Don Pedro sees something in Beatrice and Benedick’s relationship that no-one else sees. He thinks about both of their characters and realizes that they are both missing one important key to life, love. They both nearly have completed their tripartite soul. Benedick has seen action, he is well educated, but he is missing passion. Beatrice, has beauty, chastity, however she is also missing passion. Don Pedro thinks they are a match and he decides to play cupid between the two. Don Pedro plans for Leonato, himself and Claudio to have a conversation in the orchard which is going to be overheard by Benedick. They talk about Beatrice being in love with Benedick; while they are talking Benedick is hiding behind a tree, listening to every word. This is a clever plan to make each party feel sorry for the other, and therefore fall in love with each other. It works very well. Benedick listens he starts to believe that they might be telling the truth. Leonato remarks that Beatrice says
“By my own spirit; for I should flout him, if he writ to me; yea though I love him, I should”
Benedick believes that these are strong words for anyone to make up so from then on he starts to believe what the men are saying. He starts to appear vulnerable, believing what these men are saying to each other. After Leonato, Don Pedro and Claudio have had this forced conversation with each other, Benedick, in a soliloquy to the audience expresses what he feels. He says “when I said I would die a bachelor, I did not think that I should live till I were married,” this gives the impression that if what the soldiers said was true, he would marry Beatrice. His character changes in a very short time in this scene, changing from being completely against marriage, to almost saying he will marry in the future. This is a very sudden change to his character, so displaying that he is easily influenced by others, and showing once again his giddy character.
Benedick, at the start of the play, gives the impression that love is for the weak minded and only people who have nothing better to do with their lives fall in love. After the scene in the orchard; Benedick has realizes just by thinking that someone loves him, how happy this has made him, so he starts to think how much happiness he could get from loving someone else. After he over hears the other characters talking in the orchard, he talks to the audience a long speech, where he says,
“I have railed so long against marriage: but doth not the appetite alter?” Benedick all the way through the play is trying to do things to make other people happy, and please people who have more authority then he has. In a way when Benedick says that he will love Beatrice back, he is forcing himself to love her to make her happy, and somebody who is willing to do that, must actually in fact love her.
We first notice the dramatic change in Benedick’s character after Hero has been denounced; the old Benedick would have left with his male companions and slandered Hero’s innocent name, but the new Benedick stays with Beatrice and comforts her. They have a very meaningful conversation with each other where they admit that they both love each other. Benedick immediately admits that he is in love with Beatrice, but Beatrice takes time to tell Benedick. Beatrice is very touched by the fact that he has stayed with her and comforted her, instead of going with his male companions, “I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest” she says after some persuasion by Benedick responds,
“Come, bid me do anything for thee” and Beatrice makes Benedick wish that he had never said this to her, because she says the fatal words “Kill Claudio” to him. At first Benedick refuses to kill his best friend, and then he realizes that if he does not challenge Claudio to a fight, he will lose the only woman he has ever been in love with, so he eventually agrees.
His character has changed so much from the beginning that he wants to write a romantic love poem to Beatrice to prove how much he loves her; the old Benedick would never have dreamed of writing a love poem to anybody. He has started to get involved in love, and he cares for somebody more then himself. Before Beatrice arrives on stage, Benedick sings his poem so far
“The God of love,
That sits above,
And knows me, and knows me
How pitiful I deserve-”
He then encounters a problem where he cannot get the right word to match the last word. Before he can finish his love poem though, Beatrice arrives. In this we notice that Benedick is putting a real effort into making Beatrice feel wanted by him, he is making an effort because he has never felt love before. His character from the denunciation has been permanently changed from a misogamist to that of a man who has fallen in love with somebody and wants to marry her.
Benedick has changed through the duration of the play; he has become a mature man because of love. Since he has found passion with Beatrice, he has calmed down. When some of the characters start to tease the older generation of Messina, Benedick refuses to take part in these actions of ridicule. He has become more sociable and civilized and the Messina has noticed that he has matured a lot through the play. He has become more of a gentleman and thinks about others before himself. He doesn’t want anybody to miss out on the happiness that he has worked hard for with Beatrice and tries to get Don Pedro to get married.
“Prince, thou art sad, get thee a wife”
He is now so happy with Beatrice and even though they were tricked into liking each other they notice how much they like each other. This is a completely different Benedick than at the start of the play, who despised marriage, and said that to get married is the last thing he wanted to do in his life, no-one would have guessed as the play came to an end, and that Benedick would be married.
