From the beginning of the play Shakespeare presents us with a woman, Beatrice whom as her character develops we understand to be an independent woman, not needing the heart of a man, ‘I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.’ Beatrice’s strong character and beliefs are shown also in rejecting Don Pedro, the most powerful man in the play, and her presence in such a male dominant society was extremely unusual. Shakespeare cleverly pioneers her to challenge society, maybe suggesting a female feat in a patriarchal society.
But then, on the other hand, our feminist and hero, Beatrice has her independence and beliefs quickly snatched away from her, when falling in love with her object of verbal abuse- Benedick ‘I would not deny you’, this change in hear suggest that even the most independent of women, and her feminist values can be tamed. Shakespeare may be alluring to the idea that women in end always end up as a man’s possession thus ending Beatrice’s wild freedom, making men the winners in the battle of the sexes.
Hero survives a misogynistic plot to defame her, ‘the princes left for dead, let her awhile be secretly kept it.’ When the plot succeeds and Claudio is convinced that Hero is ‘unclean’, due to the chauvinistic society, Leonato is forced to support Claudio in leaving Hero. So Hero has to fake her death, and wait for the truth to come out and then rises into her loving partners arms- Claudio. By creating this scene, I believe Shakespeare was attempting to convey how ill behaved and proud men were and how quick to dismiss they were if the honour was in jeopardy. And in creating Hero’s rising, Shakespeare was attempting to show a women’s faithfulness, trust and perseverance, giving women a win in the battle of the sexes.
Romantic love and the battle of the sexes are intrinsically intertwined in Much Ado About Nothing, In Shakespeare’s world, Benedick must win, tame the headstrong Beatrice, so that he may marry her. The irony is, of course, that without Beatrice’s outspoken nature, she would be meek, mild and of no interest to the alpha male Benedick. The play concludes with Beatrice silent, kissed and quelled. It seems that she has been vanquished; the price of love, marriage and security in this man’s world.