‘Much Ado

About Nothing’
Workbook

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 Plot Summary

Fill in the blanks using the words and phrases in bold

Masked ball, woo Hero for himself, Don Pedro, a merry war, illegitimate, disguise himself as
Claudio, Hero, marriage, Borachio, Conrade

The army, led by ____________________, return from battle to Messina, to stay with Leonato. We
learn there is “____________________” between Beatrice, Leonato’s niece, and Benedick, a solider
in the army.

Claudio declares his love for Leonato’s daughter, _______________. Benedick mocks him, as he does
not think _________________is a good idea, but Don Pedro says he will arrange the marriage with
Leonato. He says there will be a _________________________ and that he will
______________________________________________ to woo Hero.

Don John, Don Pedro’s ________________ brother, declares his hatred for his brother and his
brother’s companions. He tells his companions, _______________ and ______________________,
that he will try to spoil things for everyone.

Benedick, incapable, mock her, never marry, heir, Benedick, Beatrice, requite each other’s love

At the masked ball, Beatrice tells her family she will ___________________________. In disguise,
Benedick insults Beatrice; she insults him back.

Don John pretends he thinks Claudio is _____________________ and tells him Don Pedro is trying
___________________________. Claudio is devastated and storms off.

Don Pedro tells Claudio that he has sorted out the marriage between Claudio and Hero. Leonato says
that, as he has no sons, he will make Claudio as his new son-in-law his __________________.

Don Pedro asks the others for help in getting ___________________ and __________________ to
fall in love.

Don Pedro, Claudio and Leonato let Benedick overhear them saying how Beatrice is madly in love
with Benedick, but that Benedick would just ___________________ if he found out. Hero and her
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servant let Beatrice overhear them saying how Benedick is madly in love with Beatrice but Beatrice is
too fond of making fun of other people and is __________________ of love. Beatrice and Benedick
independently decide they will _________________.

Unfaithful, kill Claudio, Margaret, duel, wishes Hero were dead, comedy, virgin, the Watchmen,
faints, the friar

Don John and Borachio set up a scene where Borachio and his lover _____________________ will be
seen at Hero’s window. Don John tells Don Pedro and Claudio that Hero is being
________________________ and shows them the scene.

____________________ – a group of dim-witted drunkards – overheard Borachio and Conrade

discussing the plot and capture them. Their leaders go to Leonato in the morning, but only tell him
they have caught two people; they do not say what has actually happened.

At the wedding, Claudio declares Hero is not a _____________________. Don Pedro backs him up,
saying they saw her with a strange man the night before. Claudio leaves, broken hearted. Hero
_______________ in shock and grief. Leonato says he __________________________________.
Benedick is the one who works out it’s probably a trick by Don John. ____________________ says to
pretend Hero has died of her grief in order to stir Claudio’s sympathy and love.

Beatrice and Benedick declare their love for one another and Beatrice asks Benedick to
_______________________ for insulting her cousin; Benedick eventually agrees to challenge him to
a ________________.

The watchmen question Conrade and Borachio, though they keep making mistakes. This scene is
played for ______________________.

Punishment, died defiled, Claudio, Leonato and Antonio, write a love poem, Conrade and
Borachio, get a wife, publicly declare Hero’s innocence, Leonato’s, marry his niece, reveal love
poems

________________________________ confront Don Pedro and Claudio; Don Pedro says he is sorry
for what happened but that the accusations against Hero were true.

Benedick challenges _____________________to a duel and resigns from Don Pedro’s company.
Claudio and Don Pedro are shocked that he seems serious.
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The watchmen bring ____________________________. Borachio confesses everything. Claudio is
heartbroken and begs Leonato for _______________________. Leonato says Claudio must
______________________________________ and then ________________________.

Benedick tries and fails to ______________________ for Beatrice. She turns up and they flirt, teasing
one another. She says she is still sad about Hero; he assures her he has challenged Claudio to a duel.
They then learn that Borachio has been caught and confessed.

As they prepare for the wedding, Benedick asks _____________________ permission to marry
Beatrice.

At the wedding, the women are all masked. When Claudio accepts his bride, she is revealed to be
Hero. She says the dead Hero ____________________________ but she, the living Hero, is still a
maid.

Beatrice and Benedick are suddenly reluctant to confess their love for one another. However, Hero
and Claudio ______________________________ written by Beatrice and Benedick.

Benedick excuses Claudio from duelling, as Claudio is innocent, and as they will soon be cousins-in-
law. Benedick declares a dance (though Leonato is keen for the weddings to take place) and tells Don
Pedro to ____________________________.

Don John is captured. Benedick says not to stop the dancing; they will devise Don John’s punishment
in the morning.

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 Context

Read the notes on context and write how each point is relevant to the events of the play

The Role of Women

• Women were seen as subservient to men

• Women were regarded as property – belonging first to their father
(or brother), and then to their husbands
• Women had very few legal rights
• Women could not vote, own property or act on the stage
• Women were educated less than men and many of the lower-classes
were illiterate.
• However, there was a growing trend for language learning
among women, and study of poetry, philosophy and
theology. This was expected to come second to her
“womanly” skills, however – which were to make a good
marriage, be an obedient wife, and a good homemaker.
• A woman who was “too” educated or too opinionated was viewed as
masculine – “as good as a man”, which meant she’d failed as a
woman. Marriage could redeem her, though she’d be unlikely to be
seen as “marriage material”
• A woman who told off the men in her life, or disagreed with them,
was seen as “shrewish” and “a nag”
• A woman’s greatest asset was her virtue – her virginity
Marriage

• Engagements were seen as legally binding – to break an engagement

was no small thing
• Members of the upper-class usually had their spouse chosen by their
parents; they had little say in who they married
• Marriage was seen as the union between two families – social gain,
political support, wealth
• Women would have a “dowry” – an amount of money or possessions
her husband would get on their wedding
• Sex before and outside of marriage was seen as a sin, but there was a
double standard: women especially should be virgins at marriage,
whilst men were expected to have affairs
• A marriage could be annulled if it hadn’t been consummated, or if
the marriage was found to be invalid
Marriage and Children

• The woman’s primary role in a marriage was to produce children

• The eldest boy was the heir – the person who would inherit property
and titles
• If a man died without having had a (living/surviving) son, his estate
would pass to his closest male relative (a brother, or a cousin)
• Illegitimate children, or “bastards”, were children whose parents
were not married when the child was born
• Couldn’t inherit titles or land
• Relatively common for a child’s father to be upper-class and
to have had an affair. May or may not be “acknowledged”
and provided with an education and an income
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 Honour and Virtue

• Men’s honour (sense of pride) came from:

• Their social status
• Their accomplishments – especially in war
• The behaviour and obedience of his wife and children
• Women’s honour was connected to their virtue – how “pure” they
were
• No sex before marriage
• Virginity
• Chastity – no affairs, no sexual desires (but accepting her
husband’s desires)
• Her virtue was also connected to how obedient she was
• Her honour (sense of pride) was connected to her husband’s
• If a wife was unfaithful, she brought shame on her husband
• If an unmarried woman had sex with a man, she brought shame on
her father
• A woman who was disobedient or argumentative would bring shame
on the man she “belonged” to

Honour and Insults

• Men were expected to react to insults.

• The idea of challenging a man who’d insulted you to a duel was
growing in popularity. It was seen as shameful to refuse.
• A woman who insulted her father through her actions or lack of
obedience could be disowned; a woman who insulted her husband
could be “put aside”. Women, like children, could also be beaten for
their “sins”.

• A man could be insulted in the following ways:

o Insults to a man’s family
o Insults to his status
 Incorrect titles
 “You” = sign of respect; “thou/thee” = informal and
potentially insulting
o Insults to his bravery

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 Act 1 Scene 1

Beatrice and Benedick: fill in the ‘explanation’ box

Statement Quote Explanation

Beatrice is “I pray you, is Signor She interrupts the men talking about Claudio, changing the subject
confident, Mountanto returned to Benedick. Women in this time were expected to be quiet and
despite society’s from the wars or no?” deferential – more like Hero.
expectations of
women’s roles

Beatrice is “I had rather hear my

disinterested in dog bark at a crow
love than a man swear he
loves me.”

Beatrice calls (after he says she’d

Benedick ugly probably scratch the
face of any man she
was involved with)

“Scratching could not

make it worse, and
‘twere such a face as
yours”
Beatrice thinks “I wonder that you will
Benedick talks still be talking, Signor
too much Benedick: nobody
marks you.”

Beatrice thinks “Signor Mountanto”

Benedick is a “And a soldier to a
womaniser lady”

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 Beatrice thinks “How many hath he
Benedick is a killed? For I promised
bad fighter to eat all of his killing.”

Beatrice thinks “He hath every month

that Benedick is a new sworn
fickle in his brother…he wears his
friendships faith as but the
fashion of his hat.”

Think: WHY might his friendships change so often?

Benedick thinks “It is certain I am
he is popular loved of all ladies, only
with women you excepted”

Benedick is “I would I could find in

disinterested in my heart that I had a
love hard heart, for truly I
love none.”

What does Beatrice’s wordplay (she is able to twist people’s phrasing around into jokes and jibes) tell us
about her?
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Who “wins” the argument? How might different staging imply different ends to the argument?
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Are there any hints at this stage that the arguments hide any deeper feelings? Find and explain quotes to
support your views.
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 Comparing Claudio and Benedick

• What impressions do we have so far of Benedick?

“Messenger: He hath done good service, lady, in these wars… stuffed with all honourable
virtues.”
From the messenger’s comments that Benedick “hath done good service… in these wars” and that he is
“stuffed with all honourable virtues”, we can tell that people think he is a good soldier, and that he is well-
respected. It was important for men to be good at fighting and to be brave, and a man’s honour was one of
the most important things.

What impressions do we have so far of Claudio?

“He hath borne himself beyond the promise of his age, doing, in the figure of a lamb, the feats of
a lion.”

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What do we know about their relationship?

“Who is his companion now? He hath every month a new sworn brother.”
“He is most in the company of the right noble Claudio.”

Claudio asks Benedick what he thinks about Hero, asking him to speak honestly (not making sarcastic and rude
comments, as Benedick claims is his usual way of talking about women). Benedick says he “likes her not”;
Claudio says he intends to marry Hero.

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What can we infer about how Hero looks from Benedick’s comment?
“She's too low for a high praise, too brown for a fair praise and too little for a great praise: only
this commendation I can afford her, that were she other than she is, she were unhandsome.”

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“Do you mean to buy her?” What does Benedick’s query tell us about marriage?
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Claudio attempts to play the romantic with his comment, “Can the world buy such a jewel?” What does this
imply about his feelings for her? Consider the connotations of “jewel”.
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What hint is there that Benedick likes Beatrice (or her looks, at least)?
CLAUDIO
In mine eye she is the sweetest lady that ever I looked on.
BENEDICK
I can see yet without spectacles and I see no such matter: there's her cousin, an she were not
possessed with a fury, exceeds her as much in beauty as the first of May doth the last of December.
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Don Pedro asks what they are discussing, and an irritated Benedick tells him. Don Pedro approves of the idea
of Claudio marrying Hero, and teases Benedick about the fact he has no interest in love or marriage.

What reasons does Benedick give for being against marriage?

BENEDICK
That a woman conceived me, I thank her; that she Be made a fool of
brought me up, I likewise give her most humble
thanks: but that I will have a recheat winded in my
forehead, or hang my bugle in an invisible baldrick, Be cheated on
all women shall pardon me. Because I will not do
them the wrong to mistrust any, I will do myself the
right to trust none; and the fine is, for the which I don’t want to insult any one
I may go the finer, I will live a bachelor. woman by mistrusting her, so
DON PEDRO I’ll avoid them all
I shall see thee, ere I die, look pale with love.
BENEDICK
With anger, with sickness, or with hunger, my lord,
not with love… If I do, hang me in a bottle like a
cat and shoot at me…
DON PEDRO Even the angriest bull can be
'In time the savage bull doth bear the yoke.' tamed
BENEDICK
The savage bull may; but if ever the sensible
Benedick bear it, pluck off the bull's horns and set
them in my forehead: and let me be vilely painted, “Wearing horns” was a sign a
'Here you may see Benedick the married man.' man had been “cuckolded” –
CLAUDIO cheated on
If this should ever happen, thou wouldst be horn-mad.

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EXT: Write a comparative summary of Claudio and Benedick, using quotes to support your ideas.

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 Act 1, Scene 2

Antonio tells Leonato that a servant has overheard Don Pedro and Claudio talking.

Antonio: The prince and Count Claudio, walking in a thick-pleached alley in mine orchard, were thus much
overheard by a man of mine: the prince discovered to Claudio that he loved my niece your daughter and meant
to acknowledge it this night in a dance: and if he found her accordant, he meant to take the present time by
the top and instantly break with you of it.

Leonato: I will acquaint my daughter withal, that she may be the better prepared for an answer, if
peradventure this be true. Go you and tell her of it.

What mistake has Antonio’s servant made?

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What expectations would be on Hero if Don Pedro did propose? Why?

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EXT: looking act Act 2, Scene 1, how does she differ from Beatrice? Why might this be?

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Not much is made of this error later in the play; it does, however, introduce the theme of
eavesdropping/overhearing and (mis)communication. How is this an important theme?
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 Act 1, Scene 3

Context: Don John is Don Pedro’s illegitimate brother, referred to as “the bastard”. From SparkNotes:
“Illegitimate sons of noblemen found themselves in a tricky position in Renaissance England… they could never
be their fathers’ real heirs, and were often excluded from polite society and looked upon with disdain… In
Shakespeare’s works, their anger about their unfair exclusion often inspires them to villainy… Don John seems
to be a villain at least in part because he is a bastard, and he is determined to cross his legitimate brother in
any way that he can.”

Don Pedro’s companion, Conrade, asks him why he is so miserable. Don John’s reply is, in essence, that he has
no reason to be happy.
What can we infer about Don John’s personality from this, and from his following lines?
“I cannot hide what I am: I must be sad when I have cause and smile at no man's jests, eat when I have
stomach and wait for no man's leisure, sleep when I am drowsy and tend on no man's business, laugh
when I am merry and claw no man in his humour.”

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Conrade advises him to “not make the full show of this”, as Don John recently rebelled against his brother’s
rule and has only just been forgiven. Conrade advises him to hide his feelings until the time is right: “it is
needful that you frame the season for your own harvest.”

What does Don John’s response tell us about how he sees himself and his relationship with his brother?
Think about: What imagery does he use? (What things does he compare himself to? What declarations does
he make? What does he ask of Conrade?
“I had rather be a canker in a hedge than a rose in his grace … it must not be denied but I am a plain-dealing
villain… I am trusted with a muzzle and enfranchised with a clog; therefore I have decreed not to sing in my
cage… If I had my mouth, I would bite; if I had my liberty, I would do my liking: in the meantime let me be that
I am and seek not to alter me.”
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Borachio arrives, having overheard the conversation between Don Pedro and Claudio. Don John declares,
“This may prove food to my displeasure. That young start-up hath all the glory of my overthrow: if I can cross
him any way, I bless myself every way.” What does he think of Claudio?
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 Act 2, Scene 1: The Masked Ball

Beatrice gives many reasons for not wanting to get married:

• I could not endure a husband with a beard on his face: I had rather lie in the woollen… He that
hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man: and he that
is more than a youth is not for me, and he that is less than a man, I am not for him.

• Not till God make men of some other metal than earth. Would it not grieve a woman to be
overmastered with a pierce of valiant dust?

• Adam's sons are my brethren; and, truly, I hold it a sin to match in my kindred.

What do these reasons tell us about her attitudes to marriage?

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FINISH THE STATEMENT

When Beatrice is told she will go to hell if she doesn’t get married, she replies that she will only go to the
gates before Satan tells her …
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What are Beatrice’s views of men?

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What does the exchange below tell us about expectations of women in Shakespeare’s day?

ANTONIO [To HERO] Well, niece, I trust you will be ruled by your father.
BEATRICE Yes, faith; it is my cousin's duty to make curtsy and say 'Father, as it please you.' But yet for
all that, cousin, let him be a handsome fellow, or else make another curtsy and say 'Father, as it please
me.'
…
LEONATO Daughter, remember what I told you. If the Prince do solicit you in that kind, you know your answer.
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13
Don Pedro asks to dance with Hero.
What does he intend to do?
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What does she think he intends to do? Why?
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What are our impressions of Hero so far?
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She is playful with him; teasing him about his ugly mask and being coy about whether she’ll let him
“linger” after the dance. Does this confirm our initial impressions of her, or is her behaviour a
surprise? What possible interpretations could we make? (There might be more than one
interpretation, depending on how the scene is acted.)
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Benedick disguises himself and insults Beatrice: “That I was disdainful and that I had my good wit out of The
Hundred Merry Tales.” She insults him back: “His gift is in devising impossible slanders. None but libertines
delight in him, and the commendation is not in his wit but in his villainy, for he both pleases men and angers
them, and then they laugh at him and beat him. I am sure he is in the fleet. I would he had boarded me.”
In your own words, explain how they insult each other.
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What lie does Don John tell Claudio?

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How does Claudio react? What does this tell us about his character?
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Benedick quickly works out why Claudio is upset, and tells Don Pedro. Don Pedro says he only wants to help
his friends be happy, and Benedick says the truth will easily be found out – if Hero is willing to marry Claudio,
they’ll know Don Pedro was being honest.
What does this tell us about Don Pedro?
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What does this tell us about Benedick? Where else is this relevant later in the play?
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Don Pedro tells Benedick that Beatrice is angry with him for what he said about her.
• O, she misused me past the endurance of a block!... I stood like a man at a mark, with a whole army
shooting at me. She speaks poniards, and every word stabs:
if her breath were as terrible as her terminations, there were no living near her.
• I would not marry her, though she were endowed with all that Adam had left him before he
transgressed: she would have made Hercules have turned spit, yea, and have cleft his club to make the
fire too.
• Will your grace command me any service to the world's end? I will go on the slightest errand now to
the Antipodes that you can devise to send me on; I will fetch you a tooth-picker now from the furthest
inch of Asia, bring you the length of Prester John's foot, fetch you a hair off the great
Cham's beard, do you any embassage to the Pigmies, rather than hold three words' conference with
this harpy. You have no employment for me?

What can we infer about his feelings? Why might he feel so hurt by her comments?
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What does the exchange below suggest has happened between Beatrice and Benedick in the past?

DON PEDRO
Come, lady, come; you have lost the heart of Signor Benedick.
BEATRICE
Indeed, my lord, he lent it me awhile; and I gave him use for it, a double heart for his single one: marry, once
before he won it of me with false dice, therefore your grace may well say I have lost it.
DON PEDRO
You have put him down, lady, you have put him down.
BEATRICE
So I would not he should do me, my lord, lest I should prove the mother of fools.
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15
Don Pedro tells Claudio that he has got Hero to agree to marry Claudio, who says, “_____________ is the
perfectest herald of joy.”

Beatrice hints at another reason for being against marriage: “Good Lord, for alliance! There goes everyone to
the world but I, and I am sunburnt. I may sit in a corner and cry ‘Heigh-ho for a husband!’”
What does this suggest as a reason for Beatrice to be against marriage?
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Don Pedro tells her he will get her a husband, and suggests himself as a husband.
How does Beatrice react to his proposal? What does it suggest about her?
“No, my lord, unless I might have another for working-days: your grace is too costly to wear every day.”
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What does this quote (from Leonato) tell us about Beatrice and her approach to life?
“There's little of the melancholy element in her, my lord: she is never sad but when she sleeps, and not ever
sad then; for I have heard my daughter say, she hath often dreamed of unhappiness and waked herself with
laughing.”
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Claudio wants to get married the next day but Leonato tells him to wait a week, to get everything organised.
• What’s the irony in this?
• What does it tell us about Claudio?
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Don Pedro plans to get Benedick and Beatrice to fall in love. What do these responses tell us about views
towards women and marriage, and about the characters?
• Leonato says he will do it even if he has to stay awake for 10 nights.
• Claudio agrees to help.
• Hero says she will do anything that’s “modest” if it helps her cousin to get a good husband.
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 Act 2, Scene 2:

Don John is angry his plot hasn’t worked, and asks Borachio how they can ruin Hero and Claudio’s marriage.

What is Borachio’s plan?

“Not honestly, my lord; but so covertly that no dishonesty shall appear in me… I think I told your lordship a
year since, how much I am in the favour of Margaret, the waiting gentlewoman to Hero. I can, at any
unseasonable instant of the night, appoint her to look out at her lady's chamber window… The poison of that
lies in you to temper. Go you to the prince your brother; spare not to tell him that he hath wronged his honour
in marrying the renowned Claudio--whose estimation do you mightily hold up--to a contaminated stale, such a
one as Hero... there shall appear such seeming truth of Hero's disloyalty that jealousy shall be called assurance
and all the preparation overthrown.”

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 Act 2, Scene 3

Benedick is alone, and frustrated about how love has changed Claudio.
“I do much wonder that one man, seeing how much another man is a fool when he dedicates his behaviours to
love, will, after he hath laughed at such shallow follies in others, become the argument of his own scorn by
falling in love.”
Why is this opening of Benedick’s soliloquy ironic?
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“Such a man is Claudio. I have known when there was no music with him but the drum and the fife*, and now
had he rather hear the tabor and the pipe**. I have known when he would have walked ten mile afoot to see a
good armour, and now will he lie ten nights awake carving the fashion of a new doublet***. He was wont to
speak plain and to the purpose, like an honest man and a soldier, and now is he turned orthography****; his
words are a very fantastical banquet, just so many strange dishes.”
*instruments used to set a pace when marching
**instruments used in a dance at a party
***a fancy jacket
****the study/studier of overly heightened language
Summarise how Claudio has changed according to Benedick.
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In your own word, describe Benedick’s ideal woman:

“Rich she shall be, that’s certain; wise, or I’ll none; virtuous, or I’ll never cheapen her; fair, or I’ll ever look on
her; mild, or come not near me; noble, or not I for an angel; of good discourse, an excellent musician, and her
hair shall be of what colour it please God.”
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How much of this applies to Beatrice?

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Benedick hides from Claudio, whom he calls “Monsieur Love”, and Don Pedro. Don Pedro orders Balthasar (a
servant and minor side character) to sing a song. Benedick mutters to himself, “Is it not strange that sheeps'
guts should hale souls out of men’s bodies?” (Strings of instruments like lutes were made of animal intestines.)
What can we infer about his opinion of music?
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Why might this be relevant to his characterisation? (Think: what was music symbolic of?)
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18
What does Balthasar’s song tell us about gender roles and expectations of the time? Use quotes to support
your answers. Can you link it to other areas of the play?
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Benedick says that if his dog had howled so horribly, he’d have it put down. Some versions of the play have
the song sung in a deliberately terrible singing voice, which is hinted at in the script. What might this
suggest about Shakespeare’s commentary on gender roles?
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19
IMPORTANT NOTE: Don Pedro, Leonato and Claudio all know that Benedick is hiding and can overhear them.
Benedick believes they don’t know. Remember that what Don Pedro, Leonato and Claudio claim is, in fact, a
lie and all part of the plot to get Beatrice and Benedick together.

Through this scene, Claudio has whispered asides to Don Pedro and Leonato: “O, ay: stalk on. Stalk on; the
fowl sits.” “Bait the hook well; this fish will bite.” What does the use of hunting imagery suggest about
Claudio?
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Leonato says that Hero claims Beatrice loves Benedick. They all express their amazement.
What reasons do they give as to why they are surprised?
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How do they claim Beatrice behaves?

LEONATO
This says she now when she is beginning to write to him; for she'll be up twenty times a night, and
there will she sit till she have writ a sheet of paper: my daughter tells us all. … O, she tore the letter
into a thousand halfpence; railed at herself, that she should be so immodest to write to one that she
knew would flout her.
CLAUDIO
Then down upon her knees she falls, weeps, sobs, beats her heart, tears her hair, prays, curses.
LEONATO
She doth indeed; … my daughter is sometime afeared she will do a desperate outrage to herself.

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What reasons do they give as to why Beatrice will not tell Benedick?
“He would make but a sport of it and torment the poor lady worse.”
“Hero thinks surely she will die; for she says she will die, if he love her not, and she will die, ere she make her
love known, and she will die, if he woo her, rather than she will bate one breath of her accustomed crossness.”

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20
When Don Pedro, Leonato and Claudio have left, Benedick talks to himself in a soliloquy.

What is a soliloquy and why are they important in Shakespeare’s plays?

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BENEDICK
[Coming forward] This can be no trick: the conference was Why does Benedick think they must be
sadly borne. They have the truth of this from Hero. They seem telling the truth?
to pity the lady: it seems her affections have their full bent.

Love me! why, it must be requited. What does he decide to do?

I hear how I am censured: they say I will bear myself proudly, if
I perceive the love come from her; they say too that she will
rather die than give any sign of affection.

I did never think to marry. They say the lady is fair; 'tis a truth,
I can bear them witness; and virtuous; 'tis so, I cannot reprove What good qualities does he say Beatrice
it; and wise, but for loving me; by my troth, it is no addition to has?
her wit, nor no great argument of her folly, for I will be
horribly in love with her.

How does he say the other will react

I may chance have some odd quirks and remnants of wit when he declares his love for Beatrice,
broken on me, because I have railed so long against marriage: and why?
but doth not the appetite alter? A man loves the meat in his
youth that he cannot endure in his age. Shall quips and
sentences and these paper bullets of the brain awe a man What reasons does he give for changing
from the career of his humour? No, the world must be his mind about marriage?
peopled.

Whilst this line seems initially funny, it

When I said I would die a bachelor, I did not think I should live might reveal something deeper: what?
till I were married. (Think: what is his job?)

Beatrice arrives and Benedick believes he “spi[es] some marks of love in her.” She informs him, “Against my
will I sent to bid you come in to dinner.” (This is usually played for comic effect; remember, she is actually still
enraged at him for his comments about her at the ball.) He is uncharacteristically kind to her, whilst she is as
sharp as ever. After she leaves, he declares: “‘Against my will I am sent to bid you come in to dinner’; there's a
double meaning in that.” Why might this amuse the audience?

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21
 Act 3, Scene 1

This scene is a mirror scene to Act 2, Scene 3, and a part of the plot to get Beatrice and Benedick to fall in
love.
This scene is the first time we hear Hero speak at length, and in fact, she speaks eloquently, and leads and
dominates the conversation. Why might this be? Consider who is present in each of her scenes, and the
context (gender and social class) of the time.
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She asks Margaret to send Beatrice to the orchard to overhear what Hero and Ursula say.

Hero, knowing Beatrice can overhear, says that Claudio (“my new trothed lord”) and Don Pedro have told her
Benedick loves Beatrice, but that she refused to tell Beatrice: “I persuaded them, if they loved Benedick, to
wish him wrestle with affection and never to let Beatrice know of it.”

What reasons does she give for this?

Nature never framed a woman’s heart

Of prouder stuff than that of Beatrice.
Disdain and scorn ride sparkling in her eyes,
Misprizing what they look on, and her wit
Values itself so highly that to her
All matter else seems weak. She cannot love
Nor take no shape nor project of affection
She is so self-endeared.
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How does she say Beatrice twists men’s good features into bad?
I never yet saw man,
How wise, how noble, young, how rarely featured
But she would spell him backward. If fair-faced,
She would swear the gentleman should be her sister;
if tall, a lance ill-headed;
If low, a [stone] very vilely cut;
If speaking, why, a vane blown with all winds;
If silent, why, a block moved with none.
So turns she every man the wrong side out
And never gives to truth and virtue that
Which simpleness and merit purchaseth.
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22
What do they say about Benedick’s reputation?
“She cannot be so much without true judgment, having so swift and excellent a wit as she is prized to have, as
to refuse so rare a gentleman as Signor Benedick.”
“He is the only man of Italy, always excepted my dear Claudio”
“Signor Benedick, for shape, for bearing, argument and valour, goes foremost in report through Italy.”
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How does Beatrice react? What are the connotations of “fire” and what do they suggest she feels about the
accusations that she is proud and scornful? What can we infer about the way she assumed people took her
sarcasm?
What fire is in mine ears? Can this be true? Stand I condemned for pride and scorn so much?
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How does she say she will treat Benedick from now on, and what does she hope will come of it?
And Benedick, love on; I will requite thee,
Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand.
If thou dost love, my kindness shall incite thee
To bind our loves up in a holy band.
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Comparing Beatrice and Benedick

What are the similarities between the two characters?
Do you believe they are well suited?
What do you make of the fact they are both so willing to believe the other is in love with them?

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23
 Act 3, Scene 2

Don Pedro says he will stay until the wedding, then leave. Claudio offers to go with him. What does this tell us
about men’s honour as a soldier and their role as a husband?
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Don Pedro tells him it would be like showing “a child his new coat and forbid[ding] him to wear it.” What does
this confirm for us about Don Pedro’s character?
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Benedick tells his friends, “Gallants, I am not as I have been”… then fails to tell them what has changed whilst
they tease him, claiming he has a toothache. Why does he seem to change his mind about telling them his
new love for Beatrice? (There are multiple possible answers for this.)
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Claudio declares Benedick must be in love, whilst Don Pedro argues that Benedick would never fall in love.

Context note:

By the end of the Elizabethan era, men’s fashion had become more elaborate, especially among the noble
classes. Some noblemen wore make-up, perfume, and a single earring (see Shakespeare’s portrait), and had
their hair curled by barbers. There was also a trend for borrowing fashions from ‘the continent’ (mainland
Europe) and mixing multiple country’s fashions. Benedick has already scorned other men, including Claudio,
for becoming too involved in fashion and finery once they’re interested in a woman.

Identify in the extract below how Benedick’s appearance has changed.

DON PEDRO
There is no appearance of fancy in him, unless it be a fancy that he hath to strange disguises; as, to be a
Dutchman today, a Frenchman to-morrow, or in the shape of two countries at once, as, a German from the
waist downward, all slops, and a Spaniard from the hip upward, no doublet.
CLAUDIO
If he be not in love with some woman, there is no believing old signs: [he] brushes his hat [in the] mornings;
what should that bode?
DON PEDRO
Hath any man seen him at the barber's?

24
CLAUDIO
No, but the barber's man hath been seen with him.
LEONATO
Indeed, he looks younger than he did, by the loss of a beard.
DON PEDRO
Nay, [he] rubs himself with [perfume]: can you smell him out by that?
CLAUDIO
That's as much as to say, the sweet youth's in love… And when was he wont to wash his face?
DON PEDRO
Yea, or to paint himself?

EXT: Either describe the changes in your own words, or draw and label a picture to show them.

Benedick declares they are not helping his toothache, and asks Leonato to speak with him in private, most
likely, as Don Pedro remarks, “to break with him about Beatrice.”

Don John appears, and asks to speak with Don Pedro in private, though says Claudio may hear what he has to
say, as it concerns him. What does he tell them?
“The lady is disloyal. Leonato's Hero, your Hero, every man's Hero. The word is too good to paint out her
wickedness; I could say she were worse: think you of a worse title, and I will fit her to it… Go but with me to-
night, you shall see her chamber-window entered, even the night before her wedding-day.”
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Don John says, “If you love her then, to-morrow wed her; but it would better fit your honour to change your
mind.”
Claudio responds, “If I see any thing to-night why I should not marry her to-morrow in the congregation,
where I should wed, there will I shame her.”
Don Pedro adds, “And, as I wooed for thee to obtain her, I will join with thee to disgrace her.”

What do this tell us about honour, for women and for men?

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25
 Act 3, Scene 3

This is the introduction of the Watch: the Elizabethan equivalent of the police. It was an ongoing joke in
Shakespeare’s play that Watchmen and guards were incredibly incompetent, and often drunk; physical
comedy would be used to heighten this. Their role was primarily for comic relief – note that Shakespeare
introduces them as the plot begins to get heavy. Dogberry is the Leader; Verges his deputy. Using the extract
below, in your own words, summarise the job of the Watch.
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DOGBERRY
You are to bid any man stand, in the prince's name.
WATCHMAN
How if a' will not stand?
DOGBERRY
Why, then, take no note of him, but let him go; and … thank God you are rid of a knave.
VERGES
If he will not stand when he is bidden, he is none of the prince's subjects.
DOGBERRY
True, and they are to meddle with none but the prince's subjects.
You shall also make no noise in the streets; for, for the watch to babble and to talk is most tolerable and not to
be endured.
WATCHMAN
We will rather sleep than talk.
DOGBERRY
Why, you speak like an ancient and most quiet watchman; for I cannot see how sleeping should offend.
Well, you are to call at all the ale-houses, and bid those that are drunk get them to bed.
WATCHMAN
How if they will not?
DOGBERRY
Why, then, let them alone till they are sober: if they make you not then the better answer, you may say they
are not the men you took them for.
If you meet a thief, you may suspect him, by virtue of your office, to be no true man; and, for such kind of men,
the less you meddle or make with them, why the more is for your honesty.
WATCHMAN
If we know him to be a thief, shall we not lay hands on him?
DOGBERRY
Truly, by your office, you may; but I think they that touch pitch will be defiled: the most peaceable way for you,
if you do take a thief, is to let him show himself what he is and steal out of your company.

How does Shakespeare portray the Watch as useless?

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26
Dogberry and Verges leave; the Watchmen stay. Borachio enters, followed by Conrade, neither of whom see
the Watchmen.

Borachio informs Conrade of the plot to trick Claudio into believing Hero was unfaithful. What does he say
happened?
“Know that I have to-night wooed Margaret, the Lady Hero's gentlewoman, by the name of Hero Claudio and
my master, planted and placed and possessed by my master Don John, saw afar off in the orchard this amiable
encounter…

Away went Claudio enraged; swore he would meet her, as he was appointed, next morning at the temple, and
there, before the whole congregation, shame her with what he saw o'er night and send her home again
without a husband.”

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The Watchmen arrest Conrade and Borachio. Why do you think Shakespeare structured the play like this?
Why have the Watchmen uncover the plot immediately after being shown to be incompetent? Why have
the Watchmen uncover the plot so soon after it’s happened, and before the wedding?

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27
 Act 3, Scene 4

Another fashion scene – this time, involving the women of the play. Margaret and Hero are debating which
collar Hero should wear for her wedding. (The idea of a specially made wedding dress was rare, as dresses
were expensive and took a long time to make. Most women simply wore their best gown.)

What does Margaret say about Hero’s dress?

Your gown's a most rare fashion. I saw the Duchess of Milan's gown that they praise so. [It’s] but a night-gown
in respect of yours: cloth o' gold, and cuts, and laced with silver, set with pearls, down sleeves, side sleeves,
and skirts, round underborne with a bluish tinsel: but for a fine, quaint, graceful and excellent fashion, yours is
worth ten on 't.

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Margaret then warns Hero that her heart will “be heavier soon by the weight of a man.”
What are the possible connotations of “heavy”? What might Margaret be trying to warn Hero about
marriage? (Note: “heavy” could be a crude reference to the physical weight of a man; Hero is shocked by
this.)
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Beatrice arrives and claims she has a cold. Margaret takes the opportunity to tease her, and suggests she pray
for a cure: “Carduus benedictus”. Beatrice asks if she’s hinting at something, and Margaret states that she
wouldn’t be so foolish as to think that Beatrice is in love, or that she ever could be. However, she then adds:

“Yet Benedick was such another, and now is he become a man: he swore he would never marry, and yet now,
in despite of his heart, he eats his meat without grudging: and how you may be converted I know not, but
methinks you look with your eyes as other women do.”

What is Margaret hinting at here?

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What does it imply about their characters that both Beatrice and Benedick claim illness rather than
admitting that they are in love?

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28
The role of women: Consider how the 3 women speak.

Find a quote that sums up how each of the 3 women speak. Explain your choices.
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Hero hardly speaks around the men, but is eloquent and shows she isn’t afraid to speak – and lead
conversation – around other women. What does this tell us about the role of women and their interactions
with men?
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Margaret speaks more plainly than the other women, and appears more worldly; why might this be?
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Beatrice uses a lot of wordplay, and is able to hold her own against anyone, even the men (except Margaret,
though she does claim to be ill). What might be some reasons Beatrice uses wordplay? Is it a defence,
because she’s not allowed (as an upper class maiden) to speak her true mind, or to show her wit and
education?
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29
 Act 3, Scene 4

Dogberry and Verges visit Leonato to tell him that the watch “have indeed comprehended two aspicious
persons” – Borachio and Conrade – though, despite being very wordy, fail to tell him who they have caught
and what the charges against them are. Leonato tells them they are “tedious” and that he is busy (preparing
for the wedding.
Why has Shakespeare included this scene? (Think about dramatic irony, comedic relief and tension)

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SUMMARY: At the end of the act, who do we feel sympathy for? Why?
Consider: Do our sympathies as a modern audience differ to those of a Shakespearean audience? If so, how,
and why?
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30
 Act 4, Scene 1

The wedding scene.

Recap: How are all the characters feeling at this point?
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The friar (priest) asks the standard question: if anyone knows of any reason Claudio and Hero may not be
married. Hero says she knows of no reason, then the friar asks Claudio the same question.
LEONATO
I dare make his answer, none.
CLAUDIO
O, what men dare do! what men may do! what men daily do, not knowing what they do!
Does Claudio blame Leonato for offering Hero to him as a bride?
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What is the irony in Claudio’s outburst?

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An angry and sarcastic Claudio asks what he has to give back to Leonato which might equal Hero’s worth: “this
rich and precious gift?” Which quote from Act 1, Scene 1 does this refer to?
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What language device does Claudio use when he tells Leonato, “Give not this rotten orange to your friend”?
What does he mean by it? (Context: oranges were a luxury in Shakespeare’s England.)
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What does Claudio accuse Hero of? “Behold how like a maid she blushes here! … But she is none: she knows
the heat of a luxurious bed; her blush is guiltiness, not modesty.”

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31
What does Leonato assume Claudio is confessing to initially? If this were the case, what would be expected
of Claudio, and why?
LEONATO
Dear my lord, if you, in your own proof,
Have vanquish'd the resistance of her youth,
And made defeat of her virginity,--
CLAUDIO
I know what you would say: if I have known her,
You will say she did embrace me as a husband,
And so extenuate the 'forehand sin:
No, Leonato,
I never tempted her with word too large

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Don Pedro backs up Claudio’s claims, declaring himself “dishonoured” to have tried to “link my dear friend to
a common stale”. What is the effect of having Don Pedro speak so harshly of Hero? (Consider Don Pedro’s
characterisation to date.)
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Don Pedro asks Hero, “What man was he talk'd with you yesternight out at your window betwixt twelve and
one?” When she (honestly) says she “spoke with no man at that hour,” Don Pedro tells Leonato what he and
Claudio (think they) saw the previous night.

Hero passes out in shock. What does this suggest about her characterisation? (Consider the context of the
time.)
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What does Leonato say he wishes would happen to Hero? Why? (Consider the context of the time)

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32
Why does the friar believe Hero to be innocent?
“By noting of the lady I have mark'd
A thousand blushing apparitions
To start into her face, a thousand innocent shames
In angel whiteness beat away those blushes;
And in her eye there hath appear'd a fire,
To burn the errors that these princes hold
Against her maiden truth.”

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Who works out that Claudio and Don Pedro must have been tricked by Don John?
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What does the friar advise they do? Why? Annotate and then summarise.
“Your daughter here the princes left for dead:
Let her awhile be secretly kept in,
And publish it that she is dead indeed;
… this well carried shall on her behalf
Change slander to remorse; that is some good:
… She dying, as it must so be maintain'd,
Upon the instant that she was accused,
Shall be lamented, pitied and excused
…. what we have we prize not to the worth
Whiles we enjoy it, but being lack'd and lost,
Why… then we find
The virtue that possession would not show us
Whiles it was ours. So will it fare with Claudio:
When he shall hear she died upon his words,
The idea of her life shall sweetly creep
Into his study of imagination…
then shall he mourn…
wish he had not so accused her,
… The supposition of the lady's death
Will quench the wonder of her infamy:
And if it sort not well, you may conceal her,
As best befits her wounded reputation,
In some reclusive and religious life,
Out of all eyes, tongues, minds and injuries.”

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33
Everyone leaves except for Benedick and Beatrice. He tried to comfort her, assuring her he believes Hero has
been wrongly accused.

BEATRICE
Ah, how much might the man deserve of me that would right her!
BENEDICK
Is there any way to show such friendship?
BEATRICE
A very even way, but no such friend.
BENEDICK
May a man do it?
BEATRICE
It is a man's office, but not yours.
BENEDICK
I do love nothing in the world so well as you: is not that strange?

Why does he confess his love for her?

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After some initial reluctance, she also admits she loves him. Why might she have been reluctant?
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BENEDICK
Come, bid me do any thing for thee.
BEATRICE
Kill Claudio.
Why might Benedick refuse to kill Claudio at first?
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Why does Beatrice want Claudio dead?

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BEATRICE
Is he not approved in the height a villain, that hath slandered, scorned, dishonoured my kinswoman? O that I
were a man! What, bear her in hand until they come to take hands; and then, with public accusation,
uncovered slander, unmitigated rancour, --O God, that I were a man! I would eat his heart in the market-place.
… I cannot be a man with wishing, therefore I will die a woman with grieving.

Having previously seemed quite willing and able to treat men as her equals, not her superiors, why might
Beatrice now wish she were a man so she could kill Claudio?

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34
 Act 4, Scene 2

Borachio and Conrade are put on trial by the Watch, Dogberry and Borachio. They are assisted by a sexton
(someone who looked after the church and its grounds). The sexton (church clerk) is the only one who knows
how to conduct a proper trial, and has to keep telling Dogberry what to do, as he keeps doing things in the
wrong order.

Dogberry tries to catch out Conrade and Borachio by interrogating them separately in the hope they’ll say
different things. Why does this fail?

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What is the effect of Dogberry constantly getting the customs of the trial wrong?
What does it say about him?
What’s the effect on the audience?

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Dogberry also muddles many of his words. Match what he says, what the words actually mean and what
he’s trying to say:

What he says What the underlined word What he means

actually means

“Is our whole dissembly He might mean, “deftest”,

appeared?” A crime meaning to break in to meaning the best or most
a place and steal something efficient way.
“That’s the eftest way”
Have a strong view on He means “let them be
“”Flat burglary as ever was something pinioned,” meaning “let them
committed” be tied up.”
Saved (has religious
“Thou wilt be condemned into connotations) He means “is our whole
everlasting redemption” assembly appeared?” meaning
This is a totally nonsense word “is everyone here?”
“Let them be opinioned”
To hide or conceal something He means “damnation”,
meaning to be sent to Hell.

“Bribery” – to pay someone in

order to convince them to do
something (usually bad).

Dogberry mixes up his words a lot in his attempts to seem more educated and higher-status than he actually
is. What other clue do we have that he is uneducated?
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35
SEXTON:
And this is more, masters, than you can deny. Prince John is this morning secretly stolen away; Hero was in this
manner accused, in this very manner refused, and upon the grief of this suddenly died. Master constable, let
these men be bound, and brought to Leonato's: I will go before and show him their examination.

Why is the plot so easily revealed?

What does it say about Claudio and the other nobles?
Consider the genre of the play
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Why has Shakespeare put this scene here?

What has just happened?
How will the audience be feeling?
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Watch this scene: try and see a few different veriosn. How is the scene played for comedy?
◦ Voice
◦ Facial gestures and movement
◦ Wider movement/physical comedy
Then either: Write a mini-review, of one version you have watched, using evaluative language
◦ Effectively
◦ Humorously
◦ A specific moment that was funny was when…
◦ Heightens the comedy

Or: Explain how you would direct this scene for maximum comedic effect
Who would you cast?
◦ Some versions choose famous comedians; Shakespeare himself used Will Kemp, a famous
comedy actor, who would have been as much of a draw as Shakespeare himself
How would you costume them?
How would you have them move and speak? What ad-libs would you include?

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36
 Act 5, Scene 1

Antonio tries to calm down a distraught Leonato, who tells him that his advice is useless and that if he truly
understood how he felt, he wouldn’t tell him to be calm and patient. Annotate Leonato’s speech to identify
and explain his feelings

ANTONIO
If you go on thus, you will kill yourself.
LEONATO
I pray thee, cease thy counsel,
Which falls into mine ears as profitless
As water in a sieve: give not me counsel;
...
Bring me a father that so loved his child,
Whose joy of her is overwhelm'd like mine,
And bid him speak of patience;
… But there is no such man…
Therefore give me no counsel:
My griefs cry louder than advertisement.
ANTONIO
Therein do men from children nothing differ.
LEONATO
I pray thee, peace. I will be flesh and blood;
For there was never yet philosopher
That could endure the toothache patiently
…
ANTONIO
Yet bend not all the harm upon yourself;
Make those that do offend you suffer too.
LEONATO
There thou speak'st reason: nay, I will do so.
My soul doth tell me Hero is belied;
And that shall Claudio know; so shall the prince
And all of them that thus dishonour her.

If Leonato knows Hero is really alive, why would he be so upset?

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The men meet Claudio and Don Pedro, and challenge them.
Shakespeare doesn’t use many stage directions; do you think Claudio really does reach for his sword? Try to
base your answer on what you know of his character so far.
LEONATO
Thou dost wrong me; thou dissembler, thou:-- Nay, never lay thy hand upon thy sword; I fear thee not.
CLAUDIO
Marry, beshrew my hand, If it should give your age such cause of fear: In faith, my hand meant nothing to my
sword.
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37
Claudio assures Leonato he means him no harm; Leonato, however, challenges him to a duel, backed up by
Antonio

LEONATO
With grey hairs and bruise of many days,
Do challenge thee to trial of a man.
I say thou hast belied mine innocent child;
Thy slander hath gone through and through her heart.
… Thou hast kill'd my child:
If thou kill'st me, boy, thou shalt kill a man.
ANTONIO
He shall kill two of us, and men indeed.

Why is Claudio able to turn down Leonato and Antonio’s challenge without harming his honour?
CLAUDIO
We had like to have had our two noses snapped off with two old men without teeth.
DON PEDRO
What thinkest thou? Had we fought, I doubt we should have been too young for them.
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Benedick arrives, and Claudio asks him to tell them some jokes to make them feel better. What is the
dramatic irony here?
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Don Pedro points out that Benedick seems pale and angry. Claudio jokes that Benedick might also be about to
challenge him, which he does.
BENEDICK
[Aside to CLAUDIO] You are a villain; I jest not: I will make it good how you dare, with what you dare, and
when you dare. Do me right, or I will protest your cowardice. You have killed a sweet lady, and her death shall
fall heavy on you. Let me hear from you.
Claudio takes this as a joke. Don Pedro and Claudio tease Benedick about Beatrice; they only realise he is
serious when he reiterates his challenge and tells Don Pedro he intends to leave his company in the army.

Fare you well, boy: you know my mind. I will leave you now to your gossip-like humour…
My lord, for your many courtesies I thank you: I must discontinue your company: your brother
the bastard is fled from Messina: you have among you killed a sweet and innocent lady. For my Lord Lackbeard
there, he and I shall meet: and, till then, peace be with him.

At first they are shocked and insult Benedick, claiming he’s trying to impress Beatrice and has lost his mind.
Don Pedro then realises Benedick told them Don John has run away.

Why does it take them so long to take Benedick seriously?

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38
At this point, the Watch arrive with Borachio and Conrade. Dogberry, as ever, is verbose (talkative) without
managing to say a single sensible thing. Borachio confesses:

Sweet prince, let me go no farther to mine answer:

do you hear me, and let this count kill me. I have
deceived even your very eyes: what your wisdoms
could not discover, these shallow fools have brought
to light: who in the night overheard me confessing
to this man how Don John your brother incensed me
to slander the Lady Hero, how you were brought into
the orchard and saw me court Margaret in Hero's
garments, how you disgraced her, when you should
marry her: my villany they have upon record; which
I had rather seal with my death than repeat over
to my shame. The lady is dead upon mine and my
master's false accusation; and, briefly, I desire
nothing but the reward of a villain.

What does Borachio ask happens to him?

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What do you think is the reason for his sudden change in character? (Remember, he was the one who
suggested the plot to ruin Hero’s reputation in the first place.)
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Does this change what we think of him at all?
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How do Don Pedro and Claudio react? What language devices does Shakespeare use, and why?
DON PEDRO
Runs not this speech like iron through your blood?
CLAUDIO
I have drunk poison whiles he utter'd it.

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39
Leonato arrives, and tells Borachio he is not the only guilty person: “Here stand a pair of honourable men;
a third is fled, that had a hand in it. I thank you, princes, for my daughter's death: record it with your high and
worthy deeds: 'twas bravely done.”

This may seem like sarcasm – is there another way we could interpret this?

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Claudio and Don Pedro ask Leonato to choose his revenge on them.
CLAUDIO
Choose your revenge yourself;
Impose me to what penance your invention
Can lay upon my sin: yet sinn'd I not
But in mistaking.
DON PEDRO
By my soul, nor I:
And yet, to satisfy this good old man,
I would bend under any heavy weight
That he'll enjoin me to.
LEONATO
I cannot bid you bid my daughter live;
That were impossible: but, I pray you both,
Possess the people in Messina here
How innocent she died; and if your love
Can labour ought in sad invention,
Hang her an epitaph upon her tomb
And sing it to her bones, sing it to-night:
To-morrow morning come you to my house,
And since you could not be my son-in-law,
Be yet my nephew: my brother hath a daughter,
Almost the copy of my child that's dead,
And she alone is heir to both of us:
Give her the right you should have given her cousin,
And so dies my revenge.
What does Leonato say Claudio must do to make up for his part in Hero’s ‘death’?

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40
 Act 5, Scene 2

Benedick asks Margaret for help writing a love song for Beatrice. She teases him, and he asks her to fetch
Beatrice.

Alone, he attempts to write the love song – but does very badly.
“The god of love,
That sits above,
And knows me, and knows me,
How pitiful I deserve,--”
He claims that famous lovers in literature and mythology “were never so truly turned over and over as my
poor self in love” but that he “cannot show it in rhyme; I have tried … no, I was not born under a rhyming
planet, nor I cannot woo in festival terms.”

Beatrice arrives. Read the exchange below and summarise how their behaviour towards one another has
changed, and how it has stayed the same.
BENEDICK
Sweet Beatrice, wouldst thou come when I called thee?
BEATRICE
Yea, signior, and depart when you bid me.
BENEDICK
O, stay but till then!
BEATRICE
'Then' is spoken; fare you well now: and yet, ere I go, let me go with that I came; which is, with
knowing what hath passed between you and Claudio.
BENEDICK
Only foul words; and thereupon I will kiss thee.
BEATRICE
Foul words is but foul wind, and foul wind is but foul breath, and foul breath is noisome; therefore I will depart
unkissed.
BENEDICK
Thou hast frighted the word out of his right sense, so forcible is thy wit… Thou and I are too wise to woo
peaceably.

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He then tells her he has challenged Claudio to a duel and that Claudio must accept or be known as a coward.
She tells him that Hero is still doing badly, and so is she. Ursula arrives and tells them,“it is proved my Lady
Hero hath been falsely accused, the prince and Claudio mightily abused; and Don John is the author of all, who
is fled and gone.”

41
 Act 5, Scene 3

Claudio reads a poem in honour of Hero. What does he say about her? What language devices does he use?
Annotate and then summarise.

CLAUDIO
[Reading out of a scroll]
Done to death by slanderous tongues
Was the Hero that here lies:
Death, in guerdon of her wrongs,
Gives her fame which never dies.
So the life that died with shame
Lives in death with glorious fame.
Hang thou there upon the tomb,
Praising her when I am dumb.
Now, music, sound, and sing your solemn hymn.
[SONG.]
Pardon, goddess of the night,
Those that slew thy virgin knight;
For the which, with songs of woe,
Round about her tomb they go.
Midnight, assist our moan;
Help us to sigh and groan,
Heavily, heavily:
Graves, yawn and yield your dead,
Till death be uttered,
Heavily, heavily.
CLAUDIO
Now, unto thy bones good night!
Yearly will I do this rite.

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Contrast: Benedick (who cannot write a love poem) and Claudio (who can, even when grieving). What does
this tell us about the differences between them?

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42
 Act 5, Scene 4

The friar, delighted that his plan worked out, and Leonato’s household prepare for the wedding of “Leonato’s
niece” (who is really hero) to Claudio.

Well, daughter, and you gentle-women all,

Withdraw into a chamber by yourselves,
And when I send for you, come hither mask'd.
… You know your office, brother:
You must be father to your brother's daughter
And give her to young Claudio.

Benedick asks Leonato for permission to marry Beatrice. Claudio and Don Pedro arrive, and Claudio swears to
marry Leonato’s “niece”. The women appear, masked.

(Context: this wasn’t uncommon; remember, marriage among nobility was predominantly a business
transaction. A veil was seen as both a sign of modesty in the bride, and trust in the groom. Similarly,
bridesmaids would actually dress similarly to the bride, in order to trick evil spirits who were believed to try
and kidnap the bride.)

Leonato tells Claudio he must not lift the bride’s veil until he swears before the friar to marry her. What does
this say about Claudio’s loyalty to Leonato? What does it say about the role of marriage in society? Does
Claudio agreeing to marry Leonato’s ‘niece’ make him more or less sympathetic to us?
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He does so, and Hero unmasks herself.

HERO
And when I lived, I was your other wife:
And when you loved, you were my other husband.
CLAUDIO
Another Hero!
HERO
Nothing certainer:
One Hero died defiled, but I do live,
And surely as I live, I am a maid.
DON PEDRO
The former Hero! Hero that is dead!
LEONATO
She died, my lord, but whiles her slander lived.
Why does Hero maintain that the ‘defiled’ Hero died but she lives (and is a maid)?
What might it suggest about her feelings towards Claudio?
What might it be symbolic of? (Context: England was a highly Christian country at the time)
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43
Beatrice and Benedick suddenly struggle to admit their love publicly, until Claudio and Hero intervene.
CLAUDIO
I'll be sworn upon't that he loves her;
For here's a paper written in his hand,
A halting sonnet of his own pure brain,
Fashion'd to Beatrice.
HERO
And here's another
Writ in my cousin's hand, stolen from her pocket,
Containing her affection unto Benedick.
How do they prove Beatrice and Benedick love one another?
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What is the significance of Claudio and Hero being the ones to reveal this?
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Don Pedro teases “Benedick, the married man.”

What is Benedick’s defense of marriage?
“In brief, since I do purpose to marry, I will think nothing to any purpose that the world can say against it; and
therefore never flout at me for what I have said against it; for man is a giddy thing, and this is my conclusion.”

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Benedick suggests a dance before the weddings; Leonato suggests having the weddings first. Why?
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Benedick notes, “Prince, thou art sad” and advises “get thee a wife, get thee a wife.”
Why might Don Pedro be sad?
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A messenger arrives, saying that Don John has been captured. However, Benedick says to “Think not on him
till to-morrow: I'll devise thee brave punishments for him.”
What does the fact that Benedick offers to decide Don John’s fate suggest about Don Pedro and his feelings
towards his brother? What does it tell us about Benedick and his relationship with Don Pedro?
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44
 Vocabulary

Write the definitions for the following words. How are they relevant to the play?

Benevolent
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Besmirched
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Deceit
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Dramatic irony
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Epitaph
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Gullible
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Honour
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Hypocritical
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Illegitimate
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Infidelity
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Inheritance
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Modest
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Patriarchy

45
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Prose
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Requite
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Slander
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Soliloquy
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Verse
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Vindictive
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Virtue
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Make sure you keep a note of any other useful vocabulary you learn!

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46
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47