Beatrice

Play

Much Ado About Nothing

Summary

Beatrice is the niece of Leonato and the sharpest wit in Messina — a brilliant, sharp-tongued woman who engages in a perpetual "merry war" of words with Benedick, both of them professing contempt for love and marriage. She is gulled by her friends into believing Benedick loves her secretly, and she discovers with disarming honesty that she loves him too. Her finest moment comes after Hero's public shaming, when she commands Benedick to "Kill Claudio" — transforming the comedy momentarily into something fierce and morally serious.

Notable Quotations

"I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me." *(I.i)*

"Kill Claudio." *(IV.i)*

"O that I were a man! What, bear her in hand until they come to take hands, and then with public accusation, uncovered slander, unmitigated rancour — O God, that I were a man!" *(IV.i)*

"I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest." *(IV.i)*

Cross-references

• Much Ado About Nothing — the play
• Comedies — genre
• character_benedick — her sparring partner and eventual love
• character_hero — her cousin, whose honor she fiercely defends
• character_leonato — her uncle
• character_don_pedro — the Prince who orchestrates the gulling plot