Beatrice and Benedick as a Couple in William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

Beatrice and Benedick as a Couple in William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

'Much Ado About Nothing' is a Shakespeare play set in Mecina. It is a

comedy, about Don Pedro and his friends. The play focuses on the

relationships of the characters, especially that of Beatrice/Benedick

and Claudio/Hero. The two romances follow two different ideas, one an

average romance in Shakespeare's day, the other a not so average

romance. Beatrice and Benedick's history together is made clear from

the start, when Beatrice tells the messenger bringing news of

Benedick's return, that he 'is no less than a stuffed man', implying

that he is very full of himself. This shows right from the start that

any romance between Benedick and Beatrice would be rather complicated.

However, Hero and Claudio's relationship is much more simple. Claudio

remarks that Hero 'is the sweetest Lady that ever I look'd on' and

that to a Shakespearian audience would be enough for them to presume

the two would get married, because Claudio was a fairly important

person. However, that may not be so satisfying to a modern audience,

who are used to romances ending in disaster in films or on TV. This

essay will look at the ways in which these two romances work, and

which is more satisfying to an audience of today, as well as the

audience this play was designed for.

As 'Much Ado About Nothing' starts, the first thing the audience is

aware of is the use of Beatrice's wit against Benedick, when a

messenger brings news of the arrival of Don Pedro to Mecina. Beatrice

asks the messenger 'is Signior Mountanto return'd from the wars or

no'. The messenger does not understand whom she is t...

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through, and you didn't really know whether it was going to end one

way, or another. It was also more realistic, because they didn't

suddenly see each other and think 'that's the one for me'. They worked

on their relationship, and sorted out their problems, before they got

married. However, to a Shakespearian audience this relationship would

seem confusing, and strange, as it was not they way they were used to

people behaving. Also, to see a character like Beatrice behaving in

the way she did would have just been strange.

In conclusion, in Shakespeare's play 'Much Ado About Nothing', the

relationships of the characters Beatrice and Benedick would have

satisfied an audience of today, whereas the relationship of Hero and

Claudio would have satisfied the Shakespearian audience it was

originally written for.