The Headcanon In Benedick's Much Ado About Nothing
I first got the idea for the headcanon in the first scene of the play, when Benedick explicitly states he has never been in love: “And I would I could find in my heart that I had not a hard heart, for truly I love none.” (1.1) In the same scene, he implies that he doesn’t understand romantic attraction: “That I neither feel how [Hero] should be loved nor know how she should be worthy is the opinion that fire cannot melt out of me.” (1.1)
In Beatrice’s first line after Benedick’s “hard heart” comment, she says “I thank God and my cold blood that I am of your humor for that,” meaning that she doesn’t want a romantic relationship either, and adds “I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.” (1.1) She says later that she is “upon [her] knees every morning and evening” praying that God will “send [her] no husband.” (2.1) …show more content…
I hadn’t read more than a page further than that when I sent my first message, but I finished the play this afternoon.
I needed to see how they ended up.
At the end of 2.1, Don Pedro, Leonato, Claudio, and Hero all acted in basically the most amatonormative way possible by trying to set Beatrice and Benedick up with each other. They should be ashamed of themselves. I’ll have more to say on that later.
Benedick said about the possibility that he might fall in love, “I cannot tell; I think not” (2.3)—which is a common reason for labeling as gray-aro. In the same speech, he said, “[T]ill all graces be in one woman, one woman shall not come in my grace,” which made me think he might specifically be
idemromantic.
Being moved by music is established as a symbol for emotion, and especially romantic love, when Beatrice says in 2.1:
For hear me, Hero, wooing, wedding, and repenting is as a Scotch jig, a measure, and a cinquepace. The first suit is hot and hasty like a Scotch jig, and full as fantastical; the wedding, mannerly modest as a measure, full of state and ancientry; and then comes repentance, and with his bad leg falls into the cinquepace faster and faster till he sink into his grave.
Benedick confirms the comparison in 2.3 with the line “Is it not strange that sheeps’ guts [i.e, the strings of an instrument] should hale souls out of men’s bodies?” but in the same line eschews personal connection to this supposedly stirring music, saying he prefers the horn. This could be explained by romance repulsion leading him to distance himself from experiences he perceives as romantic.
When the amatonormative conspirators mentioned above are trying to convince Benedick that Beatrice is in love with him, the way they frame the false rumor provides further evidence of Beatrice’s aromanticism. Don Pedro says, “I would have thought her spirit had been invincible against all assaults of affection.” (2.3) He clearly thought this mock disbelief was the best way to get Benedick to swallow the story, presumably due to Beatrice having a reputation as a woman uninterested in romance (=openly aro Beatrice).
The conspirators arrange for Beatrice to overhear that Benedick is supposedly in love with her, and that she is thought badly of because she refuses to marry. Beatrice tells the audience that she is deeply ashamed and resolves to change. She concludes with:
And Benedick, love on; I will requite thee, Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand. If thou dost love me, my kindness shall incite thee To bind our loves up in a holy band. For others say thou dost deserve, and I Believe it better than reportingly. (3.1)
Beatrice is saying she will reciprocate romantic gestures, up to and including marriage, because people have told her Benedick “deserves” it, and she agrees. Another of her reasons is implied to be so that others will think well of her for settling down. This does not necessarily mean she loves him; indeed, it suggests that she doesn’t really understand romantic love and how it relates to marriage.
This theme is reprised in 4.1, where Beatrice says bitterly to Benedick, “Ah, how much might the man deserve of me that would right her!”—meaning that she would marry any man who restored Hero’s honor. Benedick asked how he could “show such friendship,” apparently missing the romantic subtext. A few lines later Benedick says, “I do love nothing in the world as well as you,” to which Beatrice answers, “It were as possible for me to say I loved nothing so well as you, but believe me not, and yet I lie not, I confess nothing, nor I deny nothing”—they both seem hesitant to describe their feelings as love.
Benedick asks Margaret for help writing a love poem to Beatrice in 5.2, and thinks nothing of promising to write a poem praising Margaret’s beauty in return, apparently not considering that this could be interpreted as emotional infidelity. The very fact that he needed help to write out something suitably romantic could be interpreted as the result of a lack of romantic attraction, and the same for that he didn’t think of the poem as being less special for being a collaborative effort.
Right before Claudio and Hero’s real wedding in 5.4, Benedick asks Beatrice if she loves him. She says “no more than reason,” and asks him whether he loves her. He answers with the same phrase. Benedick asks again whether she loves him. She says, “No, truly, but in friendly recompense,” meaning she does love him, but in a platonic way. Not five lines later, they agree to marry.
They know they’re not romantically attracted to each other. They just said so. Bendick/Beatrice is a canon queerplatonic pairing, and if you intend to say otherwise, you must first pry it from my cold, dead hands.
In Beatrice’s first line after Benedick’s “hard heart” comment, she says “I thank God and my cold blood that I am of your humor for that,” meaning that she doesn’t want a romantic relationship either, and adds “I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.” (1.1) She says later that she is “upon [her] knees every morning and evening” praying that God will “send [her] no husband.” (2.1) …show more content…
I hadn’t read more than a page further than that when I sent my first message, but I finished the play this afternoon.
I needed to see how they ended up.
At the end of 2.1, Don Pedro, Leonato, Claudio, and Hero all acted in basically the most amatonormative way possible by trying to set Beatrice and Benedick up with each other. They should be ashamed of themselves. I’ll have more to say on that later.
Benedick said about the possibility that he might fall in love, “I cannot tell; I think not” (2.3)—which is a common reason for labeling as gray-aro. In the same speech, he said, “[T]ill all graces be in one woman, one woman shall not come in my grace,” which made me think he might specifically be
idemromantic.
Being moved by music is established as a symbol for emotion, and especially romantic love, when Beatrice says in 2.1:
For hear me, Hero, wooing, wedding, and repenting is as a Scotch jig, a measure, and a cinquepace. The first suit is hot and hasty like a Scotch jig, and full as fantastical; the wedding, mannerly modest as a measure, full of state and ancientry; and then comes repentance, and with his bad leg falls into the cinquepace faster and faster till he sink into his grave.
Benedick confirms the comparison in 2.3 with the line “Is it not strange that sheeps’ guts [i.e, the strings of an instrument] should hale souls out of men’s bodies?” but in the same line eschews personal connection to this supposedly stirring music, saying he prefers the horn. This could be explained by romance repulsion leading him to distance himself from experiences he perceives as romantic.
When the amatonormative conspirators mentioned above are trying to convince Benedick that Beatrice is in love with him, the way they frame the false rumor provides further evidence of Beatrice’s aromanticism. Don Pedro says, “I would have thought her spirit had been invincible against all assaults of affection.” (2.3) He clearly thought this mock disbelief was the best way to get Benedick to swallow the story, presumably due to Beatrice having a reputation as a woman uninterested in romance (=openly aro Beatrice).
The conspirators arrange for Beatrice to overhear that Benedick is supposedly in love with her, and that she is thought badly of because she refuses to marry. Beatrice tells the audience that she is deeply ashamed and resolves to change. She concludes with:
And Benedick, love on; I will requite thee, Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand. If thou dost love me, my kindness shall incite thee To bind our loves up in a holy band. For others say thou dost deserve, and I Believe it better than reportingly. (3.1)
Beatrice is saying she will reciprocate romantic gestures, up to and including marriage, because people have told her Benedick “deserves” it, and she agrees. Another of her reasons is implied to be so that others will think well of her for settling down. This does not necessarily mean she loves him; indeed, it suggests that she doesn’t really understand romantic love and how it relates to marriage.
This theme is reprised in 4.1, where Beatrice says bitterly to Benedick, “Ah, how much might the man deserve of me that would right her!”—meaning that she would marry any man who restored Hero’s honor. Benedick asked how he could “show such friendship,” apparently missing the romantic subtext. A few lines later Benedick says, “I do love nothing in the world as well as you,” to which Beatrice answers, “It were as possible for me to say I loved nothing so well as you, but believe me not, and yet I lie not, I confess nothing, nor I deny nothing”—they both seem hesitant to describe their feelings as love.
Benedick asks Margaret for help writing a love poem to Beatrice in 5.2, and thinks nothing of promising to write a poem praising Margaret’s beauty in return, apparently not considering that this could be interpreted as emotional infidelity. The very fact that he needed help to write out something suitably romantic could be interpreted as the result of a lack of romantic attraction, and the same for that he didn’t think of the poem as being less special for being a collaborative effort.
Right before Claudio and Hero’s real wedding in 5.4, Benedick asks Beatrice if she loves him. She says “no more than reason,” and asks him whether he loves her. He answers with the same phrase. Benedick asks again whether she loves him. She says, “No, truly, but in friendly recompense,” meaning she does love him, but in a platonic way. Not five lines later, they agree to marry.
They know they’re not romantically attracted to each other. They just said so. Bendick/Beatrice is a canon queerplatonic pairing, and if you intend to say otherwise, you must first pry it from my cold, dead hands.