Before the trick played on her by both Hero and Ursula, Beatrice spoke in prose which was again, quite uncommon for the period, yet once she felt affection for Benedick she instantly began to speak in poetry.
In comparison, Hero doesn’t transform in any way. She keeps her quiet, pure and obliging image throughout and it is these qualities that earnt a heroine admiration from an Elizabethan audience. Generally we learn more about Hero from other characters during the play. Although she is introduced beforehand through others’ discussions, she herself does not speak until act 2 when she tells the Prince, “I will do any modest office, my lord, to help my cousin to get a good husband.” By stating any ‘modest’ office, we can see Hero is only prepared to do what would not be thought of as improper for her – a young female (i.e. one who only does what is expected of her and what she is told).
When Claudio shames Hero at the altar, the idea that she has been wronged is introduced, thus portraying Hero as the victim. The fact she endures the suffering and takes Claudio back later once the wrong has been put right is also typical of the Elizabethan times because marriage was the ideal destination for women. However today, women would believe that taking back one who has purposefully shamed you because you are told to do so is very weak and may therefore prefer Beatrice who is more contemporary and does what she desires, “Nay, if they lead to any ill, I will leave them at the next turning.” (Beatrice, II.1 – line 139) It is for this reason that I personally prefer Beatrice. I feel Hero willingly accepts the position society has
given her as a relatively powerless woman and therefore agrees to any plan, doing what she is instructed to. One example is the friar’s plan; Hero readily agrees to pretend she is dead. Women were expected to be obedient and you can see Hero is a very dutiful daughter.
It is also evident that Hero is treated as a possession. Claudio asks Benedick about her, “Can the world buy such a jewel?” (I.1 – line 169) This signifies he thinks of her as an object that can be bought. In the same way when Claudio wants to shame Hero at the altar he says, “There, Leonato, take her back again,” (IV.1 – line 29). Women were considered possessions during Elizabethan times and you can see Claudio believed that Hero’s infidelity was the ultimate betrayal which is why he wants to ‘give’ her back to Leonato.
During the play the two main plots are centred on the two different heroines, Beatrice and Hero. Both are victims of schemes, yet one scheme is more playful (Don Pedro – the Prince’s one) than the other (Don Jon the bastard’s one). Due to Shakespeare’s use of stagecraft, happiness and romance amongst one couple is juxtaposed against the unhappiness of the other at different times throughout the play. For example, Benedick’s sadness from Beatrice’s teasing at the masquerade ball is juxtaposed against Hero and Claudio’s happiness that their marriage is being arranged; then the joy of Beatrice and Benedick’s surfaced love is later on juxtaposed against the grief of Claudio shaming Hero at the altar. In this way, Shakespeare forces us to compare Hero to Beatrice.
Having done this and comparing Hero, the conventional heroine, to Beatrice, the unconventional one, I can conclude that although Beatrice’s wit and attitude may have been humorous for an Elizabethan audience, Hero’s more conventional personality would probably have been easier to relate to during the 16th and 17th centuries. However, in today’s society, Beatrice’s strong female character is more likely to be admired. Her wit, humour, strength as a woman and loyalty to her cousin are the reasons I personally prefer her and why many others may to.
In contrast to Hero, Beatrice is in fact an orphan and having no parents and therefore a less conventional background may be the reason why the latter is more free and uninhibited. Beatrice does not become lost in the conventions of an ideal woman but instead is critical of the traditional voiceless role of women in marriage. When at last she and Benedick are together, the audience can tell the marriage will be fulfilled with the couple’s continuation of their merry war of words.
