How Shakespeare portrays Hero and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing.

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How Shakespeare portrays Hero and Beatrice in

Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing is one of Shakespeare’s famous comedies and so naturally it accords with the romantic comedies structure. The central plot revolves around two pairs of young lovers. Although the necessary outcome of the play is marriage and celebration, there must be a dramatic threat along the way. The main plot focuses on two parts Hero and Claudio on the one hand and Beatrice and Benedick on the other. And it is through the way which Shakespeare portrays the two female characters that we see how society was really like in the Elizabethan period.

The name Hero would be very familiar to the Shakespearian audience, as Hero is synonymous with romantic heroine. And so therefore Shakespeare’s Hero has a very straightforward role and is one the very few characters in the play that does not change at all. Since the name Hero gives the impression of a kind, polite and dutiful daughter, we can immediately tell that she is the kind of woman who represents the model requirements of an unmarried daughter in her society.

Beatrice on the other hand is very different to Hero. Even though she is Hero’s cousin, her character is the completely opposite to Hero’s. Unlike Hero, she is independent and witty. She does not like the idea of a husband or anyone else having full control over her, however as the play progresses we see great changes to her opinions especially towards love and marriage. Shakespeare portrays Beatrice as a strong feminist who can often be quite stubborn in her ways. However, it is vital that Beatrice’s character is so different to Hero’s as it is through Hero’s weak personality that we see how Beatrice overthrows the model expectations of a woman of her status.

In Act IV scene I, and other particular scenes we can see further evidences to the different ways in which Shakespeare portrays the two characters. Shakespeare portrays Hero as a character that is important within her social class yet shows very little depth or self-assertiveness. This is strengthened by the fact that she in given no important lines until Act II, highlighting the image of her as powerless. And since Shakespeare portrays her a dutiful daughter, she therefore has no independence and no autonomy within this society. And so as result of her weakness, she is made vulnerable to the fact that she is easily controlled by another character, in this case Leonato. For example in Act II scene I, Leonato reminds Hero just before the party “Daughter, remember what I told you, if the Prince do solicit you in that kind you know your answer”. This shows that Hero is willing move to the will of her father without bringing her opinions to surface. Hero’s innocence is also highlighted in Act III scene IV, where she is shocked by Margaret’s unearthy attitude towards the realities of marriage. This scene focuses on Hero’s innocence and purity, which dramatically reinforces the enormity of the accusations against her in Act IV scene I. And so it is important for Shakespeare here to portray Hero as a person who represents the type of conventional and mild romantic heroine who does not contribute dramatically an awful lot to the play, in order to bring the moral and social expectations of that time period. Hero’s character of a powerless woman is further reinforced in Act IV scene I, when she is accused of by untruthful by Claudio. As she is unable to defend herself, she faints powerlessly and later on in the same scene when she regains consciousness again she is still unable to make any decisions towards her fate let alone clear her sins, this is partly due to the fact that she can have absolutely no say because she is consider a procession of her fathers rather than a person who can express her feelings freely. Hero is also portrayed as one of the romantic characters in the play, as during the party in Act II scene I she is quickly ‘wooed’ by Don Pedro and seems to immediately fall in love with Claudio, when he proposes. This shows that Hero believes in love and is quite happy to go along with her father’s match make. This contrasts to Beatrice’s character because although she seems to be interested in Benedick, due to the fact that she is the first to mention him at the start of the play, she seems to be held back by the way her character is portrayed.

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Beatrice however is completely the opposite of Hero. She is highly articulate and uses her wit constantly to attack romantic love. Shakespeare portrays Beatrice as a strong and independent feminist. From the very beginning of the play, she starts of by insulting Benedick, which immediately contrasts to Hero’s quiet romantic character. She soon makes it clear in Act II scene I that she doesn’t need a husband, “Just, if he send me no husband for the blessing I am at him upon my knees every morning and evening. I could not endure husband.” However, despite the fact that Beatrice displays ...

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