Much Ado About Nothing Benedick's Foil
Eric Hurt March 30, 2023 Much Ado About Nothing Lawson W2 In the first half of the book, it is established that Claudio and Hero’s relationship is dysfunctional because of greed and monetary gain. Claudio makes Don Pedro suspicious of his motives, when he asks, “ Hath Leonato any son, my lord?” and Don Pedro replies, “No child but Hero; she’s his only heir” (1.1. 285-290). This sets up their relationship to be dysfunctional because it is heavily implied that Claudio wants to be with Hero because there is a monetary gain for him.
While they are conversing, Beatrice plainly states that she wants Benedick to “kill Claudio...a villain, that hath slandered, scorned, dishonoured [her] kinswoman (Shakespeare 74-75).” Beatrice makes very bold actions, and she is not afraid of doing so. This shows how Beatrice and Hero are foils of each other because Hero takes actions that are safe and pleasing to others, while Beatrice does what she wants and doesn’t care about what others think of her actions. Another example of this occurs during the Masquerade Ball. Beatrice talks with Don Pedro and is quoted to have said, “My cousin tells him in his ear that he is in her heart (Shakespeare 27).”
Meaning she directly tells Benedick to physically prove his love for her. Hero on the other hand, settles for Claudio without as much as a proper conversation. Even after Claudio publically shames her and calls her “... an approved wanton”(Shakespeare 154). Claudio calls her a glorified slut. Even after Claudio ruins her life, and forces her to go into hiding,
In conclusion that I believe that the foils that can be detected in the story are Romeo and Mercutio and also Tybalt and Benvolio. Romeo's a lovesick Mopper who cherishes love and is always searching for his one true love. Mercutio on the other hand is a witty jokester and is not interested of finding love. Tybalt is a
Claudio, Hero and Don Pedro all realize how perfect Beatrice and Benedick are together and so they set up a plan to deceive the two of them into falling in love. Don Pedro comes up with the plan to be having Benedick eavesdropping on Don Pedro, Leonato and Claudio chatting about how much Beatrice is secretly in love with Benedick. Just as they expected , their plan goes off without a hitch. After the group is done talking and they all leave, Benedick comes out of hiding and start talking about what he just heard and realizes that he is in love with Beatrice. “I will be horribly in love wit her.”
First we will start with Claudio. Claudio who acts younger than he actually is, he is the friend of Benedick and would-be groom of Hero. He is first heard of as someone who is a strong fighter
Later on in the story their personality can clash with them being over emotinal and humores. Claudio serves as the foil of Bendick by which Benedick’s sharp mouth are illuminated through Claudio’s childishness; thus, overly influence behavior( or conflict) in the story. Benedick and Claudio have a couple differences. Benedick is serious and has a sharp mouth, while Claudio can get very sensitive and wears his heart on his sleeve. They might can be the same in some ways, but they are very different.
In “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark”, William Shakespeare uses the sayings and behaviors of many of his minor characters to show his audiences the true characteristics of the protagonist, Prince Hamlet. This literary device is called a foil. A foil is a character whose traits help to clarify the character of the protagonist. In this famous play, Prince Hamlet has many foils. Laertes is the most effective foil to Hamlet because of how his life and reactions compare to that of Hamlet.
When Beatrice asks Benedick to duel Claudio for her, he agrees and plans to duel him. Benedick and Claudio are best friends who had fought in battle together, but the love of a woman completely changes Benedick’s allegiance from his fellow soldiers to his new love. Before falling in love with Beatrice, Benedick would have done everything possible to protect his brothers in battle. Now, love has emboldened him to make a choice that he would not have previously made. Benedick’s sacrifice of a meaningful friendship proves that he is now completely devoted to his relationship with Beatrice and is willing to do whatever necessary to preserve that relationship.
One of Benedick’s well known scenes is his reversal, where Claudio, Don Pedro, and Leonato trick him into thinking Beatrice has feelings for him. Benedick’s character changes in the reversal when he says, “It seems her affections have their full bent. Love me? Why, it must be requited! I hear how I am censured.
Before Benedick and Beatrice decided to marry each other or start a relationship at all, they took a period of time to ponder their feelings and realize the best solution, something Claudio and Hero completely ignored. Once they decided to finally start a relationship, their joking nature didn 't change, displaying their friendship and love for each other as a main component that has not wavered. Even when announcing their relationship, a serious matter, Benedick joked, “But by this light, I take thee/ for pity”(5.4.92-93). It is obvious that Benedick does not actually think Beatrice is ugly, but their relationship is so strong that he can jokingly insult her. In contrast, Hero and Claudio had to remain respectful towards each other in order to not risk the marriage.
The audience may understand the concept of love and romance flowing within the characters because it was to portrayed that way but the critics would argue the fact that some of the characters like Beatrice and Benedick were made to fall in love with each other through deception. As simple as the characters were, the situations arousing in the play became more complexed as scenes passed by. What led to the trouble and chaos in the play also led to the solution in the end, when Claudio and Don Pedro were deceived into thinking by Don John that Hero was unfaithful. That very same idea also solved the problem in the end when Leonato, Hero’s father, deceived Claudio by making him believe that she is dead and that it is his duty to clear Hero’s name by reading out on her tomb and marrying the said niece who looks just like Hero. Again the plotting against own is present where the said niece turns out to be Hero and she comes back to life again.
He later suggests that Benedick changes his mood and tone due to the fact that at first he is not cheerful. Following that, Claudio is accused of having murdered Hero by worsening her reputation and challenges him to a fight which he doesn’t take seriously. In the end, he understands that Benedick’s request for a duel is serious. In order to
It was a set up marriage and she would just try to make the male proud. Relationships, in the modern day, are more egalitarian than they use to be. This allows Benedick and Beatrice to represent more of a modern time ideal couple, than Claudio and Hero. A great quote about relationships is “ Respect is as important as love in a relationships”
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.
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