Much Ado About Nothing Benedick Pride

In Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare uses the characters of Claudio and Beatrice to argue that pride can lead one to not consider others' words or feelings. In Much Ado About Nothing, Claudio and Beatrice are both very proud and protective of their image. This pride leads them to say things to others before they've had a chance to think, and they end up hurting others with what they’ve said. When comparing these two characters, it’s shown that pride can lead one to not consider others’ words or feelings.

Beatrice is shown throughout the play to have an immense amount of pride and self-respect. She shows this in how she acts with all the male characters who could potentially be suitors if she let them, and in how she protects and gives advice

But how many hath he killed? For indeed I promised to eat all of his killing" (1.1). This is the first mention of Benedick in the entire play, and already Beatrice is berating him and accusing him of not being a good soldier. Beatrice is focused on herself and downplays Benedick, which hurts Benedick when he learns what she says about him. Another time when Beatrice’s pride gets in the way of her thinking through her actions is during the masquerade party when she speaks to whom she believes is a stranger but is Benedick with a mask and says: "Why, he is the prince’s jester: a very dull fool; only his gift is in devising impossible slanders; none but libertines delight in him (2.1). Beatrice calls him a jester, saying that only men with no morals find him funny. She speaks badly about Benedick because her pride gets in the way of her speaking kindly about him since she is known to dislike him, and with Beatrice’s pride, she won’t change her mind about how she feels. This is especially harmful to Benedick because she is

This is communicated through the way he interacts with his officers and Hero. Towards the beginning of the play, Don Pedro tells Claudio that he has a plan to help Claudio win over Hero. Don Pedro will dress as Claudio during the masquerade ball and get her hand for Claudio. During the ball, however, Don Jon goes to Claudio and tells him that Don Pedro has won over Hero for himself, which makes Claudio react before thinking. Claudio goes off and tells Benedick that: "'Tis certain so, the Prince woos for himself. Friendship is constant in all other things save in the office and affairs of love. Therefore all hearts in love use their own tongues" (2.1). Claudio immediately takes it for a fact that Don Pedro has taken Hero for himself without even discussing it with Don Pedro. Claudio’s pride and honor get in the way of rational thought, and Claudio finds himself disregarding Don Pedro’s previous words and jumping to talking badly about him. In the middle of the play, once the conflict between Claudio and Don Pedro was resolved, there was more trouble caused by Don Jon. Don Jon accused Hero, who was to be married to Claudio the next day, of cheating on Claudio. After hearing the rest of the story, Claudio says: "If I see anything tonight that convinces me not to marry her, then tomorrow I'll shame her in front of the same congregation where I would have married her" (3.2). This time, Claudio is able to keep himself calm