Much Ado About Nothing

There are a couple of reasons why Don John tries to sabotage Hero's wedding. One reason is that Don John blames Claudio for preventing him from overthrowing his brother. Apparently, when Don John...

Benedick means that, first, he and Beatrice know one another too well to overlook each other's faults and thus "woo peaceably". Second, he means that they aren't naive like some people and because...

Benedick and Beatrice, the sparring hearts at the center of William Shakespeare's comedy Much Ado About Nothing, are both witty, intelligent, and stubborn beyond belief. They both claim to be...

In Act II, Scene 3, of Much Ado About Nothing, Don Pedro, Claudio, and Leonato successfully “trick” Benedick into falling in love with Beatrice. Benedick has “railed so long against marriage,”...

Claudio and Benedick would not appear to have much in common. They do have similar life experiences as soldiers and both are energetic young men who appreciate life. However, this is where the...

In the early acts of the play, both Beatrice and Benedick can be described as two characters who love to hate each other. Both characters are very similar and it is their similarities that make...

In Much Ado About Nothing, honor is a concept that governs the social lives of the characters. To have honor is to be respected. Without honor, a character is essentially exiled from the life of...

In this passage from act 3, scene 1, of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, Beatrice is wondering about the likely truth of what she heard by eavesdropping. If it is true, then she vows...

Beatrice and Benedick’s relationship changes throughout the play. Before we even meet Benedick, Beatrice asks pointed questions about him. Leonato reveals that “There is a kind of merry war betwixt...

As Beatrice says to Benedick in Act 1, Scene i of Much Ado about Nothing, "I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me." (129-130). It is clear that she does not think...

An oxymoron is when a phrase is constructed using contradictory words or ideas that are placed next to each other. Some examples of this in common speech are the classic "jumbo shrimp" or the...

He will be a bad lover only if being a good poet and being prone to extravagant romantic gestures are the required qualities of a good lover. Benedick tries to write poetry for Beatrice, but it...

The songs appear in Act 2, sc. 3, and in Act 5, sc. 3. The first of these songs is in the scene where Claudio, Don Pedro, and Leonato plot to trick Benedick into believing that Beatrice loves him....

A static character is one who does not fundamentally change throughout a text, and a dynamic character is one who does. A round character is one who is complex, perhaps even contradictory, and...

Benedick is expressing astonishment that a man like Claudio, who's always laughed at men making fools of themselves over love, has became just like them. Benedick resolves that he will never end up...

Beatrice changes dramatically over the course of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. At the beginning of the play, she is witty, intelligent, independent, and unconventional. In a way, she poses...

His relationship to Beatrice is immediately established as one of a familiarity. If Beatrice had just referred to Benedick by his real name, than the audience would have no understanding of the...

Deception affects all of the major characters in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, who are, at one time or another, a deceiver, one who is deceived, or both. Beatrice and Benedick appear to be...

Beatrice promises to eat the soldiers that Benedick has killed. Her words are outrageous, of course. Her uncle, Leonato, is a little shocked by Beatrice's words. He tries to explain her words away...

Don John, having unsuccessfully rebelled against his brother, Don Pedro, and been defeated in battle, turns to other stratagems to make trouble. He feels especially malevolent towards the...

When Benedick begins to feel that he is in love with Beatrice, he also begins to feel blue because he now sees himself as the victim of his own joke. He, like, Claudio, used to mock men who fall in...

Hero and Leonato enjoy a close father-daughter relationship. She is characterized as a sweet-natured young woman and an obedient daughter to her father. This depiction of her character is what...

Hero’s innocence is eventually uncovered by the very silly Constable Dogberry. Before there is any proof, Friar Francis and Hero’s cousin Beatrice are convinced that she is not guilty of being...

During the first half of the play, Benedick claims both that he despises women and that they are attracted to him. He is opposed to marriage in part because of his overall misogyny, which includes...

I like to play a game whenever I read a piece of literature. It's a game to find as many themes as possible. I fill in the blank with whatever comes to mind, and then dive into the topic deeper...

The repetition of the symbol of food helps to further portray the theme of honor. Leonato has thrown Prince Don Pedro a feast fit for a king in order to honor him for his safe return home and his...

As Leonato in the first scene of this play, in reference to Beatrice's facetious queries as to how many men Benedick has killed and eaten, "there is a kind of merry war betwixt Signior Benedick"...

I like the analysis of the quote that explains it as a message of the morality within human actions. The progression of language in the quote parallels the descent of human action. To "dare"...

I agree with much of what the answer before me has already expressed—we're not really given all that much information as to the nature of the war which preceded the events of Much Ado About...

Beatrice has been hurt by Benedick before the play begins. This has colored her view of marriage. A highly intelligent and witty woman, she claims that she rejects marriage as an option for...

Hero and Beatrice are just about as opposite as night and day. Their one similarity is that both are witty and tease each other in their own way.We first see Hero's modest wit portrayed in the...

Beatrice loathes men in 1.1, especially the Benedick. For example, in lines 29-30, she resolutely declares, " I would rather hear my dog bark at a crow/than a man say he loves me." In 2.1, her...

Shakespeare uses Don Pedro and Don John as foil characters, each being the exact opposite of the other. To put it simply, the difference is that Don John is a bad man, and Don Pedro is a good man....

One reason why Benedick and Beatrice insist for so long that love is for fools is because they are both too proud to admit that they love the other. They both pride themselves on being independent,...

In addition to the superb answer above: "Men were deceivers ever." The main villain in the play is a male, Don John the Bastard. He dupes males: Don Pedro and Claudio. The play's hero is not...

A common mistake! Beatrice and Benedick don't hate each other. When the announcement of the arrival of the soldiers is made, Beatrice makes some insults of Benedick. However, Leonato calls the...

Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy by William Shakespeare which was probably written written in 1598 and/or 1599. The first thing to note is that although the play was written in England, it is...

Borachio and Margaret have an affair in Much Ado About Nothing. Borachio purposely times having sex with Margaret in view of a window as a part of Don John's plan to trick Claudio and Don Pedro...

After Benedick has been tricked into believing that Beatrice has feelings for him, they meet for dinner. William Shakespeare writes: Beatrice: Against my will I am sent to bid you come in to...

Act 4, scene 1 is supposed to be a wedding scene, but the actions of men turn the scene close to tragedy. The sociologist Talcott Parson says there are two types of gender roles in marriage: total...

From Much Ado About Nothing, Act II, scene i, this is an example of clever wordplay by Benedick. Using an analogy, Benedick compares Beatrice to a dish of food, which he does not care for. He...

Hero describes her cousin Beatrice as a very selfish person who judges men harshly. Hero describes Beatrice in this manner in order to persuade her to amend her ways and fall in love with...

The reason why Beatrice asks the messenger if Benedick has returned home from the wars is that they have a love-hate relationship. They are the sort of people who absolutely love to hate each...

In the scene referenced above, Benedick is claiming that "he did not think he would live till he was married." He is claiming that he didn't actually change his mind, he just lived...

In Much Ado About Nothing Balthasar is a servant and musician whose actions parallel those of the made leads, Don Pedro and Claudio. Balthasar flirts with Margaret during the masque and later...

Typical of both Beatrice's and Benedick's character traits to show disdain for each other and to mock each other, even in this final scene, at first they publicly deny that they love each other....