Shakespeare Disturbed Characters

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Shakespeare CA Start: Whether it’s the gruesome murders of ‘Macbeth’ or the ‘merry wars’ in ‘Much Ado’ Shakespeare has many ways of showing disturbance. Shakespeare uses the troublesome tragedy of ‘Macbeth’ and the classic comedy of ‘Much Ado’ to portray strong minded characters such as the feisty Beatrice and the bitter and mysterious Lady Macbeth. As we explore this metamorphism of comedy and tragedy we see how the human condition exhibits disturbance, regardless of the type of person it is controlling. Much Ado: The line “You always end with a jade’s trick; I know you of old” is said by Beatrice in the play ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ when she has her first confrontation with Benedick. Shakespeare makes clear her disturbed persona, through the slowing of the pace in the second half of the line. He does this by repeating the vowel sounds which elongate the phrase. This may be to focus on the words ‘old’ and ‘you’ to cause the audience to reflect on the couple’s history and understand how damaging her bitterness is and how disturbed she has become by it. Also, the idea of women at this time having such banter with a man seems quite disturbed as usually women were to be seen and not heard. This is very bizarre and disturbed behaviour for a Jacobean woman. “Love me? Why…” is said by Benedick when he is duped by the men of the household into thinking that Beatrice loves him, his response is riddled with disturbance. For all his boasting of Act1 “it is certain I am loved of all ladies”; it would look to be that he cannot see why he is loved hence he is disturbed by the feeling. Benedick then says “I will be horribly in love with her”, the use of the word ‘horribly’ continues the banter persona of Benedick. It could also be disputed that he uses the word ‘horrible’ to sugar coat any uncertainty he may have about the situation, and to cover the truth which is
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