Benedick In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing
“There, Leonato, take her back again. Give not this rotten orange to your friend.”(Shakespeare 152). Hero, Beatrice's cousin, and Claudio, Benedicks friend, fall in love, but Don John creates a scheme framing Hero for not being a virgin, even though she is. This ultimately resolves, with them all finding out the truth and Benedick and Beatrice falling in love. In Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, Beatrice provides as the foil character of Benedick, by which Benedick irrational decisions are balanced out by Beatrice's reasonable mind, therefore influencing the conflict within the plot.
As can be seen, Benedick and Beatrice are the contrariety of each other, for Benedick is irrational in his decision making, while Beatrice is reasonable in hers, which furthers the love stories within the plot. For example, whenever Benedick overhears Claudio, Leonato, and Don Pedro talking about how much Beatrice loves him he immediately believes them. After Beatrice comes to ask him to come to dinner, he says to himself that what she said held a “double meaning” (Shakespeare 95) and that he …show more content…
senses “signs of love in her” (Shakespeare 93). Beatrice contradicts this by not immediately thinking that Hero is not a virgin whenever Claudio claims her to be with little to no proof. She comments after Hero wakes up that her cousin “has been slandered falsely” (Shakespeare 163). Equally important, not only do these two characters has contrasting traits, such as irrationality and reasonableness, but similar ones as well.
Not to mention, Benedick and Beatrice personality traits correlate, being as they are both stubborn people with witty dialogue, this helps them further their love for each other in the plot.
For example, Beatrice and Ursula are helping Hero get ready for the wedding, when Ursula says something witty. This sparked Beatrice to ask “Since when...claimed to be such a great wit?” Ursula retorts with “When you lost yours” (Shakespeare 141), this implies the Beatrice had great wit. To further this, Beatrice asks Benedick to kill Claudio, even though he is his friend. Later, Benedick goes up to Claudio and says “I challenge you however you like” (Shakespeare 199). This shows he is stubborn, because he is unwilling to yield to the challenge, not matter his relationship with him.All in all, these characters are both similar and polar opposites, which make them the perfect pair for each
other.
To conclude, Beatrice, serving as the foil character of Benedick, has a reasonable mind, therefore balancing with Benedick’s irrational one, effectively influencing the conflict within the plot. Finally, the traits of the characters affected the plot by, helping resolve the fact that Hero was innocent with Beatrice's reasonable mind, another thing is Benedick’s irrational mind drives him, with the help of Beatrice, to challenging Claudio, his friend, to a duel. With that, Beatrice and Benedick’s traits not only affected the conflict within the plot, but also made them a perfect match for each other, creating an interminable future.
As can be seen, Benedick and Beatrice are the contrariety of each other, for Benedick is irrational in his decision making, while Beatrice is reasonable in hers, which furthers the love stories within the plot. For example, whenever Benedick overhears Claudio, Leonato, and Don Pedro talking about how much Beatrice loves him he immediately believes them. After Beatrice comes to ask him to come to dinner, he says to himself that what she said held a “double meaning” (Shakespeare 95) and that he …show more content…
senses “signs of love in her” (Shakespeare 93). Beatrice contradicts this by not immediately thinking that Hero is not a virgin whenever Claudio claims her to be with little to no proof. She comments after Hero wakes up that her cousin “has been slandered falsely” (Shakespeare 163). Equally important, not only do these two characters has contrasting traits, such as irrationality and reasonableness, but similar ones as well.
Not to mention, Benedick and Beatrice personality traits correlate, being as they are both stubborn people with witty dialogue, this helps them further their love for each other in the plot.
For example, Beatrice and Ursula are helping Hero get ready for the wedding, when Ursula says something witty. This sparked Beatrice to ask “Since when...claimed to be such a great wit?” Ursula retorts with “When you lost yours” (Shakespeare 141), this implies the Beatrice had great wit. To further this, Beatrice asks Benedick to kill Claudio, even though he is his friend. Later, Benedick goes up to Claudio and says “I challenge you however you like” (Shakespeare 199). This shows he is stubborn, because he is unwilling to yield to the challenge, not matter his relationship with him.All in all, these characters are both similar and polar opposites, which make them the perfect pair for each
other.
To conclude, Beatrice, serving as the foil character of Benedick, has a reasonable mind, therefore balancing with Benedick’s irrational one, effectively influencing the conflict within the plot. Finally, the traits of the characters affected the plot by, helping resolve the fact that Hero was innocent with Beatrice's reasonable mind, another thing is Benedick’s irrational mind drives him, with the help of Beatrice, to challenging Claudio, his friend, to a duel. With that, Beatrice and Benedick’s traits not only affected the conflict within the plot, but also made them a perfect match for each other, creating an interminable future.