In the early half of the play, Shakespeare depicts Beatrice as a staunch spinster who is deeply cynical about love. Through the use of simile Shakespeare elaborates the audience’s understanding of Beatrice’s scorn for matrimony. In the second scene, Beatrice offers her cousin Hero unsolicited advice about marriage, and cautions her saying that “Wooing, wedding and repenting, is as a Scotch jig, a measure and a cinquepace…” (2.1.52-53). With this remark Beatrice warns her cousin that love and marriage is as strictly controlled as the steps in dancing. This strengthens the audience’s belief that Beatrice is strongly opposed to the idea of marriage. Again, this advice was made in the presence of important men and women highlighting Beatrice’s confidence and lack of respect for social conventions.
Later in the play, Shakespeare uses soliloquy to inform the audience of Beatrice’s transformation from spinster to woman in love. A clever ruse by the characters Hero and Ursula leads Beatrice to expose her true feelings about Benedick to the audience. After overhearing the conversation between Hero and Ursula, Beatrice is convinced that Benedick is passionately in love with her but unable to express his feelings. Beatrice then proclaims, “And Benedick, love on, I will requite thee… To bind our loves up in a holy band,”(3.1.107-116). The use of soliloquy allows the audience a glimpse of Beatrice’s inner feelings towards Benedick. Beatrice’s statements express to the audience the complete reversal of her previous attitudes towards love and marriage. By her willing acceptance of Benedick’s love and the idea of matrimony Beatrice is also shown to conform to the social conventions that she previously ignored.
During the first scene of the play, Shakespeare uses puns to depict Benedick as an arrogant yet witty misogynist. During a conversation between Benedick, Claudio and Don Pedro, Benedick asserts “I will do myself the right to trust none: and the fine is (for which I go the finer) I will live as a bachelor” (1.1.181-182). Benedick puns on the words fine, meaning ‘conclusion’ and ‘finer’ denoting better. This further reveals to the audience Benedick’s assumption that life as a bachelor would be far preferable to life as a husband. The pun also reveals that Benedick’s desire to remain a bachelor stems from to his inability to trust a woman. Through the use of this pun, Shakespeare positions his audience to view Benedick as a nobleman who is misogynistic yet intelligent, a trait emphasised by his skilful word play.
Throughout the early scenes of the play, Shakespeare’s use of hyperbole emphasizes Benedick’s scorn for the idea of love. In the first scene, Benedick rebukes Don Pedro’s suggestion that he would ever fall in loving saying “Prove that ever I lose more blood with love than I will get with drinking, pick out mine eyes with a ballad-maker’s pen, and hang me up at the door of a brothel house for the sign of blind Cupid.” (1.1.185-188). The reference to a “blind Cupid” emphasises Benedick’s belief in the irrationality of love. This brash and grossly exaggerated statement also accentuates the confidence in Benedick’s belief that he is above falling victim to love.
Near the conclusion of the play Shakespeare makes use of repetition which is crucial in his portrayal of Benedick’s transformation from aggressive misogynist to man in love. In the final scene, Benedick advises Don Pedro “Prince thou art sad, get thee a wife, get thee a wife..”(5.4. 114- 115). The use of repetition enforces the Benedick’s new support of marriage and his assumption that matrimony has positively influenced his life. This sudden change of attitude contrasts strongly with his previous stance on the issue of love. Shakespeare positions his audience to view Benedick in a much more positive light as he has shed his misogyny for devotion to Beatrice.
Despite the initial opposition of Beatrice and Benedick to the idea of love and each other, by the conclusion of the play through an elaborate ruse played out by their friends they are reconciled and even fall in love. In the play’s opening scenes the pair are depicted as staunch bachelors exchanging barbed remarks and assaulting each other with their wit. The characterisation of Beatrice and Benedick and the transitions of their relationship from “merry war” (1.1.45) to happy couple are integral to the depiction of the play’s message: that no one is immune to love.