Much Ado about Nothing 955a conversation about Benedick’s arrival, Leonato
comments on the verbal “merry war” between his
niece and the hero. In this exchange between the
two characters, Beatrice “speaks poniards, and every
word stabs” (2.1.247–248). The power of Beatrice’s
tongue attracts so much attention that it is sure to
ward off any possible suitors. In other words, while
she imitates masculine behavior through her wit and
conversation, she also manages to avoid intimacy
and a display of emotional vulnerability generally
associated with women.
Although Beatrice avoids Messina’s typical femi-
nine social roles of wife and mother with her vibrant
voice, at the same time, she secretly desires a hus-
band when she laments, “Thus goes everyone / to
the world but I, and I am sunburnt. I may sit in a /
corner and cry ‘Heigh-ho for a husband!’ ” (2.1.303–
305). By the second act of the play, however, her
defense mechanisms appear unsuccessful. Already
innuendoes and other forms of falsified remarks
bring Beatrice and Benedick toward the recognition
of their mutual love. At the play’s midpoint (3.1),
Beatrice openly admits her feelings for the hero:
What fire is in mine ears? Can this be true?
Stand I condemned for pride and scorn so
much?
Contempt, farewell, and maiden pride,
adieu!
No glory lives behind the back of such.
And Benedick, love on; I will requite thee,
Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand.
(3.1.107–112)When Beatrice confesses her true feelings, she also
surrenders the pride associated with her unruly wit
as her heart is tamed by love and she accepts her
expected role of wife.
In contrast, Beatrice’s cousin, Hero, illustrates
an acceptable form of femininity from the play’s
beginning. While Beatrice speaks volumes, Hero
remains silent. In fact, when Don John tries to cause
problems for Claudio, Hero’s suitor, by spreading
false rumors about the young woman’s alleged pro-
miscuity, Claudio and Leonato believe them, while
Hero refuses to say anything. The Friar and Beatrice
intervene to defend the girl, falsifying Hero’s sui-
cide in order to create an atmosphere of mourning
and remorse. Unfortunately, because Hero is little
valued as a woman, Claudio and the others do not
show guilt or sadness. Once the men understand
that Hero never committed a sin, they express their
anxiety over her death. Hero then emerges, and the
play comes to an end as she is reunited with Claudio.
Both couples, Hero and Claudio and Beatrice and
Benedick, plan to marry in the future.
While Much Ado about Nothing seemingly ques-
tions the traditional gender roles of men and women
in Messina through Beatrice’s defiance of them, at
the same time, the play decidedly ends with an affir-
mation of patriarchal values as Benedick exclaims,
“Peace! I will stop your mouth” (5.4.96), silencing
his fiancée with a kiss. Still, it cannot be denied that
Beatrice, for a time, equates herself with men and
the power they hold. Unfortunately, she succumbs
to love and in so doing, she relinquishes her inde-
pendence and self-control in the male-dominated
world of Messina.
Susan LeeprIde in Much Ado about Nothing
Much Ado about Nothing begins with Beatrice’s
proud avowal that Sir Benedick is admired for little
reason when she observes that “In our last / conflict,
four of his five wits went halting off, and now/ is the
whole man governed with one; so that if he have /
wit enough to keep himself warm, let him bear it
/ for a difference between himself and his horse”
(1.1.61–65). Although the “merry war” between
Beatrice and Benedick appears an elaborate display
of wit and social interaction, at the same time, the
characters use their proud avowals as a way of pro-
tecting themselves from betrayal by the opposite
sex.
Consistently throughout the play, the men fear
being cuckolded as they proudly evoke the powers
of bachelorhood versus the confines and possible
betrayal of marriage. Directly after Beatrice wittily
responds to the men in Leonato’s court, Don Pedro
introduces himself to Hero, Leonato’s daughter,
asking whether or not she is the governor’s heir.
Leonato replies: “Her mother hath many times told
me so,” illustrating that the only proof he really pos-
sesses is a woman’s word.