Essay: William Shakespeare, who lived during the Elizabethan Renaissance, is often thought of as one of the greatest writers of all time. In the play, Much Ado About Nothing, one of his iconic works written during this time, he uses comparisons and contrasting to give better understanding of the individual characters. One comparison he uses is the difference Between hero and Beatrice. Hero and Beatrice are almost different as night and day. Their one similarity is they both are witty and tease each other in a way. Hero’s bashful wit can be seen in the scene when Beatrice makes a joke about Benedick's fighting skills by referring to him as Signior Mountanto “I pray you, is Signior Mountantanto returned from the wars or not?” (I.I.30). Hero is
The female role during Shakespeare’s era is that of daughter, wife, or mother. There was no greater ambition to which women could aspire, especially for the women of the upper class. The only gain a woman could make was to find a good match for a husband. In Much Ado About Nothing Shakespeare portrays the perceived faults, flaws, and fidelity the women of his time faced through the characters Hero and Beatrice. In Much Ado About Nothing, Hero and Beatrice, while cousins, are opposite sides of the same coin; and are as different as day and night. Hero is the height of respectable femininity as a quiet and dutiful daughter. While Beatrice’s witty, outspoken and opinionated personality is a mark against her beauty. Both of the women represent two very different versions of a female, yet, in the end, both of them are defined by the act of marriage. Stressing that the highest that these women could reach was for a husband.
In Shakespeare’s play, Much Ado About Nothing, written in the early 15th century, the relationships between Benedick and Beatrice and Hero and Claudio are the key to the play and create a lot of tension and comedy. The two relationships are interesting in different ways, and this essay will explore this in terms of the language used, the plot, characterisation and how the two relationships stand thematically.
In Shakespeare’s comedic play “Much Ado about Nothing” there are many unique characters but the character Beatrice sticks out for many reasons. Beatrice is not like the other characters in “Much Ado about Nothing.” She “rebels” against the idea of conformity and humility that was prevalent during that time period for women; therefore, she fit the archetype of
“FRIAR FRANCIS: (to CLAUDIO) You come hither, my lord, to marry this lady?” “Claudio: No“ (Shakespeare 150). At the beginning of Much Ado About Nothing Benedick and Beatrice strongly disliked each other so they would “roast” on each other. Towards the middle of the book they started to not roast on each other so much. But in the end they get married. In the book Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, Beatrice serves as the foil of Benedick, by which Beatrice's pompous and rational qualities highlight the pompous and unreasonable qualities of Benedick; thus, perpetually impacted their conflicted relationship.
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.
Shakespeare indicates how Beatrice questions everything in comparison to Hero who does what she is asked to do without hesitation. Additionally, Hero believes that men should be accepted for their true self while Beatrice believes that a guy should have to fit all of the criteria she looks for in a man. Shakespeare establishes that Beatrice wants to do what is best for herself while Hero wants to do what is best for others. In conclusion, Beatrice and Hero exemplify foils of each other through their constant bashing of personalities, opinions, and actions which, if changed, would have changed their overall personalities that would lead to a duller
In Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing, there are the usual characters that show up in most of Shakespeare’s pieces. For instance the characters Hero and Claudio could easily be compared to Romeo and Juliet. Both Hero and Juliet are innocent, quite, and beautiful young women who fall in love instantly without conversing with the other person. Likewise, Claudio and Romeo decide to marry these women within twenty-four hours. Because of these characters’ lack of unique and interesting qualities, I
Beatrice also contrasts with Hero, her cousin. Hero obeys her father meekly, but Beatrice loudly declares her desire for independence. The fact that these pairs are so unalike helps the reader to better understand and appreciate their natures. 2. SETTING Consider how the play would be different if it were set in modern day times.
Abstract: This paper deals with the character analysis of Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing. The story is set in Messina. This is the story of culmination of a chaste woman, Hero. Though Beatrice is supposed to be a supporting character in the play, she however steals the show. Her intelligence combined with her softness makes her the most awesome character of the play. She sees the inappropriateness of the world and instead of being a silent observer, she chooses to raise her voice against it, which is a sure sign of wisdom.
William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing is set in thirteenth century Italy. The plot of the play can be categorized as comedy or tragicomedy . Villainy and scheming combine with humor and sparkling wordplay in Shakespeare's comedy of manners. Claudio is deceived into believing that Hero, is unfaithful. Meanwhile, Benedick and Beatrice have "a kind of merry war" between them, matching wits in repartee. This paper will attempt to present the fact that Beatrice and Benedick are in love during the entire play despite their witty rivalries. Their friends' schemes lead each to think that the other is in love, which allows the true affection between them which leads to the
In Much Ado About Nothing, William Shakespeare depicts both Benedick and Beatrice as characters with one major flaw: both are full of pride. With the use of the masquerade scene, as well as the orchard scenes, Shakespeare allows the characters to realize their awry characteristic. By realizing their erroneous pride, Benedick and Beatrice are able to correct this and not only become better citizens, but 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
Much Ado About Nothing is one of William Shakespeare’s best comedies and love stories. What is not to like about a play that is hilarious, romantic, and has a happy ending? In this play the foremost and most intriguing character is Benedick, a man who is a devout bachelor and who does not believe he will ever find the perfect woman; --because perfect is exactly what he must have. This may seem to be a harsh and pessimistic outlook on life, but the way Shakespeare brings this character to life portrays Benedick as a funny and caring man who really is not that certain about what he wants for the future. Benedick’s counterpart in the play is Beatrice who is an independent woman
In the play the audience is also told in so many words that there has
One of the most intriguing characters from Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing must be Beatrice. An intelligent, well-spoken (and, perhaps more interesting, outspoken) young woman, she is an almost exact opposite of her cousin, Hero. What makes Beatrice so different than what one expects of a woman during Shakespeare’s time? Why did Shakespeare decide to make her such a strong female character? It begs the question of what women were actually like in the Tudor era, and if she was really so radical a character.