Do you think that Benedick and Beatrice are well matched?

Nicola Barratt 27th October, 2005.

GCSE ENGLISH

Item 2: Shakespeare

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (1598)

Do you think that Benedick and Beatrice are well matched?

‘Thou and I are too wise to woo peaceably’

Benedick, Act V Scene 2

Although at first there seems to be an undercurrent of antagonism in their relationship, I truly believe that Benedick and Beatrice belong together. Throughout the play, they dance around each other whilst following identical career paths and indulging in badinage. They echo each other’s development, even down to their speech styles. They have found in each other a worthy opponent for ‘a skirmish of wit’.

We witness an example of this alleged antagonism in Act I Scene 1, when Beatrice states that she would ‘rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.’ Benedick retaliates by saying that he hopes that Beatrice will remain ‘still in that mind’ so that any future ‘suitors’ of hers will escape a ‘scratched face’. Beatrice then demonstrates her quick wittedness when she replies ‘Scratching could not make it worse, an ‘twere such a face as yours were.’

This exchange is a prime example of the active hostility between the two; however, if one were to witness this skirmish, the tone of antagonism would perhaps include accents of a humorous nature, as well as tetchiness.

We know that Benedick and Beatrice have met before; there is a ‘kind of merry war’ between them, which means that they already have a relationship of sorts. When the ‘skirmish of wit’ does take place between the two, there are usually sexual innuendos in the speech. One such example is when Beatrice calls Benedick ‘Signor Mountanto’; a ‘mountanto’ is not only an up-thrust in fencing! A purpose of the dialogue between Benedick and Beatrice, as well as that between Benedick, Claudio and Don Pedro, is to explore the complex relationships between men and women. Both Benedick and Beatrice claim to scorn love. As Benedick says to Beatrice:

‘It is certain I am loved of all ladies, only you excepted. And

I would I could find it in my heart that I had not a hard heart,

for truly I love none’

Benedick thus sets himself up as an unattainable object of desire. With her mocking reply that ‘I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me,’ Beatrice similarly puts herself out of reach. Both at this point appear certain that they will never fall in love nor marry. They are showing an imbalance of the soul and ...

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‘It is certain I am loved of all ladies, only you excepted. And

I would I could find it in my heart that I had not a hard heart,

for truly I love none’

Benedick thus sets himself up as an unattainable object of desire. With her mocking reply that ‘I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me,’ Beatrice similarly puts herself out of reach. Both at this point appear certain that they will never fall in love nor marry. They are showing an imbalance of the soul and are teased because they want to deviate from the norm, when love is a natural thing.

Benedick’s disdain for matrimony arises again when he realizes that Claudio is seriously contemplating asking Hero for her hand in marriage. Until this point, all the soldiers have exhibited a kind of macho pride in being bachelors, but Claudio now seems happy to find himself falling in love; furthermore, Don Pedro rejoices in his young friend’s decision. Benedick alone swears, ‘I will live a bachelor’. Don Pedro’s teasing rejoinder, ‘I shall see thee ere I die look pale with love. . . . ‘In time the savage bull doth bear the yoke’ suggests his conviction that love does eventually conquer all, even those as stubborn as Benedick.

Both Benedick and Beatrice are playing a role in their ‘war’: whereas Benedick is the part of the misogynist and Beatrice is that of the misandrist. Each makes a series of statements in this role, which demonstrate their public beliefs. Benedick makes three misogynistic comments. In the first, he states that he ‘truly loves none’; in the second, he is a ‘professed tyrant’ to the fairer sex and in the third he announces that he ‘will live a bachelor’. Benedick is called a ‘contemptible spirit’ in that he does not respect women’s feelings towards him. Meanwhile, Beatrice is enjoying her role by demonstrating an antipathy towards men. Firstly, she says that she would ’rather hear a dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me’; secondly, she says that she ‘can see a church by daylight’: in other words, she will not be tricked into marriage. Thirdly, she calls a man ‘a clod of wayward marl’, which is a misandristic metonym. In return, she is called ‘Lady Disdain’ and ‘Lady Tongue’ because of her cold and scornful manner towards men. Yet we notice that, when each of them hears that the other loves them, they are all too willing to assume new roles as ’Benedick the married man’ and Beatrice the prospective bride.

Beatrice and Benedick are perhaps Shakespeare’s most famously witty characters; neither ever lets the other say anything without countering it with a pun or a criticism. One notable characteristic of their attacks upon each other is their ability to extend a metaphor throughout lines of dialogue. When Benedick calls Beatrice a ‘rare parrot-teacher,’ Beatrice responds, ‘A bird of my tongue is better than a beast of yours’. Benedick continues the reference to animals in his response, saying, ‘I would my horse had the speed of your tongue’. It is as if each anticipates the other’s response. They are equally quick witted and a perfect match in terms of verbal wit. Though their insults are biting, their ability to maintain such clever repartee seems to illustrate the existence of a strong bond between them; they complement each other.

Benedick and Beatrice’s compatibility is illustrated in their identical endeavours, their quests for a balanced soul. Their career-paths are identical. Each begins with a lack of self-knowledge for which they are ridiculed (‘thou wast ever an obstinate heretic in the despite of beauty’/‘I think you are in love’); as a result, both undergo an education. Both Benedick and Beatrice are condemned for pride, yet they ‘hear their detractions’ and resolve to ‘put them to mending’ (‘happy are those that hear their detractions and can put them to mending’). Both are subjected to almost identical gulling scenes in which each is convinced that the other loves them. At the end of these scenes, each delivers a soliloquy in which they admit to a ‘life of passion’ and gain a balanced soul; they become complete. Beatrice’s soliloquy is the only time in the whole play when she speaks verse-

‘And Benedick, love on; I will requite thee,

Taming thy wild heart to thy loving hand.

If thou dost love, my kindness shall incite thee

To bind our loves up in a holy band’

-which is used to signify the acceptance of her love for Benedick.

Benedick and Beatrice, however, are ‘too wise to woo peaceably’ and after these scenes, we witness both Benedick and Beatrice showing symptoms of lovesickness. Whereas Benedick is suffering from ‘the toothache’, Beatrice has a cold (‘I am stuffed, cousin, I cannot smell’).

In conclusion, Beatrice and Benedick are perfectly suited, even down to the structure of their language. There is a form of stichomythia - rapid, stylized dialogue involving an exact symmetrical correspondence between their responses. Their exchanges contain syntactical parallelism-

BENEDICK: They swore that you were almost sick for me.

BEATRICE: They swore that you were well-nigh dead for me.

-in that the syntax remains the same but their vocabulary changes (almost sick/ well-nigh dead). It is almost as if they are consummating their love rhetorically.

Throughout the play, both Benedick and Beatrice take an identical journey of self-discovery in which they accept their feelings for each other, and balance their souls. They have become complete. In the end, we see that Benedick and Beatrice end up married and that Benedick has found the way to ‘stop the mouth’ of ‘Lady Tongue’: to kiss her.