How does Act 4 scene 1 create a climax in all that has happened in the play so far?
How does Act 4 scene 1 create a climax in all that has happened in the play so far? Stephanie Kaye On the next morning, as the wedding vows were being taken, Claudio suddenly refused his bride. "There, Leonato," he told the governor, "Take her back again. Give not this rotten orange to your friend ... She knows the heat of a luxurious bed." The wedding guests were stunned. Of course Hero denied everything, but to no benefit. And then, flushed with disgrace, she swooned and fainted. Even Leonato accepted Claudio's eyewitness account of her betrayal. She has "fallen into a pit of ink, that the wide sea hath drops too few to wash her clean again," Leonato mourned. Nevertheless, before Leonato could disown his daughter, the Friar performing the ceremony intervened. He believed in Hero's honesty, and counselled Leonato to have patience and trust. Beatrice, Benedick, Leonato, and the Friar try to understand what has happened. They begin to suspect that Don John is behind the accusations. The Friar suggests a strategy: let people think Hero has died. Remorse will begin to work on Claudio, and they will have time to find out what has happened. Leonato believed it would be better had Hero died, as it would protect her (and him) from an awful lot of ridicule. 'Death is the fairest cover for her shame / that may be wished for.' Benedick has been an almost silent bystander in
Discuss the different kinds of humour in the play. Is it effective today?
Much Ado About Nothing Discuss the different kinds of humour in the play. Is it effective today? What is its purpose? Much ado about nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare. There are many kinds of humour in the play. The first kind of humour we come across is the skirmishes of wit between Beatrice and Benedick. Beatrice and Benedick are both sarcastic people and incidentally are sarcastic about each other. Sarcasm is a very good kind of humour, which is still effective to this day. Many people understand sarcasm and it's a good way of putting a point across. The main purpose of sarcasm is probably mockery. Sarcasm is usually used when you say something that you don't mean literally, the point of this particular sarcasm is to tell the audience that Beatrice and Benedick don't exactly see eye to eye and basically mock each other. Another kind of humour in the play we find as we go on is stupidity. This mainly is featured around Dogberry and Verges. Dogberry and Verges have a funny sort of relationship. Dogberry is the more intelligent of the two where as Verges is a little more on the dim side. The funny side here is that Dogberry isn't as clever as he thinks he is. He often uses long complicated words which actually make no sense "is most tolerable and not to be endured". In this quote Dogberry is talking about the watch talking and not paying attention to
Why is Act V scene 4 such an important part of 'Much Ado About Nothing'?
Why is Act V scene 4 such an important part of 'Much Ado About Nothing'? 'Much Ado About Nothing' is rather similar to other Elizabethan comedies written by Shakespeare. Halfway through many things seem to be going wrong, but everything is sorted out in the end as Antonio shows when he comments, 'Well, I am glad that all things sort so well' (V.4, 7) 'Much Ado' explores the nature of true love and Act V scene 4 sees the marriage of two main characters - Hero, the only daughter of Signor Leonarto the governor of Messina, and Count Claudio of Florence, a companion of Don Pedro the Prince of Aragon. 'Give me your hand before this holy friar, I am your husband if you like of me' (V.4, 58-9) Hero was harshly accused of cheating on Claudio, the love of her life, and coldly handed back to her father. It was the outcome of a cruel plan devised by the bastard brother of Don Pedro, Don John. The plan involved Margaret, Hero's maid, being in her mistresses' window with a man, tricking Claudio and Don Pedro into believing that it was Hero and that she was just a common prostitute. When the Don John's plot is uncovered, Hero forgives Claudio for doubting her and recovers her reputation. 'One Hero dies defiled, but I do live, and surely as I live I am a maid.' (V.4, 63-4) The tale of Hero and Claudio and how a lover is deceived into believing that his beloved has been unfaithful to
Characterization of Hero in "Much Ado About Nothing".
Characterization of Hero in Much Ado About Nothing * Hero and Claudio are the conventional, culturally acceptable lovers...Unlike Beatrice and Benedick (the outspoken, unconventional lovers). * Hero has a very dramatic role in this play. Although she seldom speaks, Hero is the source of much commotion, because Don John tries to frame her and her fiancé Claudio. He hatches a plot to convince Claudio, that Hero is unchaste. Because of that, the innocent Hero is accused at her wedding day. She gets so nervous and faints. Hero is declared dead and can only awake when her innocence is proven. Everything turns out good at the end, and they get married. * She is a beautiful (Act 1 Scene 1,171), young woman (Act 1 Scene 1,278), who is dark-haired (Act 1 Scene 1,157), small (Act 1 Scene 1,157), and described as a "jewel" (Act 1 Scene 1,165), "a modest young lady" (Act 1 Scene 1,150), "the sweetest lady" (Act 1 Scene 1,171) by Claudio. She is friendly and well-behaved (Act 3 Scene 4,26) , and when she speaks she is mostly very factual and enlightening (Act 1 Scene 1,33). But she can also be very cheeky (Act 2 Scene 1,79-90) * Hero knows what she wants and does not let herself be influenced by others (Act 3 Scene 4,6-11). She also knows exactly what she is talking about and is able to express herself very correctly in a calm way (Act 4 Scene 1,76-80). * She is very timid (Act
Much Ado About Nothing
Shakespeare Coursework Benedick certainly seems to be genuine, as all of his speeches seem to be sincere and none pre-meditated. Benedick is the character everyone likes. He seems also to be more passionate than most of the other characters. Benedick is prepared to be humiliated by his friends in order to marry the one which he loves. He is a proud man and does not want to be outdone by a woman, but he will do anything for Beatrice. I think that when the two had verbal insult matches they were just trying to vie for each others attention. Beatrice is a "tomboy" and nearly an anti-male character in the early parts of the play, and seems very confident and loves to better people, especially Benedick. From the beginning of the play you can tell that these two are very powerful characters in their own ways. In the first section you get an intense feeling of hatred as Beatrice and Benedick throw insults back and forth at each other, which surely must symbolize that they don't like each other. You go through the play gradually thinking if they actually hate or like each other. The twist in the play is a surprise but it has been brought on gently as well, not just suddenly placed in front of you. Each of the two know deep down that they do love each other and only when their friends plot against them do they end up declaring their love for each other. Benedick has protested in
Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2 Scene 1 Analysis
Much Ado About Nothing Analysis Act 2 Scene i This long scene resolves the first of the play's important questions: whether Claudio will receive Hero's consent to love and marry her. When the two lovers are finally brought together, Claudio is too overwhelmed with joy to profess his love in elevated language, saying to Hero simply, "Silence is the perfectest herald of joy. I were but little happy if I could say how much" (II.i.267-268). While Claudio can find few words to express his joy, Hero can find none. Indeed, it is Beatrice who formalizes Hero's return of Claudio's love, commenting to Claudio, "My cousin [Hero] tells him [Claudio] in his ear that he is in her heart" (II.i.275-276). We never hear Hero's acceptance of Claudio, but nonetheless we know what occurs. These two quiet characters-Claudio and Hero-seem well matched, and Claudio's addressing of Beatrice as "cousin" confirms that he will soon marry into her family (II.i.277). Nonetheless, a troubling element of Claudio's character comes to light in this scene. Don John's attempt to thwart the match has come to nothing; although he does manage to trick Claudio into believing that Don Pedro has betrayed him and is going to marry Hero himself, Claudio learns the truth before anything bad can happen. But here we see that Claudio is prone to making rash decisions. He is very quick to believe that his friend has
The relationship between Beatrice and Benedick compared to the couple Claudio and Hero in Shakespeare's play, Much Ado About Nothing.
Today I will be focusing on the relationship between Beatrice and Benedick compared to the couple Claudio and Hero in Shakespeare's play, Much Ado About Nothing. B & B seem to have a love/hate relationship which may have came from past relationship let downs, the two thrive on conflict and tension. Whereas H & C represent an idealised love. Early on in the play C asks DP, "Hath Leonate any son my lord?" This being one of the first questions that C asks about H. This would suggest that he is finding out whether she will inherit all of Leonato's wealth before he decides that he loves H. When Don Pedro replies, "No child but H" C immediately delivers what seems to be a heart filled speech about how much he loves her. This speech seems to be sincere but is it him simply being shallow? The fact that C says he loves H having only known her well for a few days raises the question as to how genuine C really is. On the other hand B & B's love is based on mutual respect, love and true admiration. In the beginning, there is some obvious attraction between the two. It appears as though they are reluctant loves duped into a suspicious relationship. In the opening act, they already argue as lovers, i.e. Ben says, " What, my dear Lady Disdain! Are you yet living? This could be seen to be quite a tongue in rude questioning, with undertones of attraction. As is Beat's reply, "Is it
Compare the way in which Shakespeare Presents the Characters of Beatrice and Hero
Compare the way in which Shakespeare Presents the Characters of Beatrice and Hero BY TIM SNELL Tim Snell In this essay I'm comparing the characters Beatrice and Hero from Shakespeare's play, 'Much Ado about Nothing'. 'Much Ado about Nothing' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare c. 1598 - 1599. Shakespeare found the story in Orlando Furioso, which is a great poem written by Ludovico Ariosto, however Shakespeare did come up with the Benedick - Beatrice plot. The attention of the characters is aimed at Claudio and Hero and their young, romantic love and Benedick and Beatrice are the comedy pair in the play, their witty battles of words provides great comedy. The story is about two different sets of lovers Beatrice and Benedick and Claudio and Hero. Beatrice and Benedick both pretend to themselves that they hate one another but a cunning and well thought out plan by Don Pedro (the prince of Aragon) fools both of them into love. Claudio and Hero are made for each other and almost all the romance in the play circles around them. The evil in the play is given by Don John (also Don Pedro's bastard brother), who tricks Claudio into believing a lie. Claudio falls for this and his relationship with Hero shatters until they marry at the end of the play to the rejoice of all good people at Leonato's (governor of Messina and Hero's father) home. My ideas about the two women
The different relationships seen in Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Nights Dream'.
There are many relationships in the play but the most important are the lovers. We have Hero and Claudio, who show the innocence of love, and Beatrice and Benedick, who show a more cynical version. There are also the friendships, between Hero and Beatrice, and Don Pedro, Claudio and Benedick. It is also important to remember that Don John is the bastard brother of Don Pedro - this is a major factor in the events of the play, for Don John's status makes him envious and evil. From the beginning of the play, Shakespeare focused the attention of his audience on Beatrice and Bendick. The first battle of words between them hinted at an earlier love affair, and also included an intriguing hint of mystery. 'You always end with a jade's trick: I know you of old', says Beatrice. Shakespeare also uses the two older lovers, Beatrice and Benedick as a contrast to the younger couple, to show different aspects of love. Hero and Claudio represent a girl and boy who have fallen deeply in love for the first time; Benedick and Beatrice are more worldly, and both of them protest that they never intend to marry. This makes the audience enjoy even more their rapid acceptance of the each other's affection when they are tricked into falling in love with each other. Although Shakespeare allows Claudio to confess his love for Hero to Benedick, he and Hero never play out a love scene alone together.
Who will have a successful relationship, Benedick and Beatrice or Claudio and Hero?
Which pairing do you have the most confidence in having a successful relationship and why? We already know that Benedick and Beatrice share a romantic past as she admits to Don Pedro that “[Benedick] lent it me awhile … a double heart for his single one.” Since they have had some sort of history together before the events of the play, we assume that they know each other quite well. Even though this previous relationship did not last, their love is much more genuine as both Beatrice and Benedick do not mean to fall in love with each other, especially as they “suffer love” for each other. At the start of the play, Beatrice and Benedick do nothing but continue their “skirmish of wit” and yet, they pay more attention to each other than anyone else in the play. When Benedick confronts a jealous Claudio during the masked dance, he merely compares him to a “hurt fowl”, and then his thoughts wander straight back to the hurtful words that Beatrice had said previously. This shows us how much he cares about what she called him and hardly acknowledges his friend, who was deeply upset. They are easily fooled by their peers into thinking that they are the subject of unrequited love but perhaps this is because they both want to believe that the other person loves them. In Act 2 Scene 3, just as Benedick has overheard that Beatrice was in love with him, Beatrice is sent
