COMMENTARY

Dogberry is a character who is completely misunderstood  by both the other characters within the play and also by critics. Coleridge said " Take away from Much Ado all that which is not indispensable to the plot, either as having little to do with it, or at best, like Dogberry what remains? the implication is nothing, or almost nothing. The play as a whole has no purpose- that is has no unity.” However it seems obvious that Coleridge has failed to understand the concept of Dogberry as a character, he is used in Much Ado to provide an essential effort of comic relief at times where the narrative strays to far into the tragic genre, rather, scenes with Dogberry are used when the previous scenes events need a release of tension- Dogberry being the fool discontinues the previous scenes descent into tragedy by applying various comedic conventions stereotypical to the stock character of ‘the fool’. Note that we do not observe  Claudio witnessing ‘Hero’s Deceit’ which would otherwise be a key scene within the play. Instead, we learn of the deception through a drunken Borachio met with the Idiocy and misunderstanding of Dogberry. If the scene was exchanged with the deception of Claudio then our perceptions of the play would be completely changed; instead of laughing at Dogberrys repeated malapropisms we would instead witness darker themes set through Don John. Yes the characters Dogberry and Verges hold no unity with the other characters within the play but this does not make their role insignificant and pointless, achieving comic relief needs characters uninvolved within the main plot of the play else the same substantial release of tension would not be achieved. For example, if we used Benedick to establish comic relief we would not be able to stray from the main events which caused the tension previously (Benedick being a main character would not be able to be detached from the plays main story). Dogberry and the watchmen having no unity with the rest of the play allow us to step away from the tension as they hold no relation to the main plot points, so, can pursue a secondary plot without any tension.

Coleridge continues “any other less ingeniously absurd watchmen and night constables would have answered the mere necessitates of the action” However Coleridge’s separation of the character and plot and led him to misunderstand Dogberry’s purpose; the character is a clear example of ‘the fool’ a classic conventional character in Comic writing. It seems ignorant to criticize the characters necessity within the play when he is just an extension of the stock characters within the genre. Instead of laughing a Benedick’s witticism instead we utilize the ‘superiority theory’ and laugh at Dogberry’s inability to communicate the true nature of his words. In Act II Sc IV he uses the phrase ‘I am an ass’ with the meaning to tell whomever that he has been called an ass, and is not happy with this. However, his phrasing makes it apparent that he is proclaiming himself as ‘an ass’ and we the audience making use of dramatic irony, as we know what the character means to say we feel superior, which we laugh at; thus implementing the ‘superiority theory’. His misuse of speech furthers in his constant malapropisms "Marry, sir, i would have some confidence with you that decerns you dearly " the character means to say concerns; this misuse of language sends the scenes conversation into continuous non-contextual prose to keep away from the serious sub-text running throughout the scenes. I incorporate the same style into my scene with the misuse of  ‘pigment’ which subsequently spirals into a meaningless conversation where Dogberry assumes Don John has given him a compliment, which ironically he replaces with ‘condiment’. This misuse of language reflects on the plays theme of power behind language, rather Don John admits ‘if he had a mouth he would bite’ – Don John lacks the power of language so feels he has no power. Dogberry, however, seems to posses the ability of speech but lacks the application, in act III sc IV Dogberry attempts to communicate to Leonato in an attempt to express what Don John and Borachio have done, except he wishes to express it in a way to present himself as excessively successful and intelligent, ironically, it is his overwhelmed idiocy and constant use of malapropisms which prevent him in getting his point across.

Notes for C/w

4 Creative.

Study Scenes with Dogberry- get to know the character, know his malapropisms, observe any repeated speech for mimic in my own scene. Mae sure to include Satire and Vulgarity.
Implement the idea that Dogberry feels higher than the other- exaggerate his pomposity.
Use his accidental witissisems- important that he doesnt KNOW he is funny- rather we find him funny because of his idiocy, we find his reaction against other characters funny.
Must include another character for Dogberry to bounce off and misunderstand to release his malapropisms- show his idiocy.
Could i use another character to belittle dogberry (without dogberry realising) ? would making us feel sorry for the idiot be a good move- or would this counter the plays other scenes in which no emotional level is included within Dogberrys scenes?
Make sure to link back to Dogberrys previous scenes
" I AM AN ASS "
Attack Coleridges criticism - character is used as comic relief- relief of tension - brings it away from being a tragedy. it is significant that we as the audience do not get to see Claudio "discovering" Hero with Borachio- instead we get comic relief and hear of it through a drunken Borachio in a comedic manner. Creates the lighter tone
Explore the stock character " fool " Dogberry is not insignificant if he is a stock character, part of comic writing. " Staple of Comedy"

RESEARCH FOOL CHARACTER- COPY ATTRIBUTES INTO OWN SCENE.

Power of language- has the ability of speech but is unable to use it correctly so presents him as a fool. Ironic this his idiocy leaves him content as he misunderstands " Leonato: Neighbours, you were tedious " Dogberry It pleases your worship to say so "
Representitive of lower class

Cake.

Beatrice

Chocolate buttons
liquorice all sorts
Sugar icing
Strawberry centre
Cupcake

Beatrices first appearance presents her as man loathing single woman, not content on any man and wishes never or at least is incapable to love a man, the liquorice represents the decoration she puts on herself to keep men away; She being not content on a young boy or a bearded man shows her inability to feel content in the idea of a mans company itself. The chocolate buttons represent the defences Beatrice has put up, it is obvious she still feels for Benedick " i know you of old " as they continually reference back to how he stole her love (something along those lines). The sugar icing and strawberry centre represent the sweet nature and release Beatrice shows when coming to realisation of her love for Benedick (Sonnet after her Gulling)

Study Questions

Claudio chooses to shame Hero infront of the wedding service as public humiliation in an act to preserve his honour, rather he feels the only way to redeem his reputation is to shame Hero in front of everyone, perhaps he assumes they all know, and in a way to boost his image- almost shows of his power to the public.

Leonato is devastated,  for Hero is his "only daughter" and her being named a whore has caused a bad name on his whole family, his only heir is now a disgrace. He sentences her, or wishes her, death after she collapses, in an act of rage.

Benedick has chosen Beatrice's side over the matter, over his brothers (which is disgraceful) as he is quite obviously besotted by her, wishes to please her, and obviously by taking her side he will achieve this.

Leonato and Friars facial expression? - ?

Benedick is the first to name Don John as the schemer, as he knows him best out of the remaining company.

The Friar explains that on Hero's fake death, her accusations will fall and she will appear innocent again, Claudio upon hearing her death will begin loving her again with every "organ" and "wish he didnt accuse[d] her" If this does not work however she will be sent to live a isolated religious life, most likely to live in a monastery and assumed dead.

Beatrice's and Benedick's dialogue contains many short sentences, this may be because of their infatuation they cannot deny speaking to each other (probably now), they are nervous in their admittance of love for each other. The language contrasts the anger of the previous scene and exaggerates the empathic language the pair use. The (-) punctuation is stage direction for Benedick to kiss Beatrice.

Benedick admits his love first, he is trying to offer his comfort and support for her. However he finds out he will only receive her love if he were to "kill claudio" Beatrice illustrates her anger to show Heros innocence. "slandered".

By Benedick accepting Beatrices demands it shows the character developing in maturity- truly ridding himself of his previous "die a bachelor all women love me" attitude, he is accepting her love and wishes to be with her.

Act 3 Sc 5

Dogberry and his malapropisms:

" Marry, sir, i would have some confidence with you that decerns you dearly " (concerns)

Above all, Dogberry wished to communicate to Leonato to let him know what Don John and Borachio have done, except he wishes to tell him in a way to present himself as successful and intelligent, ironically it is is overwhelmed idiocy and constant use of malapropisms which prevent him in getting his point across; instead, he succeeds in angering Leonato. Infact, Leonato reluctantly gives them the title of having "all [his] tediousness". Failing to understand, Dogberry and Verges, are honoured.

The Scene i made up.

Write a short scene involving Verges and Dogberry meeting the watch immediately as they have arrested Conrad and Borachio – malapropisms, misunderstandings, dramatic irony, farce

Scene Enter (Dogberry, Verges, Watchmen 1, watchmen 2.)

Dogberry: Alas! For I, Dogberry. Sir- Sergeant? Captain, hath captured and charged two of the most villainous of villains to have been wondering the world. Attention! {to whole pub}

 I insist that the name Dogberry be written in history novels for maternity! In fact Dogberry will be cause for legend side by side with the greats of Hercules! and others of course. And in my great strength I have triumphed over evil to allow the world to return to status quo. Dogberry, mightiest of mighty.  (company grunts)

Alas, of course I wouldn’t of been able to conjure over the foes without my trusty gentlemen! Cheers! Drink up!

Verges: Cheers!

Watchmen: Cheers!

(all drink)

Member of public: Sir I beg pardon, but, did you mean conquer?

Dogberry: { To Verges} it appears the recent success hath blinded the young squires vision {to man} Are you questioning the mightiest of mightys intelligence? For I, Dogberry, am the most arrested

Verges: Respected, sir.

{ turns to verges} Thankyou,{turns back} respected.  police official in the whole of Italy! And a mighty lover too- for I have conjured many a women in my time {nods at man}

Verges: And as soon as the womenfolk realise the mightys recent success he would have every woman in the land  if he were lucky!

Dogberry: Yes! Exactly! If I was lucky I could have any number of women, in fact, of course I can have any number of woman and that is not just a pigment of my imagination.

Member of Public: You mean figment.

Dogberry: {hushed, to verges} Alas, what does the young man mean?

Verges: Mean by who?

Dogberry: No, he used the word figment, I am quizzing your intelligence by asking you to define. Of course, I do know.

Verges: Pigment? Well of course it is… a fruit. Yes a fruit I’m sure.

Dogberry! Well done, I knew it just. And by this he means?

Verges: Well he must mean you are sweet sir, of course he must realise your mightiness!

Dogberry. {nodding, mumbles} I am mighty. Well of course he meant that!

{to man} I accept your lovely condiment! How nice of you! You obviously were as not as I saw! I saw you as a wolf in cheap clothing! But , mere mortal, this will be the only time you deceive my judgement! For just today I arrested a villain for cursing {to verges} John? {to man}  John! Don? The Prince!

Man: Sheep.

Dogberry: Yes. {looks at verges in agreement}

Verges: You are correct.

Man: What? You are fools!

Watchmen (obviously drunk): We are all sheep. Following the loud. Crowd. The really loud crowd.

Dogberry: Of course, he is a fool. But, only a fool in drunkness, for he is a member of my party! And my party is mighty, for have I told you of how we caught some villains just today!

Verges: Today.

Dogberry: And lots of women like us.

Act III sc IV

Beatrice was a completely independent character previously in the play, stating that she would "lead the the apes into hell" she should die a single woman, not being able to love a man. However, now it is obvious that she is "unwell" coincidently when Benedick has also changed his appearance. We infer her unwell nature spirals from her realisation to loving Benedick (insert her huge sonnet). Margarets accidental reference of "cardius Benedictus" provokes Beatrices defence over the matter. This parallels Benedick earlier in the play when he states " there is a double meaning in that" after Beatrice asks him to dinner. It appears what the pair represented as institutionalised love has ended in them becoming the cliche love lost state of being.

The character Margaret is a stage distraction used to distract us from what Hero and Beatrice are saying, for they are expressing " pre wedding jitters " feeling uneasy, to foreshadow the following events. however her vulgar jokes distract us from the seriou points and allow the scene to carry out lighthearted. Unlucky for her that margaret, being lower class, again seems to show the upperclass and vulgar, disrespectful etc.

Act III sc III

Comic Relief

MALAPROPISM. IDIOCY. FARCE.

n. A humorous or farcical interlude in a serious literary work or drama, especially a tragedy, intended to relieve the dramatic tension or heighten emotional impact by contrast

Coleridge's criticism of this scene. 

" Take away from Much Ado all that which is not indispensable to the plot, either as having little to do with it, or at best, like Dogberry what remains? the implication is nothing, or almost nothing. The play as a whole has no purpose- that is has no unity. "

However we could argue against Coleridges critic opinion, for the scene is not entirely pointless. Yes the characters have no unity compared towards the others in the play, but this scene itself is an example where Comic Relief has been used to release the tension given by the previous scene. Rather without this scene Much Ado would seem to fall into a tragedy more than a comedy- it is significant that we see this scene instead of Borachios trickery in that it follows the plays light hearted values- the input of the dark scene would completely alter out perception of the comedy, without the release of tension the dark themes would prevail over the purpose (lighthearted feelgood wit etc)

He continues " any other less ingeniously absurd watchmen and night constables would have answerd the mere necessities of the action" (to big a comparison, basically. the character is crap)

However Coleridges separation of character from plot has caused him to mis interpret and ignore the purpose of the scene. To release tension, plus, the characters are not fault of bad characterisation, rather they are perfect examples of "the idiot"

Dogberry and his men show a problem for social idealisms. as they are lower class (apart from margaret the only lower class characters) it presents the lower class as moronic and idiotic. More so, however, as they are essentially policeman it generalises as the authoritive force as , also, moronic and idiotic. Presenting an argument to be raised outside of the play, to quote the greeks " who watches the watchmen " ? if the Police are morons, how are we safe?

Dogberry utters many malaprops because he attempts to sound authoritative, but instead furthers his idiotic appearance. "For the watch to babble and talk is most tolerable "

"you shall comprehend all vagrom men" ( apprehend, vagrant )

His primary concern seems to be to keep out of harms way, as to not arrest any thief's but to announce " i knew he was a thief" he is obviously cowardly but believes he is authoritative and correct through his (attempted) authoritative speech. However he is let down by continuos malaprops.

The watchmen then understand Borachio has fooled claudio by sleeping with Margaret in Heros dorm, under Don Johns command.

Act3 Sc2

Transformation.

According to Claudio and Pedro, explain how Benedick has changed? how has he reacted?

Don pedro explains that "for what his hearth thinks, his tongue speaks" showing that the self proposed bachelor cannot now control what he speaks, in fact he says exactly what comes from his heart- he cannot hide his emotions and has become what he resented in claudio- the cliche love filled institutionalised character. Upon this Benedick denies the accusation and insists he is suffering "toothache" incidentally toothache itself is often linked to romance itself- heartache etc.

Don Pedro notices he "dresses like a foreigner" with "a german from the waist downward, all slops, and a spaniard from the hips upwards'. Benedicks change has obviously been quick (like his fall into love with Beatrice) and such haste has left him with mixed appearances, suggesting he is confused in himself. In an attempt to impress he has mistakenly dressed himself as an idiot.

"he looks younger than he did by the loss of a beard" Benedick has shaven himself to suit the ideas of Beatrice early spoken in the play

"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."

it is also notable to see how Shakespeare has gone from the masked ball to the removal of Benedicks beard, as if his defences have been taken down to see his true self. the love of Beatrice has stripped him of his self indulgent ideals.

How does Don Johns language make the impact of his revelation to claudio all the more devastating?

Don pedro deliberately speaks in a submissive manner (power play) to place seeming control in claudio and pedros hands "my Lord and Brother, god save you" she even counters Claudios remark with " your Hero, everybodys Hero " implying that she has slept with a number of men. He tries to guilt the young man when exclaiming "but it would fit your honour to change your mind" tricking him into re evaluating the situation, thus to doubt Hero's innocence.

Why does Claudio announce he will shame Hero at the wedding?

Claudios drastic decision making seems to be a fault of his institutionalised way of thinking, his romanticism leavs him distinctly black and white in his emotions. He chooses to shame Hero at the wedding to assert his authority and confirm he is not a fool or has been fooled by her promiscuous activity. He needs to keep his reputation.

Group Work

Introduction set up the play in Messina, learning that "Don Pedro of Aragon comes this night to Messina"

A messenger has been used with the audience in mind, he delvers the information needed to illustrate the story. Leonato elevates Claudio's presence when exclaiming "Don Pedro hath bestowed much honour upon a young Florentine called Claudio." The messenger further illustrates the importance of the character when stating that [Claudio] "Hath borne himself beyond the promise of his age, doing in the figure of a lamb the feats of a lion". Meaning he is presented as being valiant and brave, but more importantly the "beyond his age" acknowledges that Claudio is young.

The character Beatrice is introduced with the ability of speech- with speech comes power- as her wit and quick speaking ability allows her to turn the words of the Messenger into more satirical statements- especially towards the character Benedick, referring him as "Signor Mountanto"(a sarcastic comment towards his feeble nature) "hath he killed? for indeed i promised to eat all of his killings" Beatrice obviously is mocking Benedick in that she does not think he has the ability to kill. The Messengers dry and formal responses to Beatrice's witty remarks show an example of comic pairing, almost as if he has been put in to provoke Beatrice's wit. (an example of stage intention). Beatrice's word play-
"
and a good soldier too lady.
and a good soldier to a lady; but what is he to a lord?
a lord to a lord. a man to a man, stuffed with all honourable virtues
it is so indeed,he is no less a stuffed man; but for the stuffing
"
She constantly managed to return the Messengers compliments to witty remarks of satire upon Benedick. She even refers to him "like a disease".

Benedick enters and the pair (comic pairing) engage in sparring of wit between the two.
"nobody marks you" Beatrice explains that Benedick talks without an audience and proposes no one listens to him. However, he explains that everyone loves him "i am loved of all ladies" Benedick is obviously in love with himself and does not lack in confidence.

Best example of their sparring pg 158. ends with the sentimental note of " i know you of old" upon which we realise the two have been together before, The two represents the "challenging of institutionalised love" rather they oppose the stereotypical fallinloveatfirstsight kind of love. (Claudio)
Claudio represents young love, marriage fixes all. " she is the sweetest lady i ever looked on" "if hero would be my wife"

Vulgar comedy is introduced when only in the company of men (perhaps a nod towards men being the culprits of vulgar humour) such as when Benedict explains "i noted her not. but i looked on her"
The two characters clearly juxtapose each other- through Benedicks wit and satire (vulgar jokes) with Claudios young and innocent compliments "can the world buy such a jewel?"
Too which Benedick clearly dismisses. " Yea, and a case to put it into "
Benedick dimisses Hero and speaks of Beatrice- first signs of feelings.



Opposes Both Beatrice and Benedick.

Act Two, Scene One

Leonato has noticed that Don John did not attend the dinner. Beatrice says that a combination between Don John andBenedick would create the perfect man. Leonato tells Beatrice she will never get a husband if she continues to make such "shrewd" remarks. Beatrice says that she is happy without a husband and plans to die unmarried. 

All the others arrive at the ball wearing masks. Don Pedro straight away goes over to Hero and asks her to dance a with him. She says yes, but tells him she hopes the face underneath the mask is better looking than the mask itself. 

Benedick meets up with Beatrice and tells her he won't reveal who he is. She starts to talk about Benedick, calling him, "the Prince's jester, a very dull fool". Benedick assures her he will tell Benedick what she has said about him. 

Don John and Borachio figure out who Claudio is by the way he is moving. Don John goes up to him and asks him if he is Benedick, and Claudio plays along, saying that he is. Don John tells Claudio that he should break up Don Pedro and Hero because she is not equal to his brother's birth. Borachio joins in as well, telling Claudio that he heard Don Pedro swear his affection for Hero and plan to marry her that evening. 

When Claudio is alone he comments that it must be true because friendship is constant in all things except for love. He says, "Farewell, therefore, Hero". Benedick arrives and invites Claudio to go with him, telling him the Prince "that got your Hero". Claudio, saddened by the thought that Don Pedro has stolen Hero from him leaves the ball. Don Pedro arrives and Benedick accuses him of betraying his friendship to Claudio by stealing Hero. He denies it and says that he was merely doing what he could for the couple. 

Benedick has been hurt by what Beatrice said about him while they danced, and the he tries to tell Don Pedro what she said that hurt him. He is mostly upset because she called him the "Prince's jester". Beatrice arrives with Hero, Claudio and Leonato. Benedick leaves as soon as he sees her, not able to put up with her comments. 


Beatrice says that everyone is getting married and leaving home except from herself. Don Pedro nicely offers to marry her but she refuses, telling him he is "too costly to wear every day". She leaves after Leonato reminds her of some work she needs to take care of. Claudio and Leonato agree to have the wedding in a week, and in the meantime Don Pedro tells them they will carry on trying to get Benedick and Beatrice to fall in love. Claudio and Hero join in. 

Act Two, Scene Two

Don John is angry over the fact that Claudio is marrying Hero. Borachio offers to prevent the marriage. He tells Don John that he is a good friend of Margaret and that he can get her to look out at Hero's chamber window. Borachio says that Don John should get Don Pedro and Claudio to watch the chamber window and he will then meet Margaret in the room, this making them think that Hero has another lover. Don John promises Borachio a thousand ducats if the plan works.




My quotes
" CLAUDIO
How know you he loves her?
DON JOHN
I heard him swear his affection.
BORACHIO
So did I too, and he swore he would marry her tonight.
DON JOHN
Come, let us to the banquet "
This is when Claudio is being gulled into thinking that Don Pedro loves Hero and that they are going to be wed that evening. Claudio pretends to be Benedick for a reason which is unknown to the reader. 
Also, the fact that it happened at a 'masked' banquet is a comedy technique because although all of the people that have attended the ball are masked, there is no way that they would not be able to recognise each other, so the way that Claudio is shown to think that they don't recognise him is ridiculous. 



LEONATO
" 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 dreamt of unhappiness and wak'd herself with laughing "

This shows that Beatrice might be practicing her own self-deception. She knows there’s a lot to be sad about in the world, but it’s easier to laugh than to cry at things you have no control over. This sleeping self-deception casts shows Beatrice’s ability to be happy, even though she might be sad that she’s alone. 


DON PEDRO
" I will teach you how to humour
your cousin, that she shall fall in love with Benedick; and I,
with your two helps, will so practise on
Benedick that, in despite of his quick wit and his queasy
stomach, he shall fall in love with Beatrice. If we can do this,
Cupid is no longer an archer; his glory shall be ours, for we are
the only love-gods. Go in with me, and I will tell you my drift. "
This is the planning of the decieving of Beatrice, so that she will fall in love with Benedick. This is a great quote of deception because they are planning it before they are doing it, to make sure everything will go right. This is comical aswell because they think they are so good at decieving people that the world does not need 'Cupid' because they can make anyone fall in love. 


[2.3]
Gulling- To fool or deceive someone,
Gulling is used heavily throughout the play but starts primarily in act 2 scene 3.
Music is used on page 210 from line 60-75 as a song is sung by Balthasar. Whilst Balthasar and Don Pedro consider the song to be innocent and romantic W.H. Auden interpreted the song in a different way and said it could be considered about the irresponsible nature of men and how foolish it is for women to take them seriously. It could be considered that it is in the very nature of men to 'gull'.

Benedick 'I should think this a gull, but that the white bearded fellow speaks it. Knavery cannot, sure, hide himself in such reverence.' 

The language within this quote suggests that he is trusting of the 'white bearded fellow'(Leonato)
Presumably because he is Beatrice's uncle and also because he thinks that it is impossible
for a man of his age to consider 'tricking' him.- 'knavery cannot, sure, hide himself in such reverence'. 'I should think this a gull' suggests that Benedick cannot quite believe the
conversation he has just overheard and is in total disbelief. His disbelief would
most likely stem from the conversation revolving around Beatrices love for him and
he will not openly admit any feelings he has for her. This once again links back to the
idea of institutionalized love and how it is these two characters constructed by Shakespeare
are challenging it. On page 217 Benedick says 'This can be no trick'. This shows that the
gulling between Claudio/Leonato/Don intended to be heard by Benedick has been
successful in planting the thought that Beatrice is in love with him in his head. The trio talk of Beatrice being in love with Benedick and talk of ways of expressing her love.
 'She found 'Benedick' and 'Beatrice' between the sheet'. It seems out of character for
Beatrice to be expressing her feelings through 'romantic' poetry but Benedick believes this and the audience suspend their disbelief of Benedicks naivety for the benefit of the narrative.
On page 217 Benedick says 'They say this lady is fair- 'tis a truth, I can bear them witness. And virtuous- 'tis so, i cannot reprove it. And wise, but for loving me. 
The gulling has made Benedick question himself, this is also out of character for him as he is
normally so self assured. 'And wise, but for loving me.' may suggest that he feels she is too good for him.
When Leonato, Caludio and Don talk of Beatrice they highlight qualitites found also in Benedick and reflect his character in her making her seem more appealing.

A Summary Of Act One Sc One

Introduction set up the play in Messina, learning that "Don Pedro of Aragon comes this night to Messina"

A messenger has been used with the audience in mind, he delvers the information needed to illustrate the story. Leonato elevates Claudio's presence when exclaiming "Don Pedro hath bestowed much honour upon a young Florentine called Claudio." The messenger further illustrates the importance of the character when stating that [Claudio] "Hath borne himself beyond the promise of his age, doing in the figure of a lamb the feats of a lion". Meaning he is presented as being valiant and brave, but more importantly the "beyond his age" acknowledges that Claudio is young.

The character Beatrice is introduced with the ability of speech- with speech comes power- as her wit and quick speaking ability allows her to turn the words of the Messenger into more satirical statements- especially towards the character Benedick, referring him as "Signor Mountanto"(a sarcastic comment towards his feeble nature) "hath he killed? for indeed i promised to eat all of his killings" Beatrice obviously is mocking Benedick in that she does not think he has the ability to kill. The Messengers dry and formal responses to Beatrice's witty remarks show an example of comic pairing, almost as if he has been put in to provoke Beatrice's wit. (an example of stage intention). Beatrice's word play-
"
and a good soldier too lady. 
and a good soldier to a lady; but what is he to a lord?
a lord to a lord. a man to a man, stuffed with all honourable virtues
it is so indeed,he is no less a stuffed man; but for the stuffing
"
She constantly managed to return the Messengers compliments to witty remarks of satire upon Benedick. She even refers to him "like a disease".

Benedick enters and the pair (comic pairing) engage in sparring of wit between the two.
"nobody marks you" Beatrice explains that Benedick talks without an audience and proposes no one listens to him. However, he explains that everyone loves him "i am loved of all ladies" Benedick is obviously in love with himself and does not lack in confidence.

Best example of their sparring pg 158. ends with the sentimental note of " i know you of old" upon which we realise the two have been together before, The two represents the "challenging of institutionalised love" rather they oppose the stereotypical fallinloveatfirstsight kind of love. (Claudio)
Claudio represents young love, marriage fixes all. " she is the sweetest lady i ever looked on" "if hero would be my wife"

Vulgar comedy is introduced when only in the company of men (perhaps a nod towards men being the culprits of vulgar humour) such as when Benedict explains "i noted her not. but i looked on her"
The two characters clearly juxtapose each other- through Benedicks wit and satire (vulgar jokes) with Claudios young and innocent compliments "can the world buy such a jewel?"
Too which Benedick clearly dismisses. " Yea, and a case to put it into "
Benedick dimisses Hero and speaks of Beatrice- first signs of feelings.



Opposes Both Beatrice and Benedick.

Notes from Lesson 4

Petrachan Sonnet

Aspects of Shakespearean poems

14 lines for a sonnet

Rhyming couplets

Iambic Pentameter

Quatrains

Volta

Love  ( comparing to flower – beauty -)

Profound themes for romantic sentiment.

Don john cannot speak about love

Don pedro is left alone

Imagery always comes back to nature

Nature is untouched, purity

Nature is untamed, in controlled, will blossom and bloom , continue to be beautiful. A creation of god.

Contrasts with Beatrice and Benedicks gulling,

Much harsher with Beatrice has she has been hurt by him already- by making it seem er fault they try and sway her

Rather benedick is obviously more emotional as he got hurt at the masked ball by her mick taking- it doesn’t take as much to sway him.

Target her flaws, rather they attack his feelings.

Similar elements

1 reverse pycholodgy

attack on personality

both have fear of rejection

both are incapable of love

Beatrices last speech is a sonnet, she has an epiphany upon realisation on how she loves Benedick

Deception so far in Much Ado-

Beatrice pretends she does not recognise Benedick at the masked ball as to openly upset him and criticise his wit, calling him a " Jester ". Neither good nor bad.
Don John persuades Claudio that Don Pedro is " wooing [ Hero ] for himself "this is obviously bad deception.
The Gullings of both Beatrice and Benedick are a form of good deception, making them become aware of their affection for each other. Particularly Beatrice as she recites a sort of sonnet about him- telling of he " adieu " to her old ways, accepting of Benedick. The rhythm of this shows how she has become " in Note " in tune, with the song [ story ] music of love.