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Comparing Act 2 Scene 3 and Act 3 Scene 1 of Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare

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Comparing Act 2 Scene 3 and Act 3 Scene 1 of Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare

In Act 2 Scene 3 and Act 3 Scene 1 Beatrice and Benedick are both separately being tricked into falling in love with each other by their friends. To compare the two scenes we must first consider the symmetry between them; the initial thing we notice as an audience is that all of the characters in Act 2 Scene 3 are male, and that all of the characters in Act 3 Scene 1 are female; this gives the effect of the two sexes battling. Both scenes are riddled with deceit and trickery, and the lengths too are also similar. As we know both parties have the same purpose and after reading the play we know that there is a …show more content…

The scenes are both of similar length, and seem almost symmetrical. There are a similar number of characters, and the outcome is the same in each case. Both Benedick and Beatrice launch into monologues giving reason why they both should love the other one. All characters leave the stage in each case before the monologues occur. In Benedick's monologue he begins by saying "this can be no trick" he does not believe that Leonato would lie, as he has such huge respect for him since the war and therefore he is totally open to manipulation when Leonato is present. By the fourth line Benedick has already decided he must requite Beatrice's love and says "I will bear myself proudly". Beatrice's monologue is slightly shorter but has almost exactly the same content, she even says the same words as Benedick does "I will requite thee" the lines are emphatic, which makes the audience understand better what she is trying to say. The two characters change dramatically in personality after these two scenes, Benedick is mocked by Don Pedro and Claudio and Beatrice also by Hero and Ursula for being so quiet.

Both scenes are full of humor and are great to watch in the theatre as Shakespeare wrote them to be acted out. Beatrice and Benedick are the mockers in the play, but the irony is that the mockers and

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