A Comparison Of Hero And Beatrice In Much Ado About Nothing

Have you ever considered how far society has come in terms of what’s socially expected of people's behavior and personality? Though some people may argue that women are still incredibly oppressed in their rights, society has strayed from the ideals of Elizibathen times. For instance, in the play Much Ado About Nothing, written by William Shakespeare, the harrowing expected gender roles of the time period are blazoned throughout the work. In particular, Shakespeare’s characters from the play fit into Elizabethan England and its customs perfectly, specifically Hero and Beatrice. Though during this era Hero may have been seen as a flawless example of an Elizabethan woman, whilst Beatrice was quite the opposite, both women mirror the time period

However, whilst Hero may have fit the role of ‘A Virgin’, Beatrice better fits the description of ‘An Vnquiet Woman’. In the excerpt from “The Good and the Badde”, a section describes ‘An Vnquiet Woman’ claiming, “Her voice is the skrieching of an owle” (“The Good and the Badde” 37). This essentially means that a woman of this kind is very talkative which was frowned upon during this time period. At the beginning of the play we see Benedick complaining about how much Beatrice talks. When on his rant he says, “I would my horse had the speed of your tongue and so good a continuer”(Shakespeare 1.1.139-140). This clearly shows that Beatrice was in fact quite talkative, just like the section about ‘An Vnquiet Woman’ described. The paragraph continues to describe this particular variety of female character stating, “She feares no colours, she cares for no counsaile” (“The Good and the Badde” 37). To put into simpler terms, ‘An Vnquiet Woman’ is not just talkative, but also fearless and independent. Beatrice is an amazing example of both of these qualities. She shows how independent she is when on the topic of marriage she argues, ''God make men of some other metal than earth. Would it not grieve a woman to be overmastered with a piece of valiant dust? To make an account of her life to a clod of wayward marl?'' (Shakespeare 2.1.59-62). Here, Beatrice is speaking on her low opinion of men saying

To clarify, In the excerpt from “The Good and the Badde”, a section describing ‘A Good Wife’ claims she is “a mistris of passion” (“The Good and the Badde” 38). Without a doubt, seeing that Hero is passionate is an easy task. She shows her love for Claudio, falling in love with him at first sight. Additionally, at their wedding she says, “And when I lived I was your other wife and when you loved you were my other husband.” (Shakespeare 5.4. 61-62). What makes this incredibly passionate of Hero is the fact that even after Claudio falsely accused her of being unloyal, forcing her to pretend to be dead and protect her honor, she still accepts and loves him as her husband. As for Beatrice, at first glance she may not seem all too passionate, especially considering her negative views toward marriage. Even so, throughout the course of the tragi-comedy, we watch Beatrice slowly fall in love with Benedick. When finally confessing this to Benedick she announces, “I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest.”(Shakespeare 4.1.300-301). This is quite the character development for Beatrice after, for the majority of the play, she and Benedick would argue as if they hated each other. Seeing something like this come from Beatrice herself shows that she can in fact be passionate. Both Hero and Beatrice can be described as ‘A Good Wife’, as depicted in