Benedicks Attitudes to Love and Marriage - 2278 Words

Benedick’s attitude to love marriage in ‘‘Much Ado About Nothing’’ In the play ‘‘Much Ado About Nothing’’ by William Shakespeare, the character of Benedick shows mixed emotions towards loves and marriage throughout. In the two extracts we studied, Benedick shows a large contrast of opinions: In Act 1 Scene 1, Benedick portrays strong feelings of contempt towards love and marriage, whereas by Act 2 Scene 3, Benedick has completely changed his views and he is prepared to make the commitment and marry Beatrice, a woman he appeared to dislike in the beginning of the play and who seemed to have mutual feelings towards Benedick. Act 1 Scene 1 portrays that Benedick has a very negative attitude towards love and marriage. When conversing with†¦show more content†¦This shows that not only does Benedick have an unusual attitude towards the opposite sex, but it also insinuates that he may have some hatred towards them, too. Ho wever, Benedick does not have much respect for women, as he says ‘‘that a woman conceived me, I thank her; that she brought me up, I likewise give her most humble thanks; but that I will have recheat winded in my forehead, or hang my bugle in a invisible baldrick all women shall pardon me,’’ meaning that he’s thankful and grateful that a woman gave birth to him and raised and took care of him: ‘‘that a woman conceived me†¦ I give her most humble thanks’’. But all the other women will have to forgive him for not being willing to be made a fool of — cheated on by a wife (Sparknotes): ‘‘but that I will have recheat†¦ all women shall pardon me’’. This suggests that he does not want to marry because he doesn’t trust women and thinks they lie and are unfaithful. Benedick is a strong character - he talks openly and mocks other people (BBC GCSE Bitesize). He must have issues trusting women because he’s afraid that if he is cheated on, he will be mocked and humiliated by others; he wants to be respected, afraid it will ruin his reputation if he does marry and get cheated on. Benedick also conveys strong feelings of doubt towards women claiming ‘‘because I will not do them the wrong to mistrust any, I will do myself the right to trust none,’’