Summary:
In Shakespeare's play, Much Ado About Nothing, over the course of the play, Benedick converts from a hostile bachelor to a loving husband. In the end he is head over heels in love for Beatrice whom he once quarreled with habitually.
Benedick's conversion to love
Throughout Act one and two, Benedick repeatedly says that he will never love a woman or get married. At some stage in the duration of the play his mindset changes. In the end he is head over heels in love for Beatrice whom he once quarreled with habitually. The turnabout in his behavior was brought about by the deceiving Claudio and Pedro who indirectly told Benedick that Beatrice loved him.
At the beginning, Benedick's attitude is negative towards women in general. He swears he will never marry, as he is very critical of women and does not trust any of them not to cheat on him. He seems to oppose with Beatrice in a competition to outwit, outsmart, and out-insult each other. Obviously he has been in some sort of past relationship with Beatrice because when he meets her at the masked ball, she describes him as a selfish pig. We can infer that Benedick has some kind of deep feelings for her because after she insults him he is hurt and says, "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 toothpick from the furthest inch of Asia . . . do you any embassage to the pigmies, rather than hold three words' conference with this harpy" (II.i.229-235). This blatantly means that he does not wish to talk to her.
When Benedick hears that Claudio has fallen in love for Hero, he is enraged. He thought that Claudio would live a bachelor's life like him. Benedick tells him that men who are in love are not masculine. Near the end of Act IV, Benedick's complete change is evident when Benedick chooses love over friendship. Benedick challenges Claudio, previously his closest friend in the world, to duel to the death over Claudio's accusation as to Hero's unethical behavior. After Beatrice complains to him about Claudio's mistake, Benedick gives in, "Enough, I am engaged. I will challenge him." At this point, there is no doubt that Benedick has switched his allegiances entirely over to Beatrice. But then again, Benedick was relieved that Hero was proved guilty so he would not have to fight his close friend Claudio.
On the "second" wedding day of Hero and Claudio, Benedick showed maturity by not fighting Pedro and Claudio when they teased him about loving Beatrice. He justifies his earlier remark that he would die a bachelor by saying, "When I said I would die a bachelor, I did not think I should live till I were married." Benedick is trying to say that he thought he would die young and not live long enough to get married. When in front of the crowd, Benedick refutes that he loves Beatrice but is exposed when Claudio shows everyone the sonnet he wrote for her. The reader can recognize that Benedick is more mature and over his degrading jokes because he tells the crowd, "I'll tell thee what, prince: a college of witcrackers cannot flout me out of my humor." He tells everyone to disregard what he said before about marriage because he was not planning on falling in love.
Over the course of the play, Benedick made a complete turn around from evading love and marriage to falling in love and wanting to get married. It is clear that Benedick has matured very much because of his new mature views on love and life.
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