Shakespeare
- William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language. Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon.
- At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith.
- Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men.
- His work consists of 38 plays. 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems and a few other verses.
- His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.
- His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the 16th century.
- He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest works in the English language.
Act 1 Scene 1
Plot
The play is set in a rural setting in Messina, Sicily. The play consists of multiple interesting plots where Leonato looking for husbands for his daughter Hero. Claudio likes Hero who is also a companion of Don Pedro, the prince of Arragon. Benedick who is also a companion of Don Pedro likes beatrice, the niece of Leanato, who also seems to like Benedick but both hide their feelings for each other and instead resort to bickering and witty banter.
Confusion of identity- Pedro pretending to be Claudio
Characterisation
B&B are real characters because they have strong history and are unaware that they have oppressed feelings for each other.
Claudio's motive for marrying Hero is merely inheritance and money. He is a young and innocent looking lad but is capable of violence and Shakespeare compares him to a lion and lamb and brings in the odd contrast.
Leonato is a typical father figure wanting to marry his daughter to the best suitor proving he is slightly conniving.
Don Pedro is a powerful and confident prince but is a bit of a meddler and likes to have the control and be in charge of the situation.
Don John is the plain dealing villain
Language
Verbal banter between Beatrice and Benedick involving lots of wit
Claudio's language is overly romantic and poetic where he compares Hero to a 'jewel', objectifying her. Conveys a sense of artificiality.
Plot
The play is set in a rural setting in Messina, Sicily. The play consists of multiple interesting plots where Leonato looking for husbands for his daughter Hero. Claudio likes Hero who is also a companion of Don Pedro, the prince of Arragon. Benedick who is also a companion of Don Pedro likes beatrice, the niece of Leanato, who also seems to like Benedick but both hide their feelings for each other and instead resort to bickering and witty banter.
Confusion of identity- Pedro pretending to be Claudio
Characterisation
B&B are real characters because they have strong history and are unaware that they have oppressed feelings for each other.
Claudio's motive for marrying Hero is merely inheritance and money. He is a young and innocent looking lad but is capable of violence and Shakespeare compares him to a lion and lamb and brings in the odd contrast.
Leonato is a typical father figure wanting to marry his daughter to the best suitor proving he is slightly conniving.
Don Pedro is a powerful and confident prince but is a bit of a meddler and likes to have the control and be in charge of the situation.
Don John is the plain dealing villain
Language
Verbal banter between Beatrice and Benedick involving lots of wit
Claudio's language is overly romantic and poetic where he compares Hero to a 'jewel', objectifying her. Conveys a sense of artificiality.
What you consider when reading a play
- Context
- Stage directions/scenes/dialogues/language
- Characterisation
- Enactment (not reality)
- Drama needs performance in theatre to arrive at its full meaning.
- Always some sort of conflict
- The playwright and the decisions made
- Themes, characters, plot, sub-plot
- Dramatic devices e.g. soliloquy
Difference in language
Shakespeare has given the best language to characters that can embody his ideas and thoughts, characters that defy social norms such as Benedick and Beatrice.
Shakespeare has given the best language to characters that can embody his ideas and thoughts, characters that defy social norms such as Benedick and Beatrice.
Beatrice and Benedick
Both these characters speak in prose and Shakespeare intentionally uses high language for them to get the character's to hid their feelings from one another but make it obvious to the audience. Shakespeare also does this because B&B are the smartest characters in the play so he uses euphemism to get the audience to admire these characters. These two characters also challenge the conventions of society where the setting is of a polite atmosphere but these two contradict it with their witty remarks and polite insults at one another. |
Claudio and Hero
Claudio speaks in poetry, his language is almost overly ornate. Shakespeare gets Claudio's character to speak in an over the top manner, language that comes across as pretty and poetic to Hero and other characters but overly showy to the audience. With Claudio Shakespeare is trying to present not real but idealistic characters. |
Morality and Conflict
Does comedy really influence us and are thoughts?
Comedy pushes boundaries more than any other form of acting. Comedy has time and again proved to subvert comic conventions and challenge society. In Shakespeare's comedies, the high and the low mix together which is unlike tragedies.
How has Shakepeare subverted comic conventions with Much Ado About Nothing?
Comedy pushes boundaries more than any other form of acting. Comedy has time and again proved to subvert comic conventions and challenge society. In Shakespeare's comedies, the high and the low mix together which is unlike tragedies.
How has Shakepeare subverted comic conventions with Much Ado About Nothing?
- Mixes higher class with lower class
- An illegitimate son publicised in play
- Beatrice not behaving lady like- criticising and insulting a man in public, rejecting high class proposals and finding faults in every man.
Hierarchy
Opposites
Opposition defines the four main characters in Act 1
In the beginning of the Act, Benedick and Beatrice are two of the main characters that despise each other but it is evident to the audience that there is romantic tension between them suggesting they have a history. Both dislike each other and through this Shakespeare uses them to lay out witty banter. Both are constantly throwing witty remarks at each other however hidden in this banter is a strong liking towards each other thus the romantic tension between them. B&B are two characters who strongly oppose each other in front of themselves and other people, however their true feelings reflect through making it obvious to all the other characters around them and the audience.
Don John and Don Pedro are also two characters who are made to oppose each other. These characters are half brothers as Don John has the same father as Don Pedro but is a bastard child. This explains the strong opposition between the characters as both are heirs to the throne. Don John is constantly plotting against Don Pedro and other characters to make DP weak and overtake the throne the power and reign that is under Don Pedro's control.
Defying gender expectations
In the beginning of the Act, Benedick and Beatrice are two of the main characters that despise each other but it is evident to the audience that there is romantic tension between them suggesting they have a history. Both dislike each other and through this Shakespeare uses them to lay out witty banter. Both are constantly throwing witty remarks at each other however hidden in this banter is a strong liking towards each other thus the romantic tension between them. B&B are two characters who strongly oppose each other in front of themselves and other people, however their true feelings reflect through making it obvious to all the other characters around them and the audience.
Don John and Don Pedro are also two characters who are made to oppose each other. These characters are half brothers as Don John has the same father as Don Pedro but is a bastard child. This explains the strong opposition between the characters as both are heirs to the throne. Don John is constantly plotting against Don Pedro and other characters to make DP weak and overtake the throne the power and reign that is under Don Pedro's control.
Defying gender expectations
- Beatrice is loud and has her own mind. She speaks what she wants and openly insults Benedick and any other man who asks for her hand in marriage.
- Benedick doesn't want to get married. He's boastful about his looks and charm and flirts with every girl he sets his eyes upon but is never serious.
- Hero conforms as she's seen not heard. She follows orders and sometimes Beatrice has to speak on her behalf.
- Claudio has a Romeo like personality. He's easily persuaded or made a fool and is a hopeless romantic.
- Don Pedro despite being a prince helps out his friends which are lower than him and meddles in their personal and love lives.
Benedick and Beatrice are easily tricked into falling for each other only because they have suppressed feelings for each other. How far do you agree with this statement?
Beatrice and benedick are two characters that are the perfect example of suppressed love and represent the theme of love for Shakespeare in a different yet typical manner. Different being that they never actually admit to being in love with another when the audience can very evidently see that the two are not only in love but are made for each other. Their love is typical in the sense that they are constantly bickering with one another or throwing insults in order to stifle the strong feelings for each other.
In Act 1 Shakespeare begins to show the audience how Beatrice feels about Benedick to a random messenger. ‘He wears his faith but as the fashion of his hat’. This proves that Beatrice is putting up a tough exterior and stating that she has no respect for Benedick but through a few of her insults we are able to look past her exterior and know that interiorly she is heart broken because both of them seem to have a bitter past which is why they present such bitter feelings towards one another. Hence the importance of the quote is to convey to the audience that benedick is a man not to be trusted and to prove how her feelings are filled with rancour-but only on the outside.
In act 2 beatrice rejects Don Pedro’s proposal for her hand in marriage. Even though we don’t know whether Don P’s proposal was genuine or not we do know why Beatrice rejected it. In this scene the contradiction between beatrice’s exterior and interior feelings is brought up again. She rejects Don P’s proposal for the world to know that she cannot ever be with a man whomsoever he is because no man will be able to please her however we as the audience know that she merely rejected the proposal for one reason and that reason being Benedick and how she is still not over him. ‘I was born to speak all mirth and no matter.’
In this act Benedick also proves to the audience how he truly feels about Benedick as he is deeply hurt by what she has said about him to other people. It is indicated once again that the two are made for each other as both use exterior and interior ambiguity to present their feelings. From the outside Beatrice is acting as if he is unaffected by Beatrice’s sour words for him but on the inside he is hurt as the woman he supposedly loves speaks of him in this way. ‘May I be so converted and see with those eyes.’
Even when both are being tricked to fall in love with each other and realize how they truly feel, the reaction for both is the same. There is a reason why Shakespeare makes these two the smartest characters in the play and the reason is that they can prove it to the other characters in the play and to the audience through their witty banter and speech however when it comes to resurfacing their feelings both are complete fools of love and are gullible enough to fall for someone’s tricks. Bebedick: ‘for I will be horribly in love with her.’
Another reason why they are able to accept each other’s love so easily is that they always had vehement feelings for each other but they were never given a reason to accept them in any as Shakespeare wanted to show the audience how mischievous love can be that it can turn two of the smartest characters into the most imprudent ones. The tricking was the last pull that triggered their hidden feelings for each other to re-emerge. Beatrice: ‘taming my wild heart to thy loving hand’.
Beatrice and benedick are two characters that are the perfect example of suppressed love and represent the theme of love for Shakespeare in a different yet typical manner. Different being that they never actually admit to being in love with another when the audience can very evidently see that the two are not only in love but are made for each other. Their love is typical in the sense that they are constantly bickering with one another or throwing insults in order to stifle the strong feelings for each other.
In Act 1 Shakespeare begins to show the audience how Beatrice feels about Benedick to a random messenger. ‘He wears his faith but as the fashion of his hat’. This proves that Beatrice is putting up a tough exterior and stating that she has no respect for Benedick but through a few of her insults we are able to look past her exterior and know that interiorly she is heart broken because both of them seem to have a bitter past which is why they present such bitter feelings towards one another. Hence the importance of the quote is to convey to the audience that benedick is a man not to be trusted and to prove how her feelings are filled with rancour-but only on the outside.
In act 2 beatrice rejects Don Pedro’s proposal for her hand in marriage. Even though we don’t know whether Don P’s proposal was genuine or not we do know why Beatrice rejected it. In this scene the contradiction between beatrice’s exterior and interior feelings is brought up again. She rejects Don P’s proposal for the world to know that she cannot ever be with a man whomsoever he is because no man will be able to please her however we as the audience know that she merely rejected the proposal for one reason and that reason being Benedick and how she is still not over him. ‘I was born to speak all mirth and no matter.’
In this act Benedick also proves to the audience how he truly feels about Benedick as he is deeply hurt by what she has said about him to other people. It is indicated once again that the two are made for each other as both use exterior and interior ambiguity to present their feelings. From the outside Beatrice is acting as if he is unaffected by Beatrice’s sour words for him but on the inside he is hurt as the woman he supposedly loves speaks of him in this way. ‘May I be so converted and see with those eyes.’
Even when both are being tricked to fall in love with each other and realize how they truly feel, the reaction for both is the same. There is a reason why Shakespeare makes these two the smartest characters in the play and the reason is that they can prove it to the other characters in the play and to the audience through their witty banter and speech however when it comes to resurfacing their feelings both are complete fools of love and are gullible enough to fall for someone’s tricks. Bebedick: ‘for I will be horribly in love with her.’
Another reason why they are able to accept each other’s love so easily is that they always had vehement feelings for each other but they were never given a reason to accept them in any as Shakespeare wanted to show the audience how mischievous love can be that it can turn two of the smartest characters into the most imprudent ones. The tricking was the last pull that triggered their hidden feelings for each other to re-emerge. Beatrice: ‘taming my wild heart to thy loving hand’.
Compare the ways in which Beatrice and Benedick fall in love.
Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing is comedy/tragedy that includes all the conventions in the scenes that help mould this particular genre. However most of Shakespeare’s plays always implicate the genre of love, an element that proves to conquer all by the end. Likewise in this play Beatrice and Benedick are two of the strongest characters in the play that are bound by the force of love. Through these characters Shakespeare wants to convey to the audience that under the garb of slurs and insults, Beatrice and Benedick are actually the only characters that possess true love towards each other.
In Act 2 Scene 3 Don Pedro and Claudio devise a plan to get Benedick to confess his love for Beatrice. They make sure that Benedick eavesdrops into their conversation so it looks like what they’re talking about is the truth. D.Pedro: ‘That you niece Beatrice is in love with Signior Benedick?’. Here Don Pedro is asking this question to Leonato on purpose so it attracts Benedick’s attention. Shakespeare is trying to show the audience that even Beatrice’s name is enough to gather Benedick’s attention and here the men are talking about something that holds a lot more weight, something that is enough to grasp Benedick completely.
After Leanato, Don Pedro and Claudio have convinced Benedick to the point where he is completely assured that Beatrice is in love with him, they exit thinking they have succeeded in their plan. Benedick then comes out to reveal himself fully to the audience and expresses a monologue that discloses his concealed love for Beatrice. ‘They say the lady is fair: ‘tis a truth’. Benedick was always attracted to Beatrice and always believed her to be beautiful but never voiced it because he thought Beatrice would not replicate. The importance of this recognition of love for Benedick is to show the audience that the only reason Benedick would not confess his feelings was because deep down he was scared that Beatrice would not accept his love. Here Shakespeare wants to display the more sensitive side of Benedick so the audience is able to empathise with him.
In his monologue Benedick also says that he never thought he would get married, ‘I did not think I should live till I were married.’ Here Shakespeare wants to show that Benedick has just now acknowledged his love for Beatrice but has jumped to the conclusion of marriage with her. This proves that Benedick had all along wanted to be with Beatrice but he had always brushed this thought away due to his ego and pride but now that he has found out that Beatrice is also in love with him, he is able to resurface the thought of spending his life with her. The main implication of this scene was not to show the audience that Benedick was in love with Beatrice beacause they had known this from the start, but it was to show how easy and rapid it was for Benedick to toss all his ‘bitterness’ for Beatrice out of his heart and allow the love to take over.
A similar trick is played on Beatrice in Act 3 Scene 1 when Hero and Ursula have a conversation about Benedick being in love with Beatrice to grab her attention. Ursula: ‘But are you sure that Benedick loves Beatrice so entirely?’ Shakespeare uses a similar dialogue as used upon Benedick intentionally to show the audience the resemblance between the two lovers and how they react. This dialogue is enough to trap Beatrice into believing that what the two women are talking about is the truth.
Throughout this scene Hero talks about how Beatrice is a woman full of pride and ego and would never accept Benedick’s love if he were to confess,’ disdain and scorn ride sparkling in her eyes’. Hero’s plan is only to make sure that Beatrice is aware of her own feelings instead of countering these feelings back to Benedick and she indeed succeeds. By the end of the scene Beatrice has realized that she has irrevocably been in love with Benedick. ‘And Benedick love on, I will requite thee,’ Beatrice is now prepared to love back Benedick and fling her pride away. The ‘requite’ clearly highlights that she will only love Benedick now.
Beatrice also expresses a monologue similar to Benedick where she states that she is willing to abandon her ‘ill’ feelings towards Benedick and only love him. ‘To bind our loves up in a holy band.’ A dialogue that is very similar to Benedick, which proves that the two characters are ready to commit to each other, in other words get married. These dialogues written by Shakespeare are to show that the relationship between the two characters has always been so pious and sincere that they are immediately ready to bind their relationship into the holy bond of marriage.
The significance of these scenes is to enlighten the audience with how effortless it was for Beatrice and Benedick to accept their love towards each other. Shakespeare wants to show that no matter how much two people who are meant for one another may deny their feelings their love will only evolve and get stronger. These two scenes reflect Shakespeare’s passion for showing how love overpowers all other emotions and feelings which is why it is a genre that is emphasised the most in the play be it in any form.
Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing is comedy/tragedy that includes all the conventions in the scenes that help mould this particular genre. However most of Shakespeare’s plays always implicate the genre of love, an element that proves to conquer all by the end. Likewise in this play Beatrice and Benedick are two of the strongest characters in the play that are bound by the force of love. Through these characters Shakespeare wants to convey to the audience that under the garb of slurs and insults, Beatrice and Benedick are actually the only characters that possess true love towards each other.
In Act 2 Scene 3 Don Pedro and Claudio devise a plan to get Benedick to confess his love for Beatrice. They make sure that Benedick eavesdrops into their conversation so it looks like what they’re talking about is the truth. D.Pedro: ‘That you niece Beatrice is in love with Signior Benedick?’. Here Don Pedro is asking this question to Leonato on purpose so it attracts Benedick’s attention. Shakespeare is trying to show the audience that even Beatrice’s name is enough to gather Benedick’s attention and here the men are talking about something that holds a lot more weight, something that is enough to grasp Benedick completely.
After Leanato, Don Pedro and Claudio have convinced Benedick to the point where he is completely assured that Beatrice is in love with him, they exit thinking they have succeeded in their plan. Benedick then comes out to reveal himself fully to the audience and expresses a monologue that discloses his concealed love for Beatrice. ‘They say the lady is fair: ‘tis a truth’. Benedick was always attracted to Beatrice and always believed her to be beautiful but never voiced it because he thought Beatrice would not replicate. The importance of this recognition of love for Benedick is to show the audience that the only reason Benedick would not confess his feelings was because deep down he was scared that Beatrice would not accept his love. Here Shakespeare wants to display the more sensitive side of Benedick so the audience is able to empathise with him.
In his monologue Benedick also says that he never thought he would get married, ‘I did not think I should live till I were married.’ Here Shakespeare wants to show that Benedick has just now acknowledged his love for Beatrice but has jumped to the conclusion of marriage with her. This proves that Benedick had all along wanted to be with Beatrice but he had always brushed this thought away due to his ego and pride but now that he has found out that Beatrice is also in love with him, he is able to resurface the thought of spending his life with her. The main implication of this scene was not to show the audience that Benedick was in love with Beatrice beacause they had known this from the start, but it was to show how easy and rapid it was for Benedick to toss all his ‘bitterness’ for Beatrice out of his heart and allow the love to take over.
A similar trick is played on Beatrice in Act 3 Scene 1 when Hero and Ursula have a conversation about Benedick being in love with Beatrice to grab her attention. Ursula: ‘But are you sure that Benedick loves Beatrice so entirely?’ Shakespeare uses a similar dialogue as used upon Benedick intentionally to show the audience the resemblance between the two lovers and how they react. This dialogue is enough to trap Beatrice into believing that what the two women are talking about is the truth.
Throughout this scene Hero talks about how Beatrice is a woman full of pride and ego and would never accept Benedick’s love if he were to confess,’ disdain and scorn ride sparkling in her eyes’. Hero’s plan is only to make sure that Beatrice is aware of her own feelings instead of countering these feelings back to Benedick and she indeed succeeds. By the end of the scene Beatrice has realized that she has irrevocably been in love with Benedick. ‘And Benedick love on, I will requite thee,’ Beatrice is now prepared to love back Benedick and fling her pride away. The ‘requite’ clearly highlights that she will only love Benedick now.
Beatrice also expresses a monologue similar to Benedick where she states that she is willing to abandon her ‘ill’ feelings towards Benedick and only love him. ‘To bind our loves up in a holy band.’ A dialogue that is very similar to Benedick, which proves that the two characters are ready to commit to each other, in other words get married. These dialogues written by Shakespeare are to show that the relationship between the two characters has always been so pious and sincere that they are immediately ready to bind their relationship into the holy bond of marriage.
The significance of these scenes is to enlighten the audience with how effortless it was for Beatrice and Benedick to accept their love towards each other. Shakespeare wants to show that no matter how much two people who are meant for one another may deny their feelings their love will only evolve and get stronger. These two scenes reflect Shakespeare’s passion for showing how love overpowers all other emotions and feelings which is why it is a genre that is emphasised the most in the play be it in any form.