At the party Don Pedro is on way to court Hero by proxy at the wedding. Don John plays says to Claudio that Don Pedro wants Hero for himself. Claudio being the gullible person he actually believes him! He then starts sulking, he says, “Beauty is a witch!” (Act 2, scene 1, line 135) I think he says this because he thinks that Hero is too good to be true, she is too pretty and nice to be owned. After he hears these lies off Don John, he starts to speak in babyish sentences, shorter ones in other hand such as, “I prey you leave me.” And, “If it will not be, I’ll leave you!” He is so upset that he starts to cry this shows his immaturity and selfishness and his lack of trust. Any normal man would not cry at a stage like this but he did. This is because he loved her that much. Don John doesn’t like his brother Don Pedro so he does this trick on Don Pedro’s best friend to make Don Pedro feel bad. It is just the way Don John is because he is selfish of Don Pedro and nearly everything he owns. The fact that Claudio believes everything he hears makes him very stupid and gullible, he totally gets the wrong end of the stick in this part.
Claudio speaks mainly in blank verse. Blank verse was the language of the court and of lovers. It was a kind of non-rhyming poetry, it usually has ten syllables in a line. This symbolizes a wealthy, romantic and also an aristocratic person.
I think Hero is very quiet in this story, she only speaks one line or so in the first half, “I will do any modest office, my lord, this means I will do my best to be a good wife to help my dear cousin Claudio to be a good husband.” Hero didn’t really have a say in getting married. She had to do what she was told by her father. Her father had told her to say yes when Claudio asked her to marry him. She just does as she is told. I think that Hero should stand up for herself more. At the wedding when she is being accused of having an affair she should stand up for herself and say something back. She must know herself that she is innocent because she knows herself she didn’t have an affair. All she can do is cry, Hero would make a much more better wife if she did what she wanted to do and stuck up for herself.
When Claudio is speaking to Benedick he says, “Can the world buy such a jewel?” This is he thinking of Hero as an object that he can own. (Act 1, scene 1, line 134)
Benedick doesn’t think of women as objects, he really likes Beatrice a lot. But when he sees her, all that ends up is him arguing with Beatrice. There is only one obvious reason why Benedick does this is because he hides the fact the fact that he admires her. In the play he says something that tells you that he loves no one. For example, “I am loved of all ladies, only you excepted.” (Act 1, scene 1, line 93) This tells us that all ladies like him, except from Beatrice, so he really doesn’t take it to heart that Beatrice doesn’t care for him. In Act 1, scene 1, line 94 he says, “Truly I love none!” This sentence means he loves no lady, but he does love Beatrice, the reason he doesn’t tell her is because that he is scared Beatrice doesn’t feel the same way.
Benedick normally speak in prose, this is equivalent to everyday speech. He is very down to earth and an ordinary kind of guy. He is no good at playing the lover when he tries to speak in poetry or to write it, he messes it up. When Beatrice and Benedick tell each other that they love each other Beatrice asks Benedick to have a duel with Claudio for accusing Hero of having an affair. A duel was a type of fight with swords, the weapons were fencing weapons, mainly thin swords that you stab each other with. He called her a whore and a stale (prostitute.) Benedick agrees to duel with Claudio, this means he is willing to lose his best friend by him killing him, or he could even lose his life just for his and Beatrice’s relationship.
Benedick seems a nice guy if he would do all this just for a woman. Beatrice on the other hand is a bright spark. Everything she says either outsmarting someone or either outsmarts herself! She is very quick to answer and when she answers it is always something very smart. Beatrice when speaking to Benedick somehow ends up in a merry war.
Beatrice’s first line in the play asks about Benedick, it is not a good question, but this is to disguise the fact that she still likes him, she wants to know how he is. Leonato mentions in the play that Beatrice is too ‘shrewish’ to get a husband.
Beatrice says to Benedick in one of their arguments, “I would rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swears he loves me.” (Act 1, scene 1, line 97) Beatrice also somehow convinces Benedick to challenge Claudio. She does by saying to Benedick, “If I were a man…” and starts explaining to Benedick what she would do. When she speaks quite a few of the sentences fools nobody but herself, but I think that she is a nice woman and should act like she does just to keep some sort of power.
We learn from this story that women can either be of two kinds…one of them is the Beatrice type. She stands up for herself and answers always with smart remarks. There also can be the woman that never talks, just does what their parents tell them to do, but as we have learn it is always the father and men who take the lead and tell the women what to do. This type of women does not have a say in what happens, they are kind of controlled by men. Once a woman is married, their husband owns them, like an object you could say.