Lovers Benedick And Beatrice example essay topic

In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, conflict between the sexes is a rising theme throughout the play. "The differences between men and women-how they relate to each other, misunderstand each other, love and repel each other, is a common theme in motion pictures, comics, television comedies, and world literature. It appears throughout Shakespeare's comedies as well, and Much Ado is no exception to the pattern". (pg. 222) Much of the conflict concerns Beatrice and Benedick, whose relentless despise for one another foreshadows their falling in love. To understand the conflict between Beatrice and Benedick you must first have a little understanding of the story. The play begins with Leonato who lives in the Italian town of Messina. Leonato shares his house with his lovely young daughter, Hero, his niece, Beatrice, and his elderly brother, Antonio.

As the play begins, Leonato is preparing to welcome some friend's home from the war. His friends include Don Pedro, a prince and close friend of his, and two fellow soldiers: Claudio and Benedick. When the soldiers arrive at Leonato's home, Claudio quickly falls in love with Hero. Meanwhile, Benedick and Beatrice resume the war of witty insults that they have carried on with each other in the past. Claudio and Hero pledge their love to one another, and decide to be married. To pass the time in the week before the wedding, the lovers and their friends decide to play a game.

Don Pedro wants to get Beatrice and Benedick, who are clearly meant for each other, to stop arguing and fall in love. Don Pedro I will in the interim undertake one of Hercules' labours, which is to bring Signor Benedick And the Lady Beatrice into a mountain of affection Th " one with th " other. I would fain have it a match. (2, 1,336-39) Let's first take a look at Beatrice. She is a very strong and independent woman. "Beatrice is aggressive, almost shrewish; she has a low opinion of the mental capacities of men, and loves to better them in 'a skirmish of wit'". (pg. 43) We get the impression that Beatrice does not care for marriage or love.

And her sharp tongue does not help either. Her sarcastic and witty comments get the best of everyone, especially Benedick. "She is continually engaged in a witty war of words with Benedick". (pg. 43) Also her uncle Leonato expresses this, Leonato By my troth, niece, thou wilt never get thee a Husband if thou be so shrewd of thy tongue. (2, 1, 16-17) We ponder whether or not such a self-absorbed woman can love a man. All the odds appear to be against her. Her cousin Hero best summarizes Beatrice, Hero But nature never fram'd a woman's heart Of prouder stuff than that of Beatrice.

Disdain and scorn ride sparkling in her eyes, Misprising what they look on, and her wit Values itself so highly, that to her All matters else seems weak. She cannot love, Nor take no shape nor project of affection, She is so self-endear'd (3, 1, 49-56) Benedick is just as witty and sarcastic as Beatrice. They constantly bump heads with one another. He is steadily losing verbal battles with Beatrice. "He is mercilessly bantered by Beatrice, and vows to remain a bachelor". (pg. 45) In the beginning of the play, Benedick vows never to marry. Benedick But that I will have a re cheat winded in my Forehead, or hang my bugle in an invisible baldric, all Women shall pardon me.

Because I will not do them The wrong to mistrust any, I will do myself the right To trust none. And the fine is-for which I may go the finer-I will live a bachelor. (1, 1,219-24) Two people could never appear to be so wrong for each other. So how did they end up together?

"Don Pedro pursued his plan to persuade Benedick and Beatrice to stop quarreling and fall in love with each other. When Benedick was close by, thinking himself unseen, Don Pedro, Claudio, and Leonato talked of their great sympathy for Beatrice, who loved Benedick but was unloved in return. The three told one another of the love letters Beatrice wrote to Benedick and then tore them up, and in fact that Beatrice beat her breast and sobbed over her unrequited love for Benedick". (pg. 223) Benedick is not the only one who overhears a conversation. "At the same time, on occasions when Beatrice was nearby but apparently unseen, Hero and her maid told each other that poor Benedick pined and sighed for the heartless Beatrice". (pg. 223) The matchmaking plan had worked.

"The two unsuspecting people decided not to let the other suffer. Each would sacrifice principles and accept the other's love". (pg. 223) Everyone could see what Beatrice and Benedick struggled to hide, their love for each other. I saw it, the audience saw it, and even the other characters saw it. "In several important respects, Beatrice and Benedick are prototypes of the witty lovers in the Restoration comedy. Like Restoration lovers, Beatrice and Benedick use wit to distance emotions, which they recognize as potentially dangerous. They cling to the society of their own sex because there they feel safe, but they cannot resist launching provocative shafts of ridicule or inquiry into the enemy's terrain".

(Barton pg. 329) They mock each other, talk behind each other backs, but only because they cannot help thinking about each other. They are both "seduced by Don Pedro's deception, the masque he arranges to lead both Beatrice and Benedick to the altar. Both of them, after hearing that they are adored by the other, pledge their love and devotion". (pg. 225) They fall in love and express their feelings for each other, and eventually get married. Hero An, d Benedick, love on. I will requite thee Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand If thou dost love, my kindness shall incite thee To bind our loves up in a holy band (3, 1,111-14) Benedick and Beatrice also have a history behind them that adds weight to their relationship. "The impression is given that Beatrice and Benedick have a history together of some sort; perhaps they were at one time interested in each other romantically, but at the time the play opens they are coolly hostile to each other.

Something has happened between them to cause this, but it is never made clear". (pg. 223) Shakespeare never makes it clear of Benedick's and Beatrice's past, but he doesn't have to because there is no need to. "Shakespeare does not say why the relationship broke down but, in the comedy itself, each one is obsessed with and continually talking about the other in a manner which makes it clear from the start that their animosity is a cloak for feelings of a very different kind. This is why they can be tricked with such ease. All that the conspirators have to do is to suggest to each that the other has settled first, has taken the first step towards an acknowledgment of love, and all defenses crumble. Both Beatrice and Benedick, for all their surface gaiety, their scorn of the married state, are essentially lonely people.

They are older than Claudio and Hero, and in danger of finding themselves imprisoned for life within a sat of attitudes and social responses which, though witty and amusing, are nonetheless inhibiting and sterile". (Barton pg. 329) Beatrice and Benedick are the protagonists of the comic and competitive love story. Hero and Claudio are also protagonists, but their love story is more tragic than comic. Beatrice and Benedick are introduced before Hero and Claudio. "Scholars have often emphasized that Shakespeare deliberately introduces the sparring mockers, Beatrice and Benedick, before the pallid romantics, Hero and Claudio". (pg. 223) "For years critics of Much Ado have examined the reason why the Hero-and -Claudio plot seems so colorless alongside the romance of Beatrice and Benedick". (pg. 256) Although the young lovers Hero and Claudio provide the main force of the plot, the courtship between the older, wiser lovers Benedick and Beatrice is what makes this play so memorable to its readers "Most critics concur that Shakespeare's depiction of the relationship between Beatrice and Benedick far surpasses that of Hero and Claudio in depth and interest". Hero and Claudio fall in love right from the start.

It was that easy for them. 1. Fall in love at first sight. 2. Get married. 3.

Live happily ever after. We have heard this fairy tale story line thousands of times. It is different for Beatrice and Benedick though. For them it wasn't as easy as 1, 2, and 3.

Instead with Beatrice and Benedick, you get to witness a journey from hatred to love. .".. without the Beatrice and Benedick story, the relationship of Hero and Claudio seems flat". (Barton pg. 327) They play was a wonderful example of Shakespeare genius. There is no source of plot of Beatrice and Benedick, because Shakespeare created the great hate-love relationship story line. One minute Benedick and Beatrice are arguing, and the next they get married. This is just one example of Shakespeare's immense talents as a writer. He was before his time..