Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare

Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare

Antonio: Well, niece, I trust you'll be ruled by your father.

Beatrice: Yes faith, it is my cousin's duty to make curtsy, and say,

father as it please you.

Does this extract reflect Shakespeare's presentation of women in the

play, and what is your response to this presentation 400 years later?

The presentation of women in the play is varied. Shakespeare has

produced two very different presentations of women. One being

Beatrice, the assertive, outspoken, almost masculine female and the

other being Hero, the 'modest young lady' who does whatever she is

asked.

Beatrice has no mother or father in her life and therefore lacks a

sense of duty. She doesn't have a father to control her and tell her

what to do, which is a major contrast to Hero. Beatrice is perceived

in the play as a threat to the masculine world. She engages in verbal

battles with Benedick and openly criticises men, which goes against

Elizabethan ideals. In that society, people would have disapproved of

this and she would be perceived as lacking modesty, a great virtue of

the time.

It is so indeed, he is no less than a stuffed man; but

For the stuffing-well, we are all mortal.

Beatrice doesn't seem to offend anyone except Benedick. The other

characters are amused by her wit.

She speaks poniards, and every word stabs. If her

Breath were as terrible as her terminations, there

Were no living near her; she would infect to the north

Star.

When the soldiers return from war, Beatrice almost mocks them. Since

she has no man in her life to dominate her, she is full of strength,

intelligence and g...

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...nd how Beatrice changes. He is

challenging this conventional role of women; for example, Beatrice

controls Benedick in the relationship. In that sort of patriarchal

society, the women would usually conform eventually. Beatrice has this

strong, intelligent, witty and sharp character that slowly just fades

away towards the end.

I think Shakespeare has used this contrast of Hero and Beatrice for

comical purposes to show that there were women like Beatrice.

In Shakespeare's England, courtship was not the prolonged and romantic

affair it is now. The young folks did not make and unmake engagements

as they pleased, without consulting their parents. The etiquette of

betrothal was almost as formal and rigid as that of marriage is today.

Today, women are more like Beatrice the 'normal' female, independent

and sociable.