Beatrice becomes clearer as the play progresses, despite his assertions to Claudio that he is 'a professed tyrant to their sex'. Benedick keeps this point of view while speaking to Don Pedro, making quite clear that he will never marry:

I believe that Claudio is most interested in the dowry that he will receive when marrying Hero, although he is also infatuated with her and loves her beauty. This questions whether he is a true romantic. Of course, during the Elizabethan period, marriages were often based on money, and not usually on love. On one hand, Shakespeare could be merely writing about the formalities and realities of Elizabethan marriages, yet on the other, could he be questioning this practice? Does Claudio want to marry for love or money?

In Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, Benedick’s loyal nature causes him to make several decisions throughout the play. In the beginning of the play, the reader was shown that Benedick and Beatrice did not have a great relationship with each other. However, Benedick’s loyalty towards other characters, especially Beatrice, seems to increase excessively throughout the play. Benedick appears as loyal when he supports Hero, confesses his love for Beatrice, and when Beatrice asks him to kill Claudio.

Don Pedro and his men return from the war and visit the house of Leonato and his brother, Antonio. This sudden meeting reunites Beatrice with her archrival, Benedick, and it is here that Claudio and Hero fall in love.

In this Shakespearean comedy ‘Much Ado about Nothing’ two similarly obstinate characters of Beatrice and Benedick are presented between the rather normal relationship of characters Hero and Claudio. Shakespeare presents Beatrice and Benedick’s obstinacy towards the rather obligatory act of marriage and also their particularly similar personalities that cause reason for their familiar act of squabbling; he does this whilst also presenting two characters that are completely interested in marriage and who are hardly intellectually capable of squabbling in a similar manner. As the play unfolds both characters remain combative with one another but as love becomes the better of them, they begin to reveal that somewhat secretive sensitivity

Although Beatrice and Benedick are not yet shown as in love, a Shakespearian audience would not have thought it usual for a woman like Beatrice to be speaking as she was about Benedick. However, today it is perfectly normal for Beatrice to be talking like she is, so at the moment, the two relationships are more satisfying to the different audiences. Beatrice and Benedick's relationship has another problem. They both like to use their wit and intelligence to try and outsmart people, and mainly themselves.

However, upon hearing of Beatrice’s love for him he is suddenly perplexed and it does not take him long to decide that he will give that affection back in return.  How easily persuaded Benedick is.  This may come from the way Claudio, Don Pedro, and Leonato (Benedick’s associates) depict Beatrice as the most wonderful woman in Messina.  They talk of Beatrice as if she were the most magnificent woman so that Benedick will do exactly what he does indeed do.  When Benedick hears of this he must be thinking of what he has said before about his desire for the perfect woman.  In his speech he says that “the lady is fair . . . / . . . And virtuous. . . / . . . And wise[,]” which is exactly what Benedick demands in the woman that he will choose to be his wife.  However, Benedick only believes these things about Beatrice because of what Claudio, Don Pedro, and Leonato have said about her.  They only said them to convince Benedick that Beatrice was deserving of him and that she loved him with all her heart.  They told Benedick just what he wanted to hear.  It is a scheme made of lies, but it works because Benedick is persuaded and begins to agree with what they have said.  By doing this he is already influencing himself to follow the opposite path from the one that he has adhered to for years.  Here he is already starting to fool himself into believing Beatrice is the one for him

Through rich imagery and a comic context Shakespeare uses characters to explore his ideas about love and marriage, using relationships to show the trials of love. In his play Shakespeare makes Beatrice and Benedick the critics of love and through them the modern audience is shown how Elizabethan society maltreats the female role and how the male code of honour and pride can lead to devastation.

Love like Other “When I saw you I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew.” This quote represents Hero’s and Claudio’s love story. Gnash once said, “I hate you I love you,” the love quote which embodies the relation between Beatrice and Benedick. In Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, Beatrice and Benedick have the most realistic love relationship, unlike Claudio and Hero because when people begin to have feelings for someone they're usually uncertain about their feelings; not only do they try to push that person away, but they put on a mask to try and not make it obvious. Benedick and Beatrice are the most realistic couple primary because they are always arguing.

Beatrice and Benedick didn't have the typical fairytale love story and that is what makes them so relatable. The couple built a foundation for a lasting love that was real not perfect. Beatrice and Benedick were truly in love. The dictionary definition of love is “a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person” While this is true it doesn't go into detail on what love truly is. Beatrice and Benedick show the real traits of true love.

    Shakespeare's comedy, `Much Ado About Nothing' is a play revolved around the love and friendships of two young couples, integrated with each other through both friendship and love. Love and marriage are the two most prominent ideas in Shakespeare's comedies. The two couples are Benedick and Beatrice, an unpredicted match as they appear to be quite the opposite and are forever arguing in their poetic banter. The other couple is Claudio and Hero, the two who seem madly in love yet Claudio's untrusting and naive side takes power at one stage, in which the couple's relationship seems destined to be doomed. The two characters of Benedick and Claudio are very

In the Tudor era (when Shakespeare was writing), the upper class married for political agendas, family advancement, and to secure the family status, if it could not be furthered. Most women did not have a choice in the matter of who they married, and by their mid-twenties, they were indeed married off to a suitable husband. Another quotation to show the importance of, and the view of marriage in the sixteenth-century (not long before Shakespeare wrote) comes from Alison Sim in The Tudor Housewife: