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Representation of women in Shakespeare
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The Portrayal of Benedick and Beatrice in William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing
At the beginning of William Shakespeare's play "Much Ado About
Nothing" he portrays Beatrice and Benedick as two argumentative young
people. However he also portrays them as being attracted to each
other, this becomes clear because the first thing Beatrice says in the
play is " I pray you, is Signor Mountanto return'd from the wars or
no?" She is talking about Benedick asking the messenger in a joking
kind of way did Benedick come back from the war or did he die? This
shows that Beatrice is clearly interested in Benedick because he is
the only thing she talks about through out the whole of act one. Also
the first thing Benedick says is also about Beatrice "were you in
doubt sir that you ask'd her?" Also the first time in the play that
Beatrice and Benedick lay eyes on each other they have an argument.
When these two are having their argument they are arguing about the
silliest things. "Benedick: you are a rare parrot teacher Beatrice: a
bird of my tongue is better than a beast of yours." In a way they are
always in tune with each other, arguing about the same things but
exchanging words in their argument. The audience get the impression
that they are masking their feelings. For example if you liked someone
you would exchange a complement, instead of doing that these two
exchange insults which is their only way of communicating in a
civilised manner. Even from the start of the play we know they are
destined to be together.
These two characters have had a relationship in the past: "I know you
of old" and now they use their wits to try and hurt the...
... middle of paper ...
...of childish lust after each
other. Shakespeare has done this to add tension to the piece and
create it as if some thing is all ways going to happen between these
two characters.
In the garden scenes both Beatrice and Benedick are both easily
deceived in to falling in love with one and other, this proves that
both these characters must have feelings for each other, as if they
didn't then it would take a lot more than the prince and his side men,
and hero and her chamber maid's, to trick them in to falling in love.
It only takes a couple of minutes to trick both these characters in to
falling in love with each other, but before Beatrice knows how
Benedick feels she is sent out to fetch him for dinner little did she
know that, Benedick is now in love with her and he thinks that at this
point she is in love with him.
Comparing Shakespeare's Presentation of the Love Between Claudio and Hero with that Between Beatrice and Benedick
Benedick’s Change of Heart by the End of Act 2 Scene 3 of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing
?Much Ado About Nothing'' is a postwar love story. Its principal subject is that of romance that may settle over the land after soldiers come home. I noticed that Much Ado is actually two love stories. One concerns sweetly innocent lovers who are driven apart by the plotting of enemies. The other involves very sarcastic lovers who are swept into each other's arms by the benign machinations of friends. I had a lot of trouble understanding the dialect, I grew up a country boy and we didn?t do much of this in my 14 persons graduating class. None the less I didn?t think it was a waste of time either. It was of very good quality as far as a plot is concerned. It had evil, jealousy, lust, love, romance, comedy and of course tragedy. If I were to do it over again I would go see the movie first, the play second. I was able to understand more from the movie than I did the play. I think that if I had done this I might have got more from the play.
The ability of an author to capture the interest of the audience has and will always be an important factor in the art of storytelling and even the expression of research or related material. When an author is able to seize the attention of any partaking of their work, curiosity will develop which will lead to the wonder of what the conclusion my bring about. Not only is it important to snatch the audience’s attention in the beginning, it is necessary to hold it prisoner throughout the tale. Authors do this by having an interesting plot development in which many unexpected details come into play and the course of the story is thrown from the norm and into the conflict. Shakespeare was a master of this art in the work he produced throughout his life and was able to create stories of humor and those of tragedy. For example, his play King Lear is a terrible tragedy in which many awful things take place and the story ends by disastrous means. While in the play Much Ado About Nothing, very little conflict is present and if it is, it is resolved quickly and the play concludes with the joyfulness of marriage nuptials. His ability to develop plot and story in a way in which the audience who love to devour, Shakespeare will in a way immortalize himself, “Shakespeare proved himself to be both the "soul of the age" his works reflected and adorned and the consummate symbol of the artist whose poetic visions transcend their local habitation and become, in some mysterious way, contemporaneous with ‘all time.’” (Andrews) As stated, Shakespeare went beyond his time and created traditions, symbols, sayings, and even stories that people today will remember forever. King Lear and Much Ado About Nothing are each examples of Shakespeare's detailed ...
“The test of a round character is whether it is capable of surprising in a convincing way. If it never surprises, it is flat. If it does not convince, it is a flat pretending to be round.” -E.M. Forster
...e down by weeping. Shakespeare shows us that Beatrice is the only character despite some of these positive attributes of Beatrice’s character, she is very rude about men. She says ‘but manhood is melted into curtsies’ showing Benedick her lack of respect towards men. However it is possibly her refreshing honesty that leads her to be a positive role model.
“Language is frequently used to stir up & manipulate emotions.” - Mary Hamer. The words that people say can appear brutal or detrimental. These violent words take up many forms such as lying, insulting, etc. Along with its’ comedic formula, William Shakespeare's, Much Ado About Nothing is enhanced with humorous mockery and intertwined dialogues. In the play, the soldiers have just returned from a successful war. Love is traveling through the village; however the “language of war” appears rooted in the language. Numerous times do the characters joke around in cruel dialects. The mockery, however, is not considered to be as harsh due to the presence of comedy within the play. William Shakespeare’s intricate use of language in his play, Much Ado About Nothing, allows immense aggressive language to thrive in the characters yet is able to use this to alleviate the violence.
Shakespeare makes sure that Beatrice comes off as a woman who is not afraid to speak her mind to anyone. This is portrayed in the beginning of act one, when the mail messenger comes to announce that the soldiers are on their way to Messina. They start a conversation about Benedick and he tells Beatrice that Benedick is a "lord to a lord, a ...
At the beginning, Benedick’s attitude is negative towards women in general. He swears he will never marry, as he is very critical of women and does not trust any of them not to cheat on him. He seems to oppose with Beatrice in a competition to outwit, outsmart, and out-insult each other. Obviously he has been in some sort of past relationship with Beatrice because when he meets her at the masked ball, she describes him as a selfish pig. We can infer that Benedick has some kind of deep feelings for her because after she insults him he is hurt and says, “Will your grace command me any service to the world’s end? I will go on the slightest errand now to the Antipodes that you can devise to send me on. I will fetch you a toothpick from the furthest inch of Asia . . . do you any embassage to the pigmies, rather than hold three words’ conference with this harpy” (II.i.229–235). This blatantly means that he does not wish to talk to her.
She adds that she’s agreeable with everyone, with him as an exception. Benedick retorts that she’s lucky that she doesn’t love him like all the other women he knows, because he loves no one, especially not her. Beatrice responds, “A dear happiness to women, they would have been troubled by a pernicious suitor.... ... middle of paper ...
In William Shakespeare's short play Much Ado About Nothing, he focuses on the social standings and the roles of women in 16th Century Europe. The female protagonist of the play, Beatrice, understands the restrictions placed upon her by society and how these restrictions should limit her as a woman, but she inexorably escapes them by refusing to succumb to the unifying hand of marriage. Throughout the play, Shakespeare displays his profound respect for woman as independent individuals who are fully capable of making their own decisions and suffering their own consequences. Through the plot, he proposes the idea that women who deviate away from the passivity that society expects them to perform attain a more active role in the determination of their future. Contrary to the roles of women of the 16th Century, Shakespeare depiction of Beatrice's independence is symbolic of his stance on the progression and transformation of women's reputation in society.
adds to the comedy of the rest of play. It is obvious to the audience
Misunderstandings generate conflict and drive stories forward. William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing is a play filled to the brim with misunderstandings and comedic situations. The constable of Messina, Dogberry, contributes to many such comedic situations with his twisted speech and juxtaposing sobriety. In this essay, Dogberry’s reality, character, and wrongly-used phrases are to be compared to actual reality.
This is part of her “merry war” with Benedick. Beatrice appears to loathe Benedick and vice versa; they engage in many “skirmishes of wit.” However, although Beatrice appears hardened and sharp, she is vu...
Beatrice is, without a doubt, one of the strongest female characters that Shakespeare ever came up with in his time of writing. Shakespeare shows, through Beatrice, how every woman should act in an era where only the men were even able to have control. In this era, or the renaissance time, no woman had free will; they were always told what they could and could not do, as well as, who they were to marry. In the play “Much Ado About Nothing” Beatrice has many qualities but the ones that stand out the most in the play are: her independence, her feistiness, and of course her openness to defy male subjection.