'Much Ado About Nothing' - study in detail the two main female characters, Beatrice and Hero.
Shakespeare I have studied the Shakespeare play, 'Much Ado About Nothing'. I will study in detail the two main female characters, Beatrice and Hero. Shakespeare did not make up the story line of the play, as it originally only included the Claudio and Hero love affair. Shakespeare added the Benedick and Beatrice plot probably to add interest to the play. At the time that the play was set women had a different role in society than they do these days. Women were seen as property of their fathers and when married that became property of their husbands. They did not have any social worth and what they inherited became their husband's. Quite often, husbands were chosen for the daughter; if not they had to be approved by the father before they were to be married. People at that time also did not marry into a different social class. It was seen as an outrage and disgrace for a woman to not be a virgin when they were first married, if they were from a wealthy family. If a wealthy family found out that an unmarried female relation was not a virgin they would disown her and in some cases send her to a nunnery. This is because if they stayed as part of their family, their family could lose all its respect as it was thought as such a bad thing. Women were expected to be quiet and obedient to their fathers and husbands. Hero was a typical lady of her time and followed social
First Impressions of Beatrice and Benedick - Much ado about Nothing.
First Impressions of Beatrice and Benedick In the first line said by either of these characters, we learn a lot about them both. Beatrice is the first of the two to speak when she enquires: 'I pray you, Is Signor Mountanto returned from the wars or no?' - Page 66, Line 23 As Hero explains two lines later, Beatrice is referring to Benedick but she is mocking him. She believes that Benedick is stuck up and through this line she also mocks his pretensions as a swordsman by calling him 'Mountanto'. This first line gives the impression that Beatrice either does not like Benedick or is maybe just pretending not to like him. As part of the same conversation, a messenger sticks up for Benedick and shows that people trust Benedick. It also shows that he is a good person despite what Beatrice says. This makes Benedick look good to an audience because someone is sticking up for him but it displays a jealous side to Beatrice. She could be jealous that Benedick has someone to defend him and she doesn't, but it may also be that he has chosen to be alone rather than to be with her. This is especially shown when she suggests that a fool's weapon is the most appropriate for him. 'He set up his bills here in Messina, and challenged Cupid at the flight: and my uncle's fool, reading the challenge, subscribed for Cupid and challenged him at the birdbolt.' - Page 66, Lines 29-31 By using
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing Coursework In 'Much Ado About Nothing' Shakespeare manages to transform Benedick from a bachelor to being in love with Beatrice. Shakespeare does extremely well to make this change of character seem believable as it such a big one. Shakespeare does this by using key scenes to gradually reveal the true relationship between the two. This transformation is especially interesting as at the beginning of the play he argues with Beatrice and declares he will always be a bachelor. In Act I Scene I when the visitors arrive in Messina, Benedick appears to be an arrogant, patronising womaniser. In this scene Benedick has a merry war with Beatrice and from lines like 'In our last conflict four of his five wits went halting off' and "You always end with a jade's trick, I know you of old" from Beatrice it seems like the two have previously met and there is some history between them. In this war of words we see the arrogance of Benedick when he says to Beatrice "I am Lord of all ladies, only you excepted". From this opening scene we can see Benedick's character and it is obvious he is not scared to speak his mind or give an honest opinion, no matter how harsh it may be. An example of this is when Claudio asks Benedict if he finds Hero attractive and Benedick replies "I can see yet without spectacles, and I see no such matter". We also see from this merry war that
Shakespeare(TM)s Much Ado about Nothing Directors Essay: What advice would you give to Beatrice when responding to Benedick?
Shakespeare's "Much Ado about Nothing" Directors Essay "What advice would you give to Beatrice when responding to Benedick?" Arguably, Beatrice can be considered to be the main character in Shakespeare's "Much Ado about Nothing". Through her melodrama, Shakespeare provides us with a rare and lovable character. Hence, great care should be taken to direct her, especially in response to her lover, Benedick. Unlike most women during that era, Beatrice shows no fear towards men, let alone considers herself as inferior. The privet conversation between Beatrice and Benedick displays this: "It's a man's office, but not yours". The sentence is purposed to challenge Benedick of his manhood, hence, the break in this line can be exaggerated, by speaking the latter phrase in a slow tempo with a harsh tone. Also, Beatrice should look upon Benedick eyes whilst speaking this line and point at him, as this will bring their love relationship into Benedick's mind. If these actions are followed, even the audience should be shocked, as this was a very daring phrase for a woman to say. Just as she persuades Benedick to do her bidding, she hands him a grave task: "Kill Claudio" The line is very short and therefore breaks any flow in their conversation, y pausing the play and allowing time for the audience to absorb the surprise behind these words. Also the alliteration of the two "K-" sounds
Much Ado About nothing
23wKatherine Hindmarsh 4NG 19th December 2003 OCR: ENGLISH language Unit 4: Coursework Item 2: Response to reading ELH: Shakespeare Much Ado About nothing "Man is a giddy thing" Discuss Benedick's changing character. During the play "Much Ado About Nothing", Benedick's character changes dramatically towards certain aspects of life, namely in his attitude towards women and love. At the beginning of the play Benedick is portrayed as an experienced soldier and a knowledgeable scholar but with little interest in women, love, and marriage; a partly formed Renaissance man. His friends were mainly his army colleagues those whom, he had fought alongside when at war. However, as the play progresses, we see him become easily influenced by others and his attitude towards life change, thus displaying his 'giddy' character. In the first scenes of this play, Benedick and Beatrice seem to have formed an instant hatred for one another; Beatrice seems to know of Benedick before he even arrives in Messina. Beatrice warns Messina about Benedick, so when Benedick arrives in Messina, everybody has an idea of what Beatrice thinks he is like, so they do not have very high opinions of him. We notice as the first few scenes take place that there is a large amount of witty repartee going on between them. "And a good
Much Ado About Nothing.
Much Ado About Nothing As you read through the play "Much ado About Nothing" by William Shakespeare, which is a romantic comedy, you discover several complex relationships between the characters both in keeping with how a typical relationship in Elizabethan times would be and relationships that seem "out of place" for the time that the play was set. A typical relationship in Elizabethan times would be one in which the male would be the most dominant and the female would be quiet and subdued. This is an example of Claudio and Heroes relationship in the play. However, Benedick and Beatrice's relationship is quite different. The relationship between the two of them differs at several points throughout the play. The two of them don't overtly like each other at the very beginning of the play. Benedick says "I am loved of all ladies. Only you excepted" this shows how they feel about each other. As the play progresses you find that they slowly begin to like each other. They ask each other "Do you not love me?" and because their characters are so alike they try to justify their love for one another. They do not want to take on the roles of courtly lovers, much unlike Claudio and Hero who take on the role of courtly lover as soon as they are presented with the option. Claudio and Heroes relationship is typical of Elizabethan times. Hero is a submissive, powerless and vulnerable
Gossip in "Much Ado About Nothing".
Gossip in "Much Ado About Nothing" By: Liran Morav Gossip plays a major role in "Much Ado About Nothing". It is displayed in several ways including intentional gossip, malicious gossip, and innocent gossip. Most of the gossip in "Much Ado About Nothing" appears in the first half of the play. The second half, on the other hand, consists of the consequences of gossip. Of course, some consequences can be found in the first half of the play, however, Shakespeare made sure these didn't have a central role in the plot. It seems he wanted the play to be divided between gossip, and its effects. The results of gossip in "Much Ado About Nothing" include: a ruined marriage, a family crisis, damaged friendships, a damaged reputation, minor misinterpretation of people's feelings, and the forming of love. All of which were, and still are, central themes, which probably attracted Elizabethan audiences to plays such as "Much Ado About Nothing". These consequences will be dealt with in this essay. Despite the many consequences of gossip in "Much Ado About Nothing", it seems there's only one 'good' consequence. It's the forming of love between Beatrice and Benedick. At first, it seems that achieving love between the two is what Don Pedro calls "one of Hercules' labours" (Act 2, Scene 1, Line 275). Beatrice and Benedick appear to hate each other all throughout the first half of the play.
Much Ado About nothing essay.
Much Ado About nothing essay Much Ado About nothing explores the unconventional area of love in that period. Shakespeare uses Beatrice and Benedick's relationship to be exciting and make the play much more interesting. Beatrice and Benedick's relationship is contrasted against Claudio and Hero's and made to be more real; their love is more likely to last. Shakespeare is ahead of his time in thinking that women should be more feisty and less shy, his play makes the audience of that time ask questions like: 'Which love is more real?' Claudio and Hero's relationship is a symbol of romantic love; the pure, kind and submissive Hero is always out to please the dominant, virtuous brave and also kind Claudio. Beatrice and Benedick's relationship is totally the opposite however, it started from arguments between the two and Benedick never dominates Beatrice. Beatrice is totally against love and marriage: 'Not till God make men of some other metal than earth' which is a contrast to Hero who is keen on getting married. Benedick is also against marriage and love. He thought his friends were too and when he finds out Claudio is getting married he is very upset this is shown by the long speech he makes and the amount of commas it is meant to be read quickly with emotion. He is very upset because his idea of living the bachelor lifestyle with his friends has been trampled on he says;
Much ado about nothing - A Comparison of the Scenes which show the Gulling of Beatrice and Benedick.
A Comparison of the Scenes which show the Gulling of Beatrice and Benedick In the play Much Ado about Nothing, two main characters Beatrice and Benedick are gulled into believing that Beatrice loves Benedick and Benedick loves Beatrice. The two scenes are parallel and set in the same place, the orchard. The effect of this is that the audience concentrate more on the other differences, for example how the characters are treated, and not on the differences on set. The opening speeches of both scenes create an important context for the gulling. In Benedicks soliloquy he talks about how he despises love, and describes his perfect women because he knows she is an impossibility, although he knows he loves Beatrice really he just doesn't want to swallow his pride. He sets himself up to be gulled because he wants it to be true and he wants to believe it. In the next scene Beatrice is also gulled to believe that Benedick loves her. This scene is more of a plot because when Hero and Margaret start discussing her. In this scene the two characters are a lot more personal when criticizing Beatrice than Benedick. They talk about her personality and how she acts a lot more than Benedick. In this scene Beatrice uses very high flown elaborate poetic diction, "Honeysuckle overgrown with pride," Is a reference to she uses to Beatrice because she thinks she is full of herself and very
Much Ado About Nothing.
Much Ado About Nothing -Essay Much ado about nothing is a romantic comedy. The title means lot of fuss about nothing. William Shakespeare was being ironic because in the end everything was sorted out, in a sense everything was sorted out, but in some ways it was all about words spoiling someone's reputation. The main characters are Hero the daughter of Leonarto, Beatrice, Antonio, Don Pedro, Don John (John the bastard) Fryer Francis, Margaret, Ursula. Leonarto is the governor of Messina. He has a niece called Beatrice who likes to get her own way. The play is set in Messina, Italy. This contrast establishes an atmosphere of love and romance. The characters are of a high status especially if their men. The daughters and most of the women are a piece of property and therefore virginity and purity are much prised. Any women found having sex before marriage would be classed as a whore and would be punished. In this play there is a poem at the beginning at the beginning, middle, and end of the play. The poem is: Sigh no more ladies, sigh no more Men were deceivers ever One foot in the sea, and one on shore To one thing constant never The sigh not so, but let him go, And be you Blithe and bonny Converting all your sounds of woe Into hay nonny nonny. Sigh no more ditties, sing no more. Of dumps so dull and heavy. The fraud of men were ever so. Since
