Color Key--
either playful flirty or just clever; something that can be said in different ways for different meanings
clever clever, for the sake of showing off or just something that can be said in a more serious/blunt way
flirty/playful clever
negative word (connotation)
blue/coral = notes & explanations
ACT V. SCENE II. LEONATO'S garden.
Enter BENEDICK and MARGARET, meeting
BENEDICK
Pray thee, sweet Mistress Margaret, deserve well at
my hands by helping me to the speech of Beatrice.
MARGARET
Will you then write me a sonnet in praise of my beauty?
BENEDICK
In so high a style, Margaret, that no man living
shall come over it; for, in most comely truth, thou
deservest it.
MARGARET
To have no man come over me! why, shall I always
keep below stairs?
BENEDICK
Thy wit is as quick as the greyhound's mouth; it catches.#
# either/or -- could be flirty, could be saying what she wants to hear, could be a distracted compliment... (see below for explanation of these colors)
MARGARET
And yours as blunt as the fencer's foils, which hit,
but hurt not.
BENEDICK
A most manly wit, Margaret; it will not hurt a
woman:# and so, I pray thee, call Beatrice: I give
thee the bucklers.
# Sounds conceited, maybe condescending - could be said kindly or bitterly. Many options, all show us more about his character. Here while he is speaking to Margaret, it’s all about how he responds to her flirtatious/playful remarks.
MARGARET
Give us the swords; we have bucklers of our own.
BENEDICK
If you use them, Margaret, you must put in the
pikes with a vice; and they are dangerous weapons for maids.
MARGARET
Well, I will call Beatrice to you, who I think hath legs.
BENEDICK
And therefore will come.
Exit MARGARET
**For instance: Benedick can either be flirting with Margaret with legitimate interest (however slight) as a bachelor/conceited flirt, or merely responding to Margaret with words she wants to hear. Say the actor plays him as flirtatious in a giggly sort of way - foolish, almost girlish; the scene could plant some worries in the audience’s mind, or perhaps they would see it as completely harmless and just part of his personality. These could even be the case if the actor’s Benedick was played as a total fool, someone very stupid (in general, this might provide great comedy, especially as his long soliloquies, when we see his mind completely change from one extreme to the other, would be seen in a very comedic light, even as laughable. Depending on how the part is played, the audience will have a different response to Benedick’s character. The might doubt his fidelity to Beatrice and predict an unhappy marriage, or they might see his wit perfectly matched to hers and a happy future marriage, as the other characters do. The story can truly go either way; it's up to you, my dear actors, to play the roles and manipulate the reaction of the audience.
Sings
The god of love,
That sits above,
And knows me, and knows me,
How pitiful I deserve,--
I mean in singing; but in loving, Leander the good
swimmer, Troilus the first employer of panders, and
a whole bookful of these quondam carpet-mangers,
whose names yet run smoothly in the even road of a
blank verse, why, they were never so truly turned
over and over as my poor self in love. Marry, I
cannot show it in rhyme; I have tried: I can find
out no rhyme to 'lady' but 'baby,' an innocent
rhyme; for 'scorn,' 'horn,' a hard rhyme; for,
'school,' 'fool,' a babbling rhyme; very ominous
endings: no, I was not born under a rhyming planet,
nor I cannot woo in festival terms.
** This entire mini soliloquy is a great example of how Benedick may be played a fool; he certainly is blabbering like one. Whether it’s a fool because of love or a real idiot in love, it could be quite amusing. Yet Benedick could be a very frustrated individual here as well, played in a bitter way. Secondly, he is very much in love with Beatrice, which is totally contrary to his stance at the start of the tale. He has changed his mind rather quickly, and that can be easily played up as very comedic, as could the words he is saying here (about rhyming, what he’s comparing himself to, etc.)
Finally, this is Benedick in private. It tells us a great deal about how he sees himself and not how those around him see him (both of which are entirely determined by how he’s played, as you can imagine!).
Enter BEATRICE
Sweet Beatrice, wouldst thou come when I called thee?#
#Is it sarcasm, or is it his love shining through?
**This is a very interesting conversation between the two because of the great difference in their attitudes. Benedick begins with flattery, Beatrice with more straightforward, fairly blunt words. Perhaps she is unhappy, perhaps she is playfully flirting - depends on the actress! But what is quite intriguing is the fact that they are both speaking quite similarly by the close of the conversation. Benedick's words are still somewhat condescending in a sweet way, as you might say something to a child you love dearly yet respect. Beatrice seems to lighten up to some extent, and they both appear to be on the same level. Interesting that they can begin at such extremes and wind up in the same/similar place(s). May be indicative of the future success of their relationship, and why audiences around the world seem to love this couple so. From private conversations like these, it's apparent that they might actually work; it's a realistic love story, heartwarming and pleasant. (Mind you, this is all gathered from simply reading it, not acting it out. Yet again, the conversation and the extremes might seem very different depending on how they're played!). Just wanted to point it out -- could be important for their development, right..?
[Also, this conversation is an obvious example that their witty banter continues in private -- now (from reading) it seems they do it more to impress one another and not to get attention or to poke fun at one another.]
BEATRICE
Yea, signior, and depart when you bid me.
BENEDICK
O, stay but till then!
BEATRICE
'Then' is spoken; fare you well now:# and yet, ere
I go, let me go with that I came; which is, with
knowing what hath passed between you and Claudio.
#Could be presented as a flirt, could be presented as her joking, witty nature.
BENEDICK
Only foul words; and thereupon I will kiss thee.
BEATRICE
Foul words is but foul wind, and foul wind is but
foul breath, and foul breath is noisome; therefore I
will depart unkissed.
**Here is a wonderful line to use as an exercise in saying a line in different ways to imply different meanings. Beatrice could easily be a complete tease, saying these cleverly phrased words as a flirt; if she were to do this, she might be categorized into the group of female Shakespearean characters that embody the stereotype of "woman" as a devilish, seductive, sexually-inclined being who aims only to make her husband a cuckold (going back to the fear that all men have). But if Beatrice were to play this as if she truly believes her witty remarks are a solid argument for why he shouldn't kiss Benedick (a.k.a. in a less silly flirty way and in all serious regarding the Claudio situation), the audience would see her as a strong woman who knows just what she wants and the methods she will use to get there (such as clever and witty remarks). And there are still other ways to play the lines. Any way you go, a different Beatrice is portrayed to the audience and a different match is made of the two who were always meant to be together.
BENEDICK
Thou hast frighted the word out of his right sense,
so forcible is thy wit. But I must tell thee
plainly, Claudio undergoes my challenge; and either
I must shortly hear from him, or I will subscribe
him a coward. And, I pray thee now, tell me for
which of my bad parts didst thou first fall in love with me?
BEATRICE
For them all together; which maintained so politic
a state of evil that they will not admit any good
part to intermingle with them. But for which of my
good parts did you first suffer love for me?
BENEDICK
Suffer love! a good epithet! I do suffer love
indeed, for I love thee against my will.#
#Flirty joke, or could he be serious...?
BEATRICE
In spite of your heart, I think; alas, poor heart!
If you spite it for my sake, I will spite it for
yours; for I will never love that which my friend hates.
BENEDICK
Thou and I are too wise to woo peaceably.
**I believe this line quite honestly sums up their whole relationship. Whatever "wise" may mean coming from the mouth of Benedick, one of the "wise" himself, these two are truly too unique to woo as typical lovers in theatre. Benedick may call it wise, but I see them both as too proud to admit their feelings (or figure out / fact their feelings) to one another, and even to themselves at first, for Benedick convinces himself that he will always be unmarried and chooses his mind quite swiftly later while Beatrice can sometimes sound (or can be played to sound) a bit forlorn when she speaks of marriage and love in the early parts of the play.
BEATRICE
It appears not in this confession: there's not one
wise man among twenty that will praise himself.
BENEDICK
An old, an old instance, Beatrice, that lived in
the lime of good neighbours. If a man do not erect
in this age his own tomb ere he dies, he shall live
no longer in monument than the bell rings and the
widow weeps.
BEATRICE
And how long is that, think you?
BENEDICK
Question: why, an hour in clamour and a quarter in
rheum: therefore is it most expedient for the
wise, if Don Worm, his conscience, find no
impediment to the contrary, to be the trumpet of his
own virtues, as I am to myself. So much for
praising myself, who, I myself will bear witness, is
praiseworthy:# and now tell me, how doth your cousin?
#Quite the arrogant comment as read out on paper, yet, again, one could manipulate it by playing it in a flirty way or anything else you might think of. The quick subject change to a rather serious topic close to Beatrice's heart can be used as evidence of the fact that he may just be being silly or flirting, or that he does can for the woman beside him.
BEATRICE
Very ill.
BENEDICK
And how do you?
BEATRICE
Very ill too.
BENEDICK
Serve God, love me and mend. There will I leave
you too, for here comes one in haste.
Enter URSULA
URSULA
Madam, you must come to your uncle. Yonder's old
coil at home: it is proved my Lady Hero hath been
falsely accused, the prince and Claudio mightily
abused; and Don John is the author of all, who is
fed and gone. Will you come presently?
BEATRICE
Will you go hear this news, signior?
BENEDICK
I will live in thy heart, die in thy lap, and be
buried in thy eyes; and moreover I will go with
thee to thy uncle's.
Exeunt
# The purple text denotes words that have negative connotations or definitions when looked at alone. Benedick and Beatrice actually bring up some deep and dark topics as they speak of their love, which is an example of a theme that can be played up if such words are stressed in some manner. This could bring a very interesting view of their relationship to light; does it have to do with an inner sense of grudging dislike toward marriage that remains deep within them, or could it simply be a coincidence or Shakespeare subtly playing with words and making us think? Yet again, it's your choice to make! How fantastic!
Image from Quarto 1 (George III version) -- this is most of Act V, Scene ii. Can't find much better proof of how words can literally be interpreted differently! Just see how difficult it is so make out certain letters in some sentences. This image of the Quarto pages of the above marked up scene is merely to reinforce that idea visually!
The British Library Board. Much Ado About Nothing; First Quarto 1600 (George III), pg 65.
Digital image. Treasures in Full: Shakespeare in Quarto. The British Library Board. Web.
24 Feb. 2011. <http://prodigi.bl.uk/treasures/shakespeare/record.asp?LHPage=64&LHCopy=46&
RHPage=65&RHCopy=46&disp=s#DispTop>.
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