How does Shakespeare present the developing relationships of the lovers in the play?
Shakespeare wrote in a time of theatrical excellence, his love of language and sense of theatre aided him in the production of countless plays and poems. Much Ado About Nothing is a play of love and war, with a twist of comedy to lighten the tension ensuring the audience does not become overwhelmed with the emotions of the characters. According to the Elizabethans, a woman’s aim was to be a good wife, as their ultimate goal was marriage and their status was to be ‘seen and not heard’. Shakespeare’s intention was to show two contrasting women, Beatrice and Hero, and to demonstrate how they deal with the pressure of a male dominated world. Because of her wit and determined outlook on life, Beatrice is accepted in the male community but is thought to be obdurate by most men. Whereas Hero, has a submissive attitude to life and this is exposed early on; Act 1 Scene 1 she does not speak throughout the entire scene until she is spoken to. Hero portrays the accepted standard of a woman of her time, which she is expected to do, as she is the daughter of the governor of Messina. During the play the men’s dominating power draws to a climax, and the men unite and condemn Hero and despite her independent outlook, Beatrice cannot express her deepest feelings. Even Hero’s father briefly rejects her because of another man’s word.
Beatrice and Benedick promulgate a hazy past between each other, consequently all they manage to do now is hurt one another. For example in Act 2 Scene 1 (line 103) Beatrice spitefully remarks:
“ …The prince’s jester, a very dull fool”
The reason for her boldness and shrewd tongue is her desire to hurt Benedick as he hurt her in the past; she wants to damage him despite her feelings for him now. We can tell from Benedick’s reaction at the ball, how deeply wounded he is by Beatrice’s words; her bitter manner leaves him intensely wounded. The reason for the masked ball is to bring lovers together but in this case all is misinterpreted and it serves only in pushing the pair further apart. The masked ball also has an element of disguise, which creates confusion.
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Peer Reviews
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Quality of writing
The Quality of Written Communication is very high. There is a well-developed use of grammar to vary sentence syntax and convey the intended meaning correctly (this is very important, as ambiguity can lead to an examiner not fully comprehending the answer as intended) and there are no spelling errors either. There is a very good use of a range of complex punctuation points including colon and semi-colons (all used accurately) which show a candidate who's knowledge of the English language is thorough and profound.
Level of analysis
The Level of Analysis shown here is very good. Though it is not just what the candidate says that gains them marks, but also how they acutely structure their essay in chronological order, with the two lovers' relationships as separate; one after the other, rather than simply commenting on any development of love as they play goes on. This structure shows someone who has planned their answer and has taken care to ensure clarity in the response, and this is a sign of a candidate who shows great enthusiasm for the play and their answer. I also enjoy the depth of analysis given, with an adept comprehension of how the relationships do not simply develop as an ongoing learning curve, but that there are dips and these are recognised, particularly between the highly conventional Hero and the patriarchal Claudio. There is also a thorough and consistent contextual analysis which shows that independent external research has been conducted and this fortifies the answer as it show an incentive to produce an interesting and individual response.
Response to question
This is a response to a question asking candidates to consider how Shakespeare presents the relationships between Benedick & Beatrice and Claudio & Hero. In the answer, there is a religiously unbroken focus on the question, and where the candidate does diverge from the beaten track in their analysis is only to incorporate highly valuable context marks or brief personal consideration of Shakespeare's presentation of developing love. It is very encouraging to see such a wide variety of addressed scenes and lines that have been drawn from the play to emphasis and evidence points made by the candidate to create a fully-fledged answer that directly answers the question.
