How do the characters Claudio and Benedick compare and contrast in Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing?

Benedick and Claudio are alike in being good friends who have both been loyal defenders of Don Pedro against his brother's attempt to take his throne. They are both young and handsome. They like to spend time together. However, they have different personalities.
Claudio is more of the conventional romantic hero, of higher status than Benedick and less invested in the friendship. Like Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, he falls in love at first sight, saying of Hero, his new beloved:

Can the world buy such a jewel?

But Claudio also shows that love so quickly won might not be trustworthy. He allows malicious gossip from Don John to turn him against Hero and for all his love talk, treats her cruelly.
Benedick is the witty jokster who loves word play, such as punning and exaggeration. His banter with Beatrice is irreverent and unconventional, the opposite of Claudio's conventional love language. In contrast to Claudio, Benedick is determined not to fall in love—until he does so with Beatrice. But once this really happens, his love is solid—we can't imagine him turning on Beatrice as Claudio does on Hero. He may play the misogynist while Claudio plays the romantic knight, but in reality he is kinder to women than Claudio. Shakespeare seems to be suggesting that Benedick's unconventional love style is more to be admired that Claudio's flowery words.


In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, one major difference between Claudio and Benedick is that Claudio is depicted as a much more typical hero. He is characterized as valiant, handsome, and as falling in love easily with Hero. In contrast, Benedick, though equally valiant in the war they have just returned from, claims to be a "professed tyrant" of women (1.1.155). He claims to despise women and objects to the idea of marriage. He continues to illustrate his claim when, in the first scene, he keeps protesting against Hero being worthy of Claudio's love, or of any man's love. He further illustrates his claim by swearing he shall forever live as a bachelor. Yet, Benedick shares more similarities with Claudio when it comes to matters of the heart than he cares to admit. While Benedick protests against love and marriage, the reality is that he easily sees Beatrice as beautiful, even more beautiful than Hero, is easily hurt by her when at the masquerade ball she calls him the "prince's jester; a very dull fool" (2.1.122), and very quickly admits he loves her when he is led to believe she loves him. Therefore, as the play progresses, Benedick proves to be just as much of a lover as Claudio.But one more difference between them that remains constant throughout the play is that Claudio proves to be very distrusting of others, and his distrusting nature makes him easily feel jealous. We first see him feel jealous when Don John easily tricks Claudio into believing Don Pedro is courting Hero for himself. His next and most dangerous bout of jealousy is stirred when Don John tricks him into believing Hero is not a virtuous bride. In contrast, when Claudio disgraces Hero on their wedding day, Benedick is very quick to believe that Claudio wrongly accused Hero. He is also quick to see that Don John purposefully misled Claudio into believing Hero was unfaithful. Benedick's ability to see what really happened and to challenge his dear friend saves the day.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How does Bilbo show leadership and courage in The Hobbit?

Bilbo’s increase in confidence and courage is the defining aspect of his character arc. At the beginning of the novel, he is shut away content in his Hobbit hole, happy to remain separate and coddled from the rest of the world. In the movie, Bilbo chooses to join the dwarves on their quest out of a sense for adventure. In the book, however, Bilbo wants nothing to do with them and only joins because he had been duped into signing a contract. Despite being on the adventure somewhat against his will, Bilbo still proves himself time and again, saving the dwarves from the spiders, the trolls, and a number of other dangers they encounter along the way. Bilbo’s character arc has even been cited as a sort of Christian metaphor for the growth of the soul, though how much Tolkien intended on this front is up for debate. From a thematic standpoint, the ring of invisibility also plays into Bilbo’s brand of bravery. If Hobbits are the overlooked creatures of Middle Earth, then it is noteworthy that...
Read more

What was the effect of World War II on African Americans?

According to historians John Hope Franklin and Alfred A. Moss, Jr., more than three million black men registered for the Selective Service. However, they were refused at a rate of 18.2 percent, compared to just 8.5 percent for whites.  Discrimination was rampant in the armed forces, though black soldiers had more opportunities than in the First World War. They were included in the infantry, the coast and field artillery, the engineer corps, the medical corps, and many other branches. When the Women's Army Corps was organized (WAC), black women were included. By the end of the war, more than 4,000 women had enlisted in the organization. The next step was to get black soldiers recommended for advanced training at officer training schools. Blacks were not admitted to officer training schools in high numbers until the Secretary of War issued an order stating that blacks were to be admitted. The integration of the military began in 1945, first on the war front in Germany. In 1948, sever...
Read more

How is Jack in William Golding's The Lord of the Flies presented as militaristic?

Jack, who has red hair that symbolizes his association with blood, constantly carries a knife around with him. He is responsible for hunting, and when he at first fails to kill a pig, "he snatched his knife out of the sheath and slammed it into a tree trunk" (page 31). As the novel goes on, Jack becomes increasingly more violent, and his knife is often withdrawn from his sheath. He relies on violence to increase his power. Jack resents Piggy's intelligence, and he wants to rid Piggy of his glasses, the symbol of Piggy's learning. For example, when the boys are lighting a fire in the hope of being rescued, Jack says, "His specs--use them as burning glasses!" (page 40). Jack prefers to use Piggy's glasses to make a fire than to allow Piggy, the resident intellectual, to see. Later, Jack, constantly seen with a spear in hand and often bloodied from hunting, gives up all attempts to be rescued. Instead, he uses his violence, symbolized by the spear, to take ...
Read more