BEATRICE AND BENEDICK ARE PRESENTED TO US AS VERY MUCH THE 'IDEAL COUPLE'. HOW DO YOU RESPOND TO SHAKESPEARES PRESENTATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP IN MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING?
The Oxford English dictionary defines the word ideal as 'the conception of something perfect' and 'most suitable'. Although Shakespeare presents them as ideal for each other, Beatrice and Bene*censored* can also be seen as very different people. Their views of love, marriage, courtship and social roles would have been seen as quite unconventional in Elizabethan times. They are a very different couple compared to the conventionally Elizabethan couple of Hero and Claudio and act very differently with each other in private and in public. Both Beatrice and Bene*censored* would have been perceived differently in Elizabethan times than now. An Elizabethan audience would have seen them as very nonconformist, whilst nowadays we would probably see Claudio and Hero as the more unconventional couple.Beatrice and Bene*censored* have been said to be 'the most effective figures' of Much Ado About Nothing. Their wit, although at first seemingly presented as the same, is actually quite different. Intelligent as she is, Beatrice reflects very little of herself in her wit. Instead, she fiercely expels it whenever something inspires her to do so 'I wonder that you will still be talking, Signor Bene*censored*- nobody marks you'.
Bene*censored* is quite superior to the other male characters of the play. When the grave occasion of the wedding between Hero and Claudio comes, he postpones his habits of mocking and jesting, and we see his wisdom and intelligence shine through. When Hero is accused of being promiscuous, when even her father is convinced of her guilt, he is the first to suspect that 'the practice of it lives in John the Bastard'. Beatrice and Bene*censored* are also presented in Much Ado About Nothing as very similar people which means that they will either match perfectly as Don Pedro said at the masked ball 'she were an excellent wife for Bene*censored*' or that their personality clash would mean that if 'they were but a week married, they would talk themselves mad', as inferred by Leonato, also at the masked ball. Shakespeare presents both Beatrice and Bene*censored*'s pride in their wit as their weakness and something that can be used against them. They both hurt each other with their constant jibes. What sticks most with Bene*censored* is being described by Beatrice as 'the Prince's Jester', and that if his wit is 'not mark'd, or not laugh'd at,' it 'strikes him into melancholy'. This hurts him so much because he is very proud of his notable wit and intelligence and Beatrice's jibes infer that he is not taken seriously by his friends and is just there for amusement. On the other hand, Beatrice seems to be equally hurt by being told that she had her 'good wit out of the Hundred Merry Tales'. Bene*censored* is known by the other characters in the play as a notorious scorner of women and of romantic love. Don Pedro warns him that 'in time the savage bull doth bear the yoke' meaning that Bene*censored* is destined to marry and that he cannot escape it. However, Bene*censored* replies that,
Some common words found in the essay are:
Don Pedro, Beatrice Bene*censored*, Shakespeare Beatrice's, Hero Claudio, Bastard' Beatrice, Ado Beatrice, Signor Bene*censored*-, Shakespeare Beatrice, Tales' Despite, Prince's Jester', beatrice bene*censored*, hero claudio, masked ball, don pedro, beatrice bene*censored*'s, privilege society, characters play, leonato masked ball, leonato masked, elizabethan audience, 'the prince's,
Approximate Word count = 1939
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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