Usually in books, plays, or movies I don’t like characters like Benedick, but there is something about him in “Much Ado about Nothing” that I really like. His back and forth banter with Beatrice was really great, they seem like high school kids with their dialogue. You can really see that it’s almost like an angsty teasing when, in line 109, Benedick is telling Beatrice she’s going to end up scratching someone’s face and Beatrice replies that if she ended up scratching Benedicks face it wouldn’t make it any worse than it already is. It’s lines like that that kind of show they aren’t really heavy duty enemies, there’s some weird flirting going on between the two. What makes it even more apparent is when Claudio admits he has a crush on Hero and this really ticks Benedick off. Benedick makes it sound like his life’s mission is doing his job, there is no room for women and he openly states that in his speech in line 195, he says “I will do myself the right and trust none. And the fine is-for which I may go the finer-I will live a bachelor.” Basically in that speech he pointed out he was thankful that a woman gave birth to him, but other than that he didn’t have any plans on chasing after them or giving in for love. He is content with being a bachelor, and he says he will be able to live a more lavish life style because of it.
Beatrice seems to be his female counterpart, she has no desire whatsoever for a husband. I’m sure there might be more meaning behind it but in her short speech in the beginning of act two she says “I could not endure a husband with a beard on his face. I had rather lie in the woolen.” I got a real kick out of that. I can picture this taking place in modern times and a group of girls sitting around a table talking about their “ideal man” and one saying “there is no way I could date a guy with a beard, I’d rather sleep on sand paper.” Or something along those lines, I found that pretty funny. In the same speech she points out that if God never sends a man to be her husband she would thank him every morning and every night, she even says that would be a blessing. I can feel some kind of foreshadowing about love involving Beatrice and Benedick coming up in the play. These two characters have pretty strict views about a significant other and their ideas seem to be playing a big part in the play so far, I think things are going to take an ironic turn for these two.
The other situation that led me to believe this is the masquerade dancing scene. The girls can’t see the guy’s faces and Benedick, who seemed so aggressive towards Beatrice, ends up dancing with her. Benedick keeps his indentify secret and leads Beatrice to believe he is someone else. Then he asks her what she thinks of him, this seems kind of shady considering our first impressions of his views of relationships. Benedick is like the kid in school who was rotten to a girl but he had a candle-lit shrine for her in the back of closet, always hoping no one would ever find it. I’m just not sure how Beatrice will come around, she more adamant about her feelings toward Benedick.
6 comments:
I never looked at Beatrice and Benedick's relationship as "high school" before but you made a lot of good points in your post. Their relationship is juvenile, and Benedick seems to be more guilty of this than Beatrice, especially in the masquerade scene. There is obviously some foreshadowing to something, possibly romantic, that is going to occur between Beatrice and Benedick before the end of the play.
I have to agree with your post about their relationship being like "high School". I thought the same thing when I was reading about Beatrice and Benedick. For people that hate each other so much they sure have alot in common. They both view finding some one and marry them the same. I am interested to see what will happen later on in the play. Who knows maybe they will fall madely in love with one another.
Benedick and Beatrice do have a very immature relationship. I think comparing to high school, especially early high school was a great comparison. I like the way they fight but seem to have deeper desire for one another it brings myself back to childish antics, like a first crush pretending not to like the other in public.
Personally, I liked Beatrice much more than Benedick. It seems like Benedick is the one who killed their prior relationship by leaving Beatrice, and I'm not sure why he did it since they seem to have a lot of chemistry. I guess he was just too afraid of being "yoked" to pursue a worthy woman.
On a personal note, I'm not entirely sure how "high school romance" is supposed to apply to Benedick and Beatrice since I don't remember ever acting the way they do. My experience with high school romance was all about guys having their friends pass ridiculous "do you like me yes/no" notes to me. That sounds more like Claudio's wooing of Hero than anything else.
A number of posts this week characterize the relationship between B & B as adolescent or "high school." I'm wondering if there is something that we find inherently adolescent about love games and wooing? It's a practice mainly associated with younger people, so is it the case that courtship practices are always coded, somehow, as immature?
It makes you wonder how their marriage is going to be.
oh, and that shrine in teh closet thing totally reminded me of Helga from Hey Arnold!
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