Comparing Hero And Beatrice In William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

In William Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing many characters are compared and contrast as many are paired up. Two characters in particular who could be contrasted and compared are Hero and Beatrice. Hero and Beatrice are cousins and a very different from one another. However, as the play progresses and the characters begin to develop, some similarities between the two begin to show up. Leonato is Hero’s father while Beatrice has no parents. As a result of her not having any parents she has more freedom. Beatrice is best described as cynical and sharp while Hero is very quiet, respectful and gentle. The ways the two react and don’t react to things creates a very huge difference between them and it reveals a lot about who they are. Shakespeare constant use of dramatic irony and contrasting plots show just how easy it is for Hero and Beatrice to be compared on contrasted.

In the first scene of the play, Beatrice makes a joke about Signior Bendick’s fighting abilities by comparing him to Signior Mountanto which can be translated to as “Fancy Fighter”. Hero, knowing the kind of person Beatrice is and knowing that she admires Signior Benedick more than she makes known, explains

This is shown with their views on marriage. Hero is willing to marry whoever her father asks her too and when Leonato finds out that Don Pedro seeks marriage with Hero, he encourages Hero to marry and says to Hero, “Daughter, remember what I told you. If the prince does solicit you in the kind, you know your answer” (II.i.57-58). Beatrice, however rebels completely against marriage and says “If he send me no husband; for the which blessing / I am at him upon my knees every morning and evening” (23-25). This shows how she isn’t willing to conform and be so respectful of what people think. Hero however is very conforming so it shows the difference in just how they go about certain