Activity #4 : Beatrice Character Development Essay (Luke)

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

Activity #3: Modernisation of Scene 3, Act 2

Rationale

In the original version of Much Ado About Nothing, the beginning of the scene we chose (Act III, Scene ii) Don Pedro and Claudio are discussing logistics of what will happen after the wedding, when Benedick says that he is ‘…not as he has been…’ It says in the text, that he is dressed in silly looking, mismatching clothes resulting in Leonato, Don Pedro and Claudio teasing him.

In our adaption, we have used pictures of stick figures rather than acting it out. We did this as it allowed us to focus more on the lines and their meaning. We also used a computer to voice Leonato, as its monotonous voice was comedic, and sounded a little bit like an old man.

Task 2 - Act 2 questions 1-10

1. What are Beatrice's reasons for not wanting to have anything to do with men?
Beatrice says in lines 26-31, that he who has a beard, is too old. But he with no beard, is too young. If he's too old, he's not for me, if he's too young, I am not for him. She also says in lines 43-45, that 'Not till god makes men of some other metal than earth...' would she marry him.
These kind of excuses are shallow, ridiculous, and quite impossible.


2. What are Leonato's instructions to his daughter, Hero, and what do these show about about traditional attitudes. 
Leonato suggests and encourages Hero to marry Don Pedro, who, according to Antonio, plans on marrying the governor's daughter. This suggests, about traditional attitudes, that marriage was based not on love, but instead on money and wealth. Women were expected, not to marry the man they loved, but the man with the most riches.


3. According to the stage directions for the dance, Don John is not masked during the revels. Why?
Don John is not masked during the ball, and does not participate, because it symbolises his isolation from the rest of the characters. By having him acting differently from everyone else, a sense of rebellion is created by Don John.


4. Do you think Beatrice and Benedick know each other when they speak behind the masks. Why or why not?
They do. They take advantage of supposedly having their identity masked, to bicker and make fun of eachother. Beatrice would not have been so disdainful and hurtful had she known that it wasn't Benedick. An example of this hatred is '...he is the prince's jester, a very dull fool...'


5. Why does Don John pretend that he does not recognise Claudio?
Because Don John wanted to pretend that he thought he was speaking to Benedick, when he was actually speaking to Claudio. Claudio would know that Don John could tell apart Benedick and Claudio, so if Claudio was allowed to know that the man talking to him was Don John, the trick would not work.


6. How does Benedick feel about his conversation with Beatrice?
Benedick is both surprised and insulted by the demeaning and rude comments made by Beatrice. After Claudio leaves him in dismay, he is in awe about comments about him, such as '...me: the prince's fool!', in response to her calling him that. He is also in shock because Beatrice didn't seem to know who he was, yet insulted him as if he was there. He then says '...I'll be revenged as I may.' (I will get revenge).

7. What does Beatrice mean when she says “once before he [Benedick] won it [my heart] of me with false dice”? 

Beatrice means that Benedick has once before won her love. This means that at some stage they were in love with each other. She goes on to say that he won her love with false dice. This means that Beatrice did not realise how Benedick really was and believed that he cheater her by not showing his true face.

8. Why is Claudio unable to speak when Don Pedro tells him that Lady Hero is his?

Claudio is unable to speak because he is overwhelmed with joy. He is also struck with surprise as he believed that Don Pedro was wooing Hero for himself. The quote “Silence is the perfectest herald of joy” (Act 2, Scene 1, 232) demonstrates this point as he says that silence is the perfect announcement of joy. He also goes on to say that he cannot find the words to express his joy.


9.Why does Don Pedros plan work so well?

Don Pedros plan works so well because we have been given the idea that Beatrice and Benedick have been together in the past. He also uses Leonato in his plan, which makes Benedick think that it must be true.

10.How does Benedick Rationalize himself into loving Beatrice?

Benedick tries to find an explanation of her love inside everything she says turning it into something nice towards him. He looks for any small reason that he should be with her (ie. “No, the world must be peopled”) He talks about the fact that people were put into this world to reproduce. Benedick talks himself into loving Beatrice. 

Trailer: Gender Battles

This trailer/short movie has been created using the program iMovie. It answers the essential question "Why does this play resonate with a contemporary audience?", with the use of 3 short points.

 These are:

• The presence of cross-gender relationships
• The battle for superiority

AND

• The desire to prove one's worth

These ideas are present both in the play, and in the lives of many people across the world today. That is why it is so popular with today's readers.

We incorporated techniques such as the use of music, short points/sentences and humor, all for entertainment reasons.

THANKS FOR WATCHING!!!

Emily, James, Luke and Ted

GREETINGS

hello