Much ado about Nothing - Beatrice vs Benedick

Much ado about nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare full of acute insight into the human psychology and behavior. There is a lot to take from the text even today in the 21^st century. How grand and noble of a text to survive through centuries and centuries of wild winds of renaissance!

A messenger in Act 1 scene 1 comes to inform Leonato that Don Pedro is just about to arrive. In this scene we see Beatice asking,

"Has Signor Montanto returned or no?"

This question is of immense significance as we can infer that Beatrice must have known Benedick from long and might as well have had some relation in the past. One gets a license to mock the other only after a long acquaintance! Moreover Beatrice here asks only for Benedick and no one else. This suggests of some relation between them.

Beatrice ridicules Benedick severely, for instance she calls him a stuffed man, "He is a stuffed man - but for the stuffing well we are all mortals." She meant to say that he is a man full of vices and no concrete matter. She undermines his dignity by saying, "He has a new sworn brother every day." and "He changes his faith as the fashion of his hat." Beatrice indirectly abuses him attacking on his loyalty saying that he is never consistent in his relations and changes his partners just in the manner we cast off the old clothes for the new ones!

When Don Pedro arrives Beatrice and Benedick again get a chance to play the merry war of wits! Here we see that it is Beatrice who initiates the conversation with Benedick. It strengthens our conviction that the two are in some relationship. On the surface we see that Beatrice is absolutely acrid and caustic when it comes to talking to benedick but well for that matter the very theme of the play comes into picture - Appearances are always deceptive! But nothing can be concluded from these skirmishes of wits. Benedick begins with "My lady Disdain!" In Elizabethan time women were to be respected and one could never use such abusive or offending language. But she answers, "How could disdain die when she hath such meet as Benedick?" Here we see that she accepts the otherwise humiliating title. Thus it seems that they both must be inclined towards one another. Benedick gets weary of the "rare parrot teacher" and rests. This is not liked by beatrice who pops in to say, "You always end with the Jade's trick." This sentence also reveals that they both had known each other from a long time as she is aware of the traits of Benedick (to leave a conversation uncompleted) It implies that she wanted to talk to him even after he stopped. No matter what the body of the conversation be, it is the feeling and the desire to be with the partner and to talk to him/her is what really matters - all else is just an excuse on the way!

Whenever we see Benedick and Beatrice together they are always quarrelling. The next instance proving the above assertion happen to be when Benedick and Beatrice dance in the reveling at night. She threw words like pots and pans at Benedick not knowing his identity. These sane words coming out of her mouth seemed like "poniards" (daggers) to Benedick. She calls him, "My uncle's jester" (A gross fool), an utter idiot always fooling around. She also said that "he amuses a few people by angering others" and thus a few laugh at his jokes while others beat him.  And beating someone of such a noble lineage as such as Benedick is the very pinnacle of insult. She also mentions that only "libertines" (useless fellows) and "squarers" (Hooligans) "rejoice in his company." Listening to all this he was hurt beyond reason but was helpless as he was not supposed to reveal his identity by displaying his satiric wit.

The deep incision which Beatrice's poniards have made in Benedick's heart is exposed when Pedro pities him. There he exaggerates and conveys that even inanimate objects would have to come life (eg the wiser he was wearing) to scold her. Even Hercules the most powerful of the gods would have to light the fire at her charge (do all sorts of feminine activities.) The environment around her was so poisonous that people by will would commit sins in order to get a ticket to hell which was still a better place to live than earth where we have the Legendary Beatrice!

However as Beatrice approaches Pedro and Benedick he turns sober or to say turns into a hypocrite and starts to use more polite language.

"Hath thee any service for me?"

"Send me to the antipodes."

"…Pluck a hair from the great Cham's beard,"

"I can bring the length of Paster John's foot"

"bring toothpicks from the east"

"Hath thee any embassage for the pigmies?"

"Send me on the slightest errand rather than holding a conversation with this harpy."

Beatrice in this scene is seen making a vile comment when Don Pedro says, "You have put him down lady, you have put him down." This she takes in a literal sexual sense and replies that if Bendick was to get on top of her she would begot fools. (Hinting that benedick was a fool)

However the condescending attitude of Beatrice is for the first time justified at this instant. Here she confesses to Don Pedro that she was in relation with Benedick.

"I gave him use for it."

But Benedick won his heart back from her by a "false dice" and "thus my lord may well say that I've lost it". This infidelity on the part of Benedick could be one of the reasons for her being harsh to benedick. Having revealed so much of valuable information this scene in Act 2 can be termed to be one of the most important of all!

Thus Benedick and Beatrice were constantly engaged in a "merry war of wits" as Leonato puts in. On the periphery we always see these two hailing insults at one another but deep down there had been sprouts of love that couldn't blossom or perhaps are yet to blossom! The embers glow even when the fire is extinguished! There is something that is still stirring deep within them that is trying to bring both of them under the very wrath of love! These are two most paradoxical and enigmatic characters of the entire play.