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 to “call him in to dinner”. Benedick immediately claims to himself that he can “spy some marks of love in her”. At this point, we know that Beatrice does not know herself that she is in love with him, so Benedick must be hoping that she does love him. Even when Beatrice makes fun of him yet again, he is convinced that no matter what she says, she is in denial of her love for him- “there’s a double meaning in that”.
Both Beatrice and Benedick share similar personality traits such as cynicism, their wit and strong moral beliefs. However we can see that, after they have been deceived by Don Pedro’s plan, they become much more civil and friendly towards each other. After Hero was denounced by Claudio, Benedick stays with her indicating that his loyalties now lie with Beatrice but also it shows Beatrice that Benedick is respectful of her family members whom she loves and that he is not just “the Prince’s fool”.
The couple have also accepted that they are not perfect and Benedick even asks Beatrice: “for which of my bad parts didst thou first fall in love with me?” Since they are alone in this dialogue, we get a glimpse of what they could be like everyday if they were married. We see that they still tease each other, but only lightly- “Thou and I are too wise to woo peaceably”. This directly contrasts what Claudio said in Act 2- “Silence is the perfectest herald of joy” and this leads us to realise that Benedick is implying that a successful relationship must be full of dialogue and interaction.
