Analyse the way Beatrice and Benedick speak to and about each other, up to and including page 134

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Simon Johnson – 12B                04th October 2005

Analyse the way Beatrice and Benedick speak to and about each other, up to and including page 134

        The characters Beatrice and Benedick in the William Shakespeare play “Much Ado About Nothing” can be described as sparring lovers.  At the start of the play, it is difficult for them to converse without becoming involved in a “merry war” or a “skirmish of wit”.  This attitude gradually changes as the play progresses.  I shall analyse the way in which this attitude changes as Beatrice and Benedick engage in parlance.  

        From Act One, Scene One, Beatrice demonstrates hypocrisy when to Benedick she says “I wonder that you will still be talking, Signor Benedick, nobody marks you”.  The ironic part of this is that she is actually listening to him.  Therefore, as much as she may like to deny it, she is giving the man she “detests” her undivided attention, and is noticing him.  Benedick, in a quick flash of wit answers back “What, my dear Lady Disdain! Are you yet living?”  As Benedick asks Beatrice if she is living, it presents the witty assumption that Benedick has not been aware of Beatrice’s presence.  A very well-put reply to this from Beatrice is that “Disdain” can’t die whilst Benedick is there “feeding” it to carry on.  This battle of wit which occurs between the both of them illustrates the deep loathing that they appear to have for one another.  As we shall discover further on in the play, this seems only to be a guise for the immense passion they have for each other.  There is, here, however, a suggestion from Beatrice that both of them have had a relationship before: “You always end with a jade’s trick.  I know you of old”.  The aforementioned evidence of a possible relationship provides a reason for the skirmish of wit, and also implies there may still be romantic feelings between the two.  

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        In Act Two, Scene One, Beatrice is dancing and having a conversation with a masked Benedick.  It is not clear, and remains the decision of the reader whether Beatrice truly knows that she is speaking with Benedick.  She goes on to describe him as “the prince’s jester, a very dull fool”.  As there is a sense of possession “the prince’s jester”, it creates the impression that Beatrice sees Benedick as nothing more than a puppet.  When speaking with Claudio, Benedick makes it clear he was shocked by this: “Lady Beatrice should know me, and not know me: the prince’s fool! ...

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