In Much Ado About Nothing Shakespeare presents us with a conventional heroine (Hero) and an unconventional heroine (Beatrice) which is more to your taste and why?
In Much Ado About Nothing Shakespeare presents us with a conventional heroine
(Hero) and an unconventional heroine (Beatrice)
Which is more to your taste and why?
Heroines from Shakespearian times and literature were very different to contemporary heroines. The
differences in characteristics of heroines from these periods are largely illustrated by the two heroines in 'Much
Ado About Nothing,' Beatrice and Hero. Beatrice is more similar to today's heroines with her forthright
manner whilst Hero's gentleness and submissiveness make her typical of the play's period.
Despite a woman, and a reputedly fearsome one with no desire to marry, on the throne at this time
the main characteristics women in society, heroine or not, were expected to display included a gentle and
submissive disposition, purity, modesty, a great respect for men and a desire to marry well, the end to which
all other traits were expected to lead. Claudio, a young man who is in love with Hero, demonstrates a typical
Elizabethan view of women by saying of Hero, 'Can the world buy such a jewel?' (I.i.56) He talks about
Hero as if she is an object as, to many men, women were. Marriage was a business transaction more than a
romantic affair where possession of the bride was transferred from father to husband.
Today characteristics applied to a heroine can be similar or very different. Hero's characteristics
make her a heroine in stories but many of the ones people look for in modern life are portrayed by Beatrice
who, if not a complete opposite to Hero, certainly provides a great contrast which not only adds to the
humour in the play but provides an opportunity to compare attitudes towards women and how the
stereotypical description of a heroine has changed between the reigns of Elizabeth I, a character who makes
Beatrice seem slightly more conventional, and Elizabeth II. This is possible because whilst Hero is a
conventional Elizabethan heroine Beatrice is much closer to a conventional modern day heroine.
Today, instead of being submissive, a heroine would be expected to speak her mind in order to
stand up for what she believes in. This would be true even if it meant suggesting that a woman should be in a
higher position than a man which would have been (with the exception of the Queen) scandalous in the
sixteenth century. Today, sexual purity is a largely irrelevant issue for a heroine but for Hero in Much Ado
About Nothing it is of the greatest importance. A good marriage is no longer every woman's greatest priority
and few think that men should be entitled to any more respect than women. This in no way makes women
such as these less suitable to be considered a heroine in modern thinking.
In the context of a heroine being the main character in a piece of writing Hero would once again have
been the more conventional heroine for the period but Shakespeare created other heroines more similar to
Beatrice who would perhaps be more entertaining to Elizabethan audiences than a classic heroine. An
example is Katherine from Taming of the Shrew.
Throughout the play Hero's character does not change. She accepts everything that befalls her with
barely a word. Her conversations with Margaret and Ursula in Act III scene i are almost the only speeches
she makes throughout the play. In the company of men she hardly speaks even with Claudio who she
eventually marries. This is an example of how submissive she is and how she thinks herself below men.
Hero shows her views on the importance both of marriage and how to behave fittingly when faced
with a request from a man by saying to Don Pedro 'I will do any modest office, my lord, to help my cousin to
a good husband.' (II.i.347) By saying 'any modest office' Hero indicates that she will do anything within the
constraints of what she feels is correct. This must be a modest action ...
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eventually marries. This is an example of how submissive she is and how she thinks herself below men.
Hero shows her views on the importance both of marriage and how to behave fittingly when faced
with a request from a man by saying to Don Pedro 'I will do any modest office, my lord, to help my cousin to
a good husband.' (II.i.347) By saying 'any modest office' Hero indicates that she will do anything within the
constraints of what she feels is correct. This must be a modest action because she feels that this accords with
her view of a woman's status in society. With this response she also indicates her willingness to help her
cousin to a position which she feels is desireable, and shows that although she is a quiet character,she is not
dull. With this response Hero is agreeing willingly to take part in Don Pedro's plan to make Beatrice and
Benedick fall in love. This indicates that Hero has a sense of humour because the plan itself, to make two
people who appear to detest each other fall in love on false pretences, is in itself humorous. Hero is also
clever beneath her quietness as in Act III scene i she succeeds in making Beatrice think that Benedick is in
love with her and she with him. She makes up phrases such as, 'They did entreat me to acquaint her of it, But
I persuaded them, if they loved Benedick, To wish him wrestle with affection, And never let Beatrice know of
it,' (III.i.40-43) with very little prompting. With this speech she manages to convey to Beatrice, who she
knows is listening, that she is not supposed to know about Benedick's love for her whilst giving the notion
credibility and excusing the fact that no-one has told her of this love.
Hero plays the role of the dutiful daughter of a powerful man, causing her father no shame (the only
exception being due to falsities told about her.) Beatrice reinforces this idea by saying of Hero, 'it is my
cousin's duty to make curtsy and say, "Father as it pleases you."'(II.i.46) This illustrates once again that Hero
does what she feels is her 'duty', in this case as a daughter to obey her father because it is the socially
accepted idea that daughters do as they are told, especially when it comes to marriage.
By contrast Beatrice, perhaps because she is an orphan and as a result doesn't have the
responsibility of behaving in a way that will reflect well on a father, does not seem to feel that a woman need
not contradict a man simply due to her status. She continues the previously mentioned speech by saying, "But
yet for all that, cousin, let him be a handsome fellow or else make another curtsy and say "Father as it pleases
me." Whereas Hero would be too submissive to say something like this Beatrice may well have said it given
the right circumstances. She is without doubt a bolder character who uses her wit to make statements that for
an Elizabethan woman may be otherwise out of place but when said in Beatrice's manner are simply amusing.
An example of this is her 'war of words' with Benedick. She uses witty 'put-downs' and insults to annoy
Benedick but also to bring humour to the play.
An example of Beatrice and Benedick's verbal fights from Act 1 scene 1 is as follows.
'Benedick: What, my dear Lady Disdain! Are you yet living?
Beatrice: 's it possible disdain should die whilst she hath such meet food to feed it as Signor Benedick?'
This not only shows Beatrice's verbal skills but also the relationship which Beatrice and Benedick seem to
have. Leonato says of their relationship, 'There is a kind of merry war betwixt Signor Benedick and her; they
never meet but there's a skirmish of wit between them.' (I.i.56-59) Throughout the play this relationship
changes as first the audience learn from Beatrice that she has some sort of romantic history with Benedick
(Act 2 scene 1 line 54)and then the two fall in love as a result of Don Pedro's plot (revealed in Act 2, scene
) and the climax of the play is reached when they engage in matrimony in the final scene of the play.
As the relationship develops so does Beatrice's character. The most noticeable change is in Act 3,
scene 1 when Beatrice changes her speech from prose to poetry. Beatrice indicates that she will change by
saying,
'And Benedick, love on, I will requite thee,
Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand.' (III.i.107-112) This is not only a change in attitude towards
herself and Benedick but also towards marriage and romance for in Act I scene i Beatrice declares, 'I had
rather hear a dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.' and when Leonato says to her that he hopes
she will get married one day Beatrice replies, 'Not till G-d make man of some other metal than earth.' (II.i.52)
Benedick initially has a very similar attitude to marriage and women and yet by the end of the play the two are
married with far fewer problems than the more traditional couple, Hero and Claudio.
Whilst this is a great change in Beatrice she doesn't lose many of the characteristics unusual for an
Elizabethan woman. She still possesses the ability to make fun of Benedick without any hesitation as she
demonstrates in Act V scene iv lines 93-96 by saying to Benedick's proposal of marriage, 'I would not deny
you; but, by this good day, I yield upon great persuasion; and partly to save your life, for I was told you were
in a consumption.'
One of Beatrice's most powerful scenes is Act IV scene i when she learns of Claudio's accusations
against Hero. In this she recognises how limited she is by being a woman but unlike Hero, who accepts what
befalls her as a result of being a woman, refuses to accept defeat. Georg Brandes (1895) said of Beatrice,
'When her poor cousin is falsely accused and cruelly put to shame; ....it is Beatrice alone who,....shows herself
faithful, high-minded, right-thinking, far seeing, superior to them all - a pearl of a woman.'(Casebook series
Shakespeare; Much Ado About Nothing and As You Like It. Edited by John Russel Brown p43) This is
certainly true about Beatrice for her request of Benedick to, 'Kill Claudio.' (IV.i.85) is no small one yet her
loyalty to Hero brings her to ask this of him.
Beatrice's wrath on Hero's part shows her fiery character and illustrates some of the brilliance that
makes her much-loved. Beatrice says in Act IV scene i, 'O that I were a man! What, bear her in hands until
they come to take hands, and then with public accusation, uncovered slander, unmitigated rancour - O G-d
that I were a man! I would eat his heart in the market -place.' For a woman this would be an unusual
outburst but for Beatrice it is in character and perhaps even defines her character as it indicates the spirit inside
her.
Beatrice and Hero are different in many ways and similar in few. The characteristic of an Elizabethan
heroine that they both posses is 'purity' although Hero's comes under scrutiny from the other characters. She
declares, 'One Hero died defiled, but I do live and surely as I live, I am a maid.' (V.iv line 64) Beatrice's
purity is not mentioned in the play but it is reasonable to assume she is pure or it would have been mentioned
and Benedick would probably have been much more reluctant to marry her. According to Benedick's speech
in Act II scene iii Beatrice is also fair and virtuous both qualities which Claudio initially associates with Hero.
He says of her appearance, 'Come thronging soft and delicate desires, All prompting me how fair young Hero
is.' (I.i. line 282)
Both Hero and Beatrice are victims of plots and put up with this but Beatrice will not accept the
results of the plot to ruin Hero and Claudio's marriage. Whilst Hero simply swoons when accused of being
with a man the night before, Beatrice is indignant on Hero's behalf. Hero proclaims her innocence only when
directly asked whilst Beatrice who is not even directly involved says things like, 'Sweet Hero! She is wronged,
she is slandered, she is undone,' without introduction and in her frustration even asks Benedick to kill Claudio.
This is an indication of how Beatrice is much 'louder' than Hero and much more willing to stand up for herself
even in a male dominated society.
The two cousins initially show very different attitudes to marriage with Hero the dutiful daughter
willing to marry anyone her father tells her and keen to encourage Beatrice to marry too. Beatrice on the other
hand says in Act 2 Scene 1 that she will not marry until 'G-d make men of some other metal than earth' (line
52).The conversation between Beatrice and Don Pedro in Act 2 Scene 1 lines 301-311 can also be
interpreted as Beatrice turning down a proposal of marriage. This is something Hero would never do. This
can be inferred by the fact that she marries Claudio despite his actions towards her. Whereas Hero's opinion
of marriage does not change throughout the play, she does marry the man her father approves, Beatrice not
only changes her opinion but marries for herself and no-one else. It would be a great honour to marry Don
Pedro yet Beatrice turned him down and marries Benedick with whom she is in love despite saying that she
would never get married. In many ways this marriage of the two who are 'too wise to woo peaceably' is a far
better one than Hero and Claudio's for the audience know that it must be based on real feelings on the part of
Beatrice or she would not have accepted Benedick's proposal.
The whole of the play is centred around the relationships between Beatrice and Benedick and Hero
and Claudio. This provided much scope for comparing Hero and Beatrice as their attitudes towards and
within their relationships are very different. Beatrice acts as though she expects to be equal whilst Hero is
happy to be a 'belonging' or 'ornament.' The plot that is thought up by Don John and his men also helps
display Hero and Beatrice's characters by showing their acceptance of male-induced suffering. The character
of Benedick is useful because his personality shows Beatrice to be equal to a man and provides opportunity to
see how different Hero is. Beatrice's contributions to her and Benedick' s 'war of words' show that her wit
means she is more than able to prove herself at a man's level. This fiery relationship and witty conversation
makes Hero's silence and submissiveness more noticeable.
A second juxtaposition which helps to display the two characters to the fullest extent is the contrast
between them. The almost opposite personalities help exaggerate each other especially as Beatrice and Hero
are on stage together in many scenes. For example, both are on stage in Act 1 scene 1 where Beatrice is
involved in much of the dialogue making Hero's silence far more noticeable than it would otherwise be.
Similarly Hero's lack of argument in Act 4 scene 1 makes Beatrice's outbursts about the accusations towards
Hero more noticeably dramatic and an exaggeration of her character. The audience are cleverly
informed on Hero's character by statements from other characters. This is very helpful as she talks about
herself very little. An example of another character describing Hero is Claudio saying of Hero, 'Is she not a
modest young lady?' (I.i.155) Through this he indicates that Hero is very reserved and ladylike.
Whilst there is a lot to say for both characters I find Beatrice the more interesting of the two. Hero is
almost a fairy tale character, the wrongdone heroine, which makes her a character who brings out the
audience's sympathy and emotional feelings. Beatrice on the other hand, does not command sympathy but the
audience's support. I prefer her character within the play as it provides far more humour and entertainment.
As a person Beatrice's character is again the more appealing possibly because she personifies so
many accepted characteristics of today's women. Hero's submissiveness may today be seen as weakness
whilst Beatrice's boldness demonstrates a strong character which is today accepted among women. Part of
Beatrice's charm is her reluctance to conform to the expectations of the period. I think this is highly admirable
as, coming from a modern perspective, I can't agree with many of the accepted thoughts about women being
possessions and being expected to submit to living under the control of men. Beatrice's statements such as, 'I
had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.'(I.i.123) are amusing both of their own
accord but also because of the defiance they show in the face of the traditional idea that the primary aim in life
is to ensure a good marriage.
Living in a modern society I am biased towards Beatrice although I agree with Georg Brandes
description of her, and his reasons for calling her 'a pearl of a woman.' I think that the audience the play was
written for would have appreciated Hero far more than I do but would have found her quite a 'normal'
character. Beatrice would have provided an alternative to the accepted norm and would be found perhaps
more entertaining and possibly the preferred character as her wit, whilst not enough to offend, makes her
highly amusing. To the more liberal thinkers she may also have represented a 'forward - thinking' person
whom they would have been glad to see portrayed in the theatre.
Claire Strauss
