Explore Shakespeares presentation of Beatrice and Benedick in the play so far. How do they contribute to the comedy?

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Denisa Miron

Explore Shakespeare’s presentation of Beatrice and Benedick in the play so far. How do they contribute to the comedy?

Much Ado about Nothing is particularly admired for the wit and intelligence of Benedick and Beatrice, the warring couple which are comically tricked into falling love. Benedick is a vain, confident bachelor who holds a very typical view of women: no lady is ever good enough for him and to increase his self-esteem, he never misses an opportunity to mock Beatrice. We can see this from their first conversation which takes place in Act 1. Benedick approaches her by saying “What my dear Lady Disdain! Are you yet living?” Through this, Benedick expresses his sarcasm towards Beatrice and his desire for her not to still be alive, mocking her existence in the conversation. Benedick is a character that represents vanity; he tells Beatrice “but it is certain I am loved of all the ladies”. The use of “certain” emphasises the confidence that he has within his character and creates an air of arrogance, as he obviously seems to believe that he is irresistible and that no lady would refuse his charm. However, he is contradicting himself – he is loved by all the ladies, yet, he claims that he will “live a bachelor” because he finds women as not being trustworthy, as he states “I will do myself the right to trust none”. Therefore, Shakespeare uses Benedick’s vain and witty personality.  

Despite Benedick’s air of a very confident attitude, Benedick reveals a sensitive side to him. In Act 2, at the dance, Beatrice insults him; she pretends she does not know who is behind the mask, but she takes the opportunity to make Benedick feel miserable. When left alone, he says “The prince’s fool! Hah, it may be I go under that title because I am merry” – this highlights that he is affected by what Beatrice has said about him, however, despite de insulting name calling that Beatrice has addressed to him, he finds a way to make himself feel better about the situation by saying that being “merry” is the only reason why he goes under that title. This is ironic of him to say so, because as an audience we are clearly aware that he is hurt by the words she has said and that he is making “something out of nothing” – he is trying to block his emotional side and let the vanity take over, however it’s evident he cannot stand the assumptions Beatrice has made. Through this, Shakespeare creates comedy using Benedick’s contradictions regarding his self-esteem and ego – he won’t let it show that he has been hurt by a lady, even though inside he is hurting. Penny Gay says that “Words are often less important than actions” (The Cambridge Introduction to Shakespeare’s Comedies 2008). This can be applied to Benedick’s situation – he claims that he is not hurt by what he has heard, but the simple act of just talking about it reveals his pain, constructing comedy as he is not matching his words to his actions.

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Benedick’s fixated ambition of always remaining a bachelor slowly dies as he hears the others talk about Beatrice’s love for him, creating comedy as his attitudes contradict. Before Don Pedro, Claudio and Leonato begin to talk about Beatrice, he says “One woman shall not come in my grace…rich shall she be, that’s certain: wise, or I’ll none: virtuous, or I’ll never cheapen her”. This suggests that he is ignorant towards the women and that he is pretentious when it comes to choosing one: unless the perfect woman comes in his way, he will not do himself the wrong to ...

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