Character foils are when a character in a play or book bring out the characteristics of another character. Shakespeare uses this method of indirect characterization in many of his plays. In the play Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, Hero and Beatrice are character foils because they have opposite personality traits, they react differently to certain situations, and they express emotions in different ways. Hero and Beatrice both display different personality traits throughout the entirety of the play. One example of this is when Claudio says, ¨In mine eye she is the sweetest lady that ever I looked on¨ (Shakespeare 7). This shows how people view Hero as a sweet and kind person with a big heart. This also shows how her looks radiate happiness. On the other hand, on page 26, Don Pedro says, ¨ You have put him down, lady, you have put him down.¨ Don Pedro is explaining to Beatrice how she has upset Benedict and has lost his heart. Beatrice lost the heart of a man who loved her by being ungrateful and showing hatred toward everyone. In contrary in Hero, this shows …show more content…
This is mainly shown when Beatrice says, ¨Kill Claudio¨ (Shakespeare 74). This is a clear example of Beatrice´s quick and harsh reaction to a situation disregarding any common sense. Hero showed the opposite effect when she said, ¨I talk´d with no man at that hour, my lord.¨ (Shakespeare 68). This shows how she decided to defend her action and later lets her emotions overtake her and breaks down. Beatrice and Hero´s reactions were quite different in that one had anger driven response leading to harsh actions, and the other had emotional thoughts and contemplated the reason for the bad situation. Both Hero and Beatrice chose an opposite emotion to drive their actions