English Essay:
How does the character of Beatrice develop throughout the play?
The character of Beatrice develops in a number of ways throughout the course of the play. In the beginning Beatrice is a hard headed witty woman, who is not interested in love. Her character changes in 3 critical ways, in the beginning she is not interested in love or marriage, she accepts her faults and changes and lastly she is a good friend and a loyal person.
Beatrice at the beginning of the play protests that she is not interested in love or marriage. She famously quotes that men would have to be made of some other metal than earth for her to love one. This attitude is clearly shown in the quote ‘Not till God make men of some other mettle than earth, would it not grieve a woman to be overmastered with a piece of valiant dust’ (II, ii, 40 -44). Beatrice often uses her sharp wit as shown in the quote to demonstrate her opinion on love and marriage. This quote shows that Beatrice is of the opinion that there is not a man on the earth for her. However this changes over the play and Beatrice falls in love with Benedick. Her change is documented very well in the quote ‘I do suffer love indeed, for I love thee against my will’, this quote shows how Beatrice has fallen in love. It also shows how Beatrice has discovered that love is not something that she can control as she previously thought. This shows how Beatrice’s character has developed and changed through the play from someone who is not interested to someone who has fallen in love.
Secondly Beatrice develops throughout the play by changing her own character. In the beginning of the play Beatrice is alerted to some character faults by Hero and Ursula. She changes her character to address these faults. Over the course of the play Beatrice changes many aspects of her character such as ‘being in love with herself’, her ‘nit-picking’ and ‘valuing her wit above anything else’. Her resolve to change her ways is shown in the quote “Stand I condemned for pride and scorn so much? Contempt, farewell, and maiden pride, adieu!” in this quote Beatrice is questioning her character and whether people really criticise her for it. She also says that she will say farewell to her contempt and her pride in being unmarried. This change can also be seen in the last scene of the play, where uncharacteristically Beatrice refrains from speaking any words of value and lets Benedick take the lead, this is a significant change from the Beatrice at the beginning of the play. The way Beatrice changes her perceived character faults throughout the play is a prime example in response to the question of how her character developed through the course of the play.
Lastly Beatrice develops a strong sense of loyalty and friendship particularly towards her cousin Hero throughout the play. When Hero is wrongly accused of her wonton conduct Beatrice is the only person to truly believe her story and protect her from the anger of Claudio and Leonato. She also harbours great resentment towards Count Claudio for accusing and embarrassing her in front of the whole town. This shows how much Beatrice cares for Hero. This care and friendship is shown in the quote “Kill Claudio”. This line is spoken by Beatrice to Benedick, she hates Claudio and wants Benedick to challenge and kill him in revenge for what he did to Hero. This shows how she cares for her friends and how she is loyal to protect their honour. She also goes on to say that if she were a man she would kill him herself. This furthers this concept of her being a good and loyal friend as she if circumstances allowed would be willing to risk herself for someone else’s name. The way Beatrice loyalty and friendship develop towards hero throughout the course of the play is another example of how her character develops.
In conclusion the character of Beatrice in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing is a character that changes and develops in a number of different ways throughout the play. The three prime examples of this are the way in which she changes her attitudes towards love and marriage, the way she addresses and changes her character faults and lastly the way in which she is friendly and loyal towards Hero these three points clearly show how her character develops over the course of the play
