Blog 3: Much Ado about Nothing Acts 3-4

1. p. 99, # 3: Compare Claudio and Benedick. The two friends, Claudio and Benedick, are in love with the two main female characters. Write notes for Benedick's love story, then do the same for Claudio. Now write an entry that compares the stories and behavior of the two men. Which man feels love more deeply and sincerely? How do you know? Which one do you find the more attractive and likeable and why?



Benedick and Claudio are friends from the wars, fighting under Don Pedro, their prince. Benedick is a Lord of Padua; Claudio is a Count of Florence, and holds a higher social rank than Benedick. From the beginning, we see that Claudio's interest in Hero is not just for love; he inquires as to whether she is Leonato's heir, which basically asks whether or not she's rich. As a Count, Claudio is expected to marry one of his station in society, and it's clear that Hero is at least his equal, being the daughter of the Governor of Messina. Benedick, being of lower rank, is more likely to be free to go with his heart than to have to marry for position and power.



Claudio is far more concerned about how things appear, how they affect him socially than about how his love Hero thinks and feels. He allows Don Pedro to woo the girl on his behalf, but even when Pedro does this, Claudio falls for Don John's deception when John claims that Pedro woos for himself, not for Claudio. This happens during the masque in Act 2, Scene 1 -- all are masked, but John knows which man is Claudio. John pretends he thinks it's Benedick, and tells him "Signior, you are very near my brother in his love: he is enamoured on Hero;" and asks "Benedick" to dissuade the Prince from his intentions due to her lower station. Claudio eats it all up with a spoon, and behaves as if she's "sour grapes" (like in the Aesop Fable), as if he didn't want her anyway. Once again, this does not make me believe that he actually loves Hero.



Benedick, on the other hand, clearly loves Beatrice all throughout the play. While they trade jabs in the beginning of the play as if they despise each other, there is a very fine line between love and hate. It does not take much work on the part of the other players to convince Benedick that Beatrice never stopped loving him after whatever happened between them before the time of the play. Even when she continues to stick him with insults, once he's convinced she loves him, he brushes off all the barbs with one excuse or another, and works to win her love once and for all. He is not blind in this love, either -- when Beatrice first asks him to "Kill Claudio" he refuses. It takes a lot of information on her part to make him decide to become her champion in the cause of her cousin Hero's honor. This shows me that he doesn't walk around believing everything he's told, even though the initial impression that Beatrice loves him is fed to him. The only reason it's believable is it's not that far from the truth.



I find Benedick to be more interesting, attractive, and likeable than Claudio. Benedick does not throw everything away in the name of honor; while he is willing to fight for honor, he goes into battle with his eyes wide open with good information. Claudio is far more interested in his honor and appearance than his love for Hero, and that makes him too self-centered for me to find him either attractive or interesting.