Explore How Shakespeare Presents Beatrice And Benedicks Response On Being Tricked And How They Cope With Being Teased By Their Friends. What Is Shakespeare Revealing About Their Characters? Essay

In Shakespeare’s play, Much Ado About Nothing, deception is a key theme throughout. There are several main deceptions, beginning with Don John trying to deceive Claudio that the prince woos Hero for himself. When this conniving scheme fails, he embarks on a new master plan, which involves the shaming of Hero at the marriage between her and Claudio. Another key deception, arguably the most important storyline to the play, is the deception of Beatrice and Benedick, who despite their previous feelings about courtly love and romance, gradually begin to fall for each other, under the careful guidance of Don Pedro, Claudio, Hero, Ursula and Leonato.
However, throughout the first few scenes, we as the audience are exposed to Beatrice and Benedick’s ‘merry war’ as they exchange witty and sarcastic banter. ‘Scratching could not make it worse, an ΄twere such a face as yours were.’ As opposed to her cousin Hero, Beatrice clearly speaks her mind and is not afraid to let Benedick know what she thinks of him. Beatrice believes women should be allowed to voice their opinions where it suits them, just as men are, and that they should be the ones to make decisions concerning them, not the men of the play. For example, when discussing the marriage of Hero and Claudio, Beatrice explains that not only should the marriage between them please Hero’s father, Leonato, but it should also please her. ‘But yet for all that, cousin, let him be a handsome fellow-or else make another curtsey and say, ‘Father, as it please me’.  
Beatrice portrays herself as an independent woman and explains that she will never take a husband. ‘Not till God make men of some other metal than Earth’ This sets her apart from the conventional women of her time, namely Hero, who is told what to do by her father, and is under his authority. As the reader we can compare Beatrice’s attitudes towards love to Bendick’s. She is a strong minded woman, who alike to Benedick does not need a member of the opposite sex...