BEATRICE,
from MUCH ADO ABOUT
NOTHING
WHY HER?
My first impression of Much Ado About Nothing
is that it would be a love story. Although it is categorised as a
Shakespearean comedy, I found the many "funny" parts of the play were
foggy
It’s very interesting the way in which
Shakespeare deals with love and relationships. I’ve read and seen on films many
of his works and I think he realy understands human mind when talking about
woman and men relationships; it seems like if his plays always had a similar
pattern, LOVE – CATASTROPHE – LOVE, the firsts parts is the meeting between the
two lovers, what we have next is a controversial situation were, somehow and in
some way he separates the lovers in someway. The last part, in comedies, is when
the love this two partners share is so true, that they manage to be together,
and everything ends fine. We are watching and reading comedies, so I chose Much
Ado About Nothing, a very funny play were you are entertained by the relations
between characters, and with it’s witty dialogs. The normal would have been to
choose a character from one of your favourite plays, but I did it the other way
round, I chose this play because I love one of the characters, BEATRICE, when I
read the play, I fell in love with her, not Benedick; It’s continually a BATTLE
OF SEXES.
BEATRICE IN THE
PLAY
All of the characters in Much Ado About Nothing
seemed to develop a personality of their own from the very first scene. It
also helped that I saw the movie version of Much Ado About Nothing before we
read the play so I could almost get a picture in my head as to what each
character looked like. As the character's had their own personality, so
did the two love relationships in the play. Benedick and Beatrice seemed
to hate each other so much from the very start of the play that as the play
carried on it almost seemed like the two went full circle in their
relationship. But their relationship might not have changed for the better
without help from Claudio, Don Pedro, Leonato, Ursula or
Hero.
Beatrice is the witty, strong-willed niece of
Leonato (a wealthy governor of
Although Beatrice appears sharpened, she is
very vulnerable. Once she overhears Hero describing that Benedick is in love
with her (Beatrice), she opens herself to the sensitivities and weaknesses of
love, although she is one of the most strongest female characters from
Shakespeare.
She refuses to marry because she has not
discovered the perfect, equal partner, and doesn’t want to summit to a
husband.
In her frustration and rage when Claudio
betrays her cousin Hero, Beatrice rebels against the unequal status of women in
Renaissance society. “O that I were a man for his sake! Or that I had any friend
would be a man for my sake!” she passionately exclaims. “I cannot be a man with
wishing, therefore I will die a woman with grieving”.
Beatrice rebels against the unequal status of
women in Renaissance society. “O that I were a man for his sake! Or that I had
any friend would be a man for my sake!” she passionately exclaims. “I cannot be
a man with wishing, therefore I will die a woman with
grieving”.
Her strength and femininity are
unique and she does not try to force others to practice the same
lifestyle.
BEATRICE VS HERO
This two ladies mean to be the North and the
South, the quite and the sharp. But I don’t think she is so boring. Hero is a
beautiful young woman, who is dark-haired, small, and described as a "jewel" "a
modest young lady" ,"the sweetest lady" by Claudio. She is friendly and
well-behaved, but Hero knows what she wants and does not let herself be
influenced by others. She also knows exactly what she is talking about and is
able to express herself very correctly in a calm way. You can see this as a
weakness or as strength. One thing is for sure, that she is very timid, because
when Hero is accused at the alter of being unfaithful, she is not able to prove
her innocence, turns red in the face and just talks when she is asked. Before
the wedding she is already quite nervous. She never throws a temper and is more
docile, which probably makes it hard for Hero to enforce
obedience.
Hero also proves to be clever and witty, she
has thought out a fabulous plan to trick Beatrice and seems to have talent to
fool people. Also in this act she is very smart in what she says, to make
Beatrice interested and to convince her of Benedick's
love.
In comparison to Beatrice, Hero plays an
unspectacular role. She's the weaker one, the small, pretty, silent girl with
the tragic fate, while Beatrice, probably the favourite of the audience/reader,
fascinates them with her vivacious, humorous, witty charm. Beatrice presents the
self-confident woman who never let's herself be pulled in to pieces and creates
movement in the play with her ironical dialogs (with Benedick and all other
characters). Mostly when Hero is speaking the play seems to be more tragic and
when Beatrice talks the action turns into a amusing comedy. Beatrice has a
character which isn't quit as normal for a woman in this time and maybe that
makes her more interesting. Although these two women are so different, they get
along very well. They, help each other, trust each other and stand by each
other, in all situations.
BEATRICE AND
BENEDICK
Technically, the
Beatrice and Benedick storyline is
a sub-plot in Much Ado About
Nothing, but they steal the show.
The extraordinary success of this play in
Shakespeare's own time, and long afterward, is, however, to be ascribed more
particularly to the parts of Benedick and Beatrice, two fun-loving cynics, who
incessantly attack each other with all the resources of raillery. Avowed rebels
to love, they are both entangled in its net by a merry plot of their friends to
make them believe that each is the object of the secret passion of the
other.
Benedick is the willful lord, recently returned
from fighting in the wars, who vows that he will never marry. He engages with
Beatrice in a competition to outwit, outsmart, and out-insult the other, but to
his observant friends, he seems to feel some deeper emotion below the surface.
Upon hearing Claudio and Don
Pedro discussing
Beatrice’s desire for him, Benedick vows to be “horribly in love with her,” in
effect continuing the competition by outdoing her in love and courtship, he is
the entertainer, indulging in witty hyperbole to express his feelings. Benedick
exaggerates how Beatrice has misused him, bidding his friends to send him to the
farthest corners of the earth rather than let him spend one more minute with
her, and the same feels her for him.
It is difficult for us to tell whether he has
been in love with Beatrice all along or falls in love with her suddenly during
the play, but the love he seems to have is so intense that it is very difficult
that he fell in love with her only knowing that she loves him. The most
important thing during the play is that the never loose the humour(except in the
part were Beatrice enrages and asks Benedick to defy
Claudio).
They have trouble showing their
feelings, for fear of being shown up by the other. Benedick is the first to
declare his love and Beatrice soon follows. However, soon after they express
their feelings, their battle of wit returns.
The play concludes as Benedick
welcomes marriage and love. He is happy and fulfilled and advises the prince to
marry also.
QUICK VIEW THROUGH THE OTHER
CHARACTERS
Don Pedro (the
Prince of Arragon):
prince of Arragon who arrives in
Leonato:
Leonato is the governor of
Don John (the
Bastard):
Don John the Bastard is the brother of Don
Pedro and villain of this comedy. He craves mischief and plans to
destroy the lives of the people in
Claudio:
Claudio is a young man
in the prince's command who falls
in love with
Hero. He is very jealous and allows the prince to woo her and get her father's
blessing for him. When he thinks he sees Hero with Borachio, he
erupts and disgraces Hero at their wedding. When he believes Hero is dead, he
mourns her and when he realizes that she was wronged, he places an epitaph on
her grave and promises to marry her cousin. He and Hero marry in the final scene
of the play.
Dogberry:
Dogberry is one of the
prince's officers and the comic relief of this play. He humorously puts his
guards on watch and examines Borachio and Conrade. He tells Leonato of the
crimes of these men and is rewarded generously for his service.
BEATRICE; A WOMAN FROM
NOWADAYS
When I read this play for the first time, I was
astonished by the way in which Shakespeare had worked out a female character
that could be so similar to woman living in our days. How she acts, so
self-confident, so sharp, so direct. Really I find very difficult that a woman
at that time could have the chance to answer how she answers, nearly touching
rudeness, and to behave as she behaves. How can it happen at the same time that,
a woman has to be killed because she wasn’t pure , and Beatrice talks like that
to a honourable man?it’s like if he had taken Hero as a representation of the
time he wrote the play, and a woman from our time, with her own ideas and her
own life, not depending on anyone. A woman that if she falls in love, it is
going to be a true love, that’s why a believe much more Beatrice and Benedick’s
love than Hero an Claudio’s. Beatrice is free to choose, but Hero seems to be in
submission to Claudio, yes, the fall in love in the second scene, but, how can a
man that really loves a woman let her die because she has had sex with another
man(that we always know is not true)?and how can he forget her in two days? What
is he thinking of? On the other hand, Beatrice’s love comes from long ago, they
seem not to get on very well, but they say that couples that argue a lot, mean
that they love each other, and maybe it’s true; for Shakespeare probably it
is.
the relationship between Beatrice
and Benedick is an exchange of insults and wit that represent the modern battle
of the sexes; they repeatedly put one another down because of each other's sex,
and the advantages and disadvantages they each possess because of it. By putting
down the love a woman receives from a man, Beatrice is illustrating how she
believes women to be the better sex. Benedick is grateful
for his mother, but plans to have no other women in his life. Like Beatrice, by
insulting the female gender, he is proclaiming the male gender as
supreme.
It would be anachronistic to
believe that he created rebellious feminists in an age that had never heard the
term. Just as many of the Shakespeare heroines, like Beatrice, reveal strong
personalities in the plays. Rosalin, from “As you like it”, or Lady MacBeth,
from “Macbeth” or Juliet, from “Romeo and Juliet” are some examples of the
importance of woman for Shakespeare’s plays, don’t know if for simple attraction
to woman, or because the plays he represented were for a queen, and not a
king.
CONCLUSION
I knew I was gonna like this
subject, Shakespeare is ono of my favourite play-writer, I always try to watch
his plays at the theatre(when I have money, of course), and I also like to read
them. From the ones I read for this first paper I hadn’t read “Much Ado About
Nothing”, but I had seen the film, which I thought was fantastic, laughs, love
and drama in the same novel, really amazing. What was a bit hard for me was to
understand his English, it was easier when I completed the information by
watching the film in English( thankyou for playing them in class), I understood
much clearer.
To conclude I have to say that,
the thing I liked more was the freshness and vivacity woman characters have, and
how they achieve their porpouse.
INDEX
Why her? ……………………………………... pag.
1
Beatrice in The Play …………………………... pag.
1
Beatrice VS Hero ……………………………… pag.
3
Beatrice and Benedick ………………………… pag.
4
Important Characters ………………………….. pag.
5
Beatrice, a woman from nowadays …………… pag.
6
Conclusion ……………………………………. Pag.
8