Much Ado About… Love?
Okay, let’s talk Shakespeare…
The summer just before my Sophomore year of high school I was challenged to read the Complete Works of William Shakespeare. It was… enlightening. I was able to understand it well enough, but I think it also pushed me to think about my limits as a reader and an aspiring writer.
There were three plays that really stuck out to me: Othello, Taming of the Shrew, and Much Ado About Nothing. Each posed a different interest that I needed to flush out. Othello, is one of the few things I have read where the Villain got everything he wanted. Taming of the Shrew gave me hope that there is love for even the most cynical of us. But Much Ado About Nothing is the one that resonated with me the most.
This is the classic trope of Enemies to Lovers. This really encompasses many of my favorite literary romances: Anne and Gilbert (Anne of Green Gables), Elizabeth and Darcy (Pride and Prejudice), Joe Fox and Kathleen Kelly (You’ve Got Mail). There is something about the idea that someone you think you CAN’T STAND, may be the only person that you can see yourself with for the rest of your life.
I love Much Ado About Nothing, because I have always wanted to be as witty as Lady Beatrice. She is a friend to all but one, and those friends love her for her sharp wit and total loyalty. The sparring matches between herself and Signior Benedick are legendary. During the first scene Beatrice is already throwing punches. Her uncle, Leonato, is the one that explains the reasoning for her pointed remarks:
“There is a kind of merry war betwixt Signior Benedick and her: they never meet but there’s a skirmish of wit between them,”
Just in their first interaction you are given a clue as to how these two interact. They spark like flint and iron, and it is thrilling to see them spar.
“I wonder that you will still be talking, Signior Benedick: nobody marks you.”
”What? My dear Lady Disdain! Are you still living?”
What gets me about the story of this Lord and Lady is that everyone around them thinks that they have won when the two are brought together. Don Pedro, who just finish pairing of Hero and Claudio successfully, turns his sights to Benedick and Beatrice… well, after he tries to recommend himself to Beatrice first. But when that suggestion backfires then he becomes determined to see the sparring partners become life partners, in any way that he possibly can.
“....some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.”
In order for the “traps,” as Hero so rightly describes, to work there needs to be some assurance that there is love in one party, and a desire to be loved by the other party. We don’t get too many indications that Benedick and Beatrice even like each other. The way that they abuse one another is appalling at times, but they keep going back for more. This seems to be the only evidence of their “affection” that the Happy Trappers are basing their test on. How differently would this play have been if Benedick had been appalled by Beatrice’s supposed affection? What if Beatrice had laughed in her cousin’s face when it was suggested the Benedick was “sick in love” with her? So there had to be a little more to go on than just plain hope that these “traps” would work.
“I will not be sworn but love may transform me to an oyster... till he have made me an oyster of me, he shall never make me such a fool.”
The underlying love between our two stars is finally allowed it’s spotlight when they are both falsely assured that the other is sick or dying from unrequited love. It is funny to me how both characters were called out for being malicious in their regard for the other, and both were deemed proud. But… upon hearing their accusers, their immediate reactions were the opposite of what they were being accused. Both were accepting and determined to show the other their true affection.
Something that Shakespeare has always done well is timing. He created a situation that would be almost inappropriate for our lovers to confess their feelings, yet that is exactly what they do. Hero is falsely shamed in front of everyone she loves and on the brink of death by broken heart, but this is the time that Benedick tries to confront his lady love. Their confessions of love are bumbling but sincere and it warms my heart.
“I do love nothing in the world so well as you...”
”It were as possible for me to say I loved nothing so well as you...”
THEY ARE SO CUTE! They are so happy to admit that they really care about each other but with the looming sadness of Hero’s shame still has it’s hold on Beatrice. Benedick wants her happiness more than anything and that is put to the test when he tells her to demand anything of him. Her hurt overrides her happiness and her request is two simple words that would be his undoing…
“Kill Claudio.”
I would have been disappointed if Benedick didn’t protest at first. Claudio is dear to him, and he needed to weigh the consequences of challenging and possibly losing — or losing to— one of his best friends. Would that be worth having the love of a fair lady? Although he initially declines her, he listens to her earnest protests and is convinced that his friend is in the wrong and should be challenged. When Benedick agrees to the charge and goes to carry it out there are two thought that should have been expanded on: Was Benedick doing it for the love of Beatrice, or for the honor of a wronged lady that had no one else to do it for her? Does Beatrice realize that there is a good chance that Benedick may not come back from a challenge?
Love does weird things to people, and when you mix love with grief it becomes warped.
What I appreciate about Shakespeare’s characters is that these two are decently level-headed. Benedick entreated Leonato to listen to Friar Frances’ advise, understood there must have been something wrong when the Prince trusted Don John, and questioned the earnestness of Beatrice’s pleads. Beatrice does not trust the whims of the people around her. She looks to the person in question and bases her opinion on what she sees. Even when it is herself that is in question, she recognizes the charges and does what she can to change them.
After Benedick issues his challenge he calls for Beatrice to check on her. They both try to lighten the mood as the world seemed to be falling apart around them. My heart flutters when Benedick turns from his simple teasing to truly check on Beatrice. She answers him solemnly and his answer perfectly encompasses the love between the two…
“Serve God, love me, and mend.”
Benedick’s belief that his love is strong enough to cure his lady’s ailments is so sweet. When you are just reading the text you don’t really get to see how the characters interact in this moment, but I like to think of him reaching and soothing out her hair. A soft gesture that is intimate but still appropriate. Of course, the moment is interrupted with the happy tidings that Hero really was wrongfully accused. The play had to move on, but there was a hope that this moment would last just a second longer.
Our two lovers are too clever to have a normal courtship, so when Benedick calls her out in front of the Friar they had to question the other’s sincerity. The two outted the Happy Trappers for their false report.
“They swore that you were almost sick for me!”
”They swore you were well-nigh dead for me!”
When these two finally come together the entire party takes credit for the match, but Benedick and Beatrice are too happy to truly care about what they are all saying. Don Pedro even tries to take a dig at the happy husband Benedick, who would have none of it. Benedick was ready for the jab, with his girl at his side he could not care less about what anyone had to say.
Much Ado About Nothing has to be one of the original romantic comedies. There is sparks of wit, enough drama to keep the characters interesting, and a couple that deserve to live happily ever after.
So in the love filled words of Signior Benedick of Padua,
“... This is my conclusion.””
Until next time,
Peace Out Lovers
