Don John

Don Pedro's bastard half-brother. He is the villain of the play, both in his behaviour and in his position as an illegitimate son - he creates a dark scheme to ruin the happiness of Claudio and Hero. Melancholy and sullen by nature. Envious, has little power because of his place in society/his background. Jealous of his socially and politically powerful half-brother. Influences action of the play, he has very few speaking lines for a main character. A plot-device more than a fully fleshed out character. He’s not Shakespeare’s most compelling and complex villain, but it’s a reminder to the reader that the play isn’t supposed to be a tragedy. Sulky, spiteful but honest.  “If you swear, my Lord, you shall not be forsworn” (I.1.124) - Leonato questions Don John’s loyalty to Don Pedro. This shows that immediately the characters regard him with suspicion, due to his position as a bastard. “I am not of many words, but I thank you” (I.1.127) - Don John acknowledges society’s perpetual distrust of him, giving an aloof reply. An outcast/outsider. He feels that in acting the part of a villain, he fulfills a role delegated to him by his own blood. Remote.

Don Pedro

The Prince of Arragon, the leader of Benedick and Claudio, a friend of Leonato, the half-brother of Don John the Bastard. Lover to no one. The most politically and socially powerful character in the play. Intelligent, loyal and mature. The enabler that sweet talks Hero secretly on Claudio’s behalf, and the mastermind of the plot to trick Benedick and Beatrice into loving each other. However, Don Pedro also falls into Don John’s scheme when his brother suggests that Don Pedro’s honor and credibility have been compromised through forming dishonorable match between Claudio and Hero. Honourable, wise. Notices Beatrice’s quick wit, proposes marriage to her. When she shrugs him off, rather than sulking or becoming self-pitiful, sets up a scheme to get Beatrice a deserving husband. Alone, analytical. At the end, Don Pedro is the only high-status bachelor, and though it’s a source of fun for Benedick, it’s one of the play’s loose ends that is actually pretty sad. Don Pedro is the closest thing the play has to a tragic character. Keeps order and resolves everyone's problems through his intellect. People look to him for guidance.

Hero

Leonato’s daughter, Beatrice’s cousin, and the beloved (and slandered) fiancée of Claudio. A gentle, loving girl. Quiet and reserved. Though she is supposed to be the female lead of the play, Hero has the fewest lines of the four primary characters. Her sweet nature contrasts with Beatrice. Her little actions and words within the play show that she has some willfulness, but she expresses this side of herself infrequently because she gives so many of her big decisions over to other people. Innocent victim - when Claudio denounces her publicly at her wedding, she doesn’t defend herself to inspire anyone to really question Claudio’s claims. Shakespeare shows a few traits of what was expected from a woman from the Elizabethan era through Hero, above all to be 'mild' (quiet). Vulnerable to circumstance because women were low in society and so their words meant very little. The name Hero would be familiar to the Shakespearian audience, as Hero is synonymous with romantic heroine, therefore Shakespeare's Hero has a very straightforward role and is one the very few characters in the play that does not change at all. Since the name Hero gives the impression of a kind, polite and dutiful daughter, we can immediately tell that she is the kind of woman who represents the model requirements of an unmarried daughter in her society.

Claudio

Friend of Don Pedro and of Benedick. A young Count from Florence, who has distinguished himself as a soldier under Don Pedro. Falls in love with Hero at his first glance of her upon his return to Messina - though he has seen her before, he paid her no attention as he was preparing for war. Upon hearing of how highly he is praised, he weeps - this is an introduction to the immaturity that will characterize Claudio for the rest of the play (his passionate feelings, and the enthusiasm with which he gives himself up to his emotions, are as marked as his immaturity). His suspicious nature and the fact that he is easily manipulated makes him quick to believe evil and false rumours and hasty to take revenge. Naïve, young, lacks insight. He enables the play's central plot (his and Hero's wedding). Prone to youthful idiocy.

Benedick

Friend of Don Pedro and of Claudio. An aristocratic, bragging soldier from Padua who has been fighting under Don Pedro. Witty, funny, a joker, and locked into a love-hate relationship with Beatrice. Most things are a joke to him, and he cares little for others’ feelings (like how he teases Claudio instead of comforting him when he thinks Don Pedro has stolen Hero). Vows to never marry, like Beatrice. Histrionic, he is the entertainer, indulging in witty hyperbole to express his feelings and to entertain the audience.

Beatrice

Leonato's niece, Hero's cousin. "Pleasant-spirited" with a sharp tongue. Often mocks others with wit and puns, Benedick's match (the two partake in battles of intellectuality and wit, and are both self-deceptive of their love for each other - the suspected romantic history between the two suggests why they are so content to never marry and explains their sparring). Beatrice’s pride gets in the way of admitting her folly in love, and she uses her wit as a defence. A strong female character = challenges roles and expectations of women in Shakespearian times (women expected to be quiet, obedient, speak when spoken to/on limited occasions). Feisty, cynical about marriage and love (to begin), witty, relentless. Opposite to Hero, but the two are close and loyal to one another. She appears hardened and sharp - she is afraid to be vulnerable. I personally find her the most endearing and fleshed out character.

"Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps"

Shows the difference in the two relationships in the play and the way the characters fall in love - one through natural course, which is Hero and Claudio, the other with 'traps' (through deception and trickery), which is Beatrice and Benedick.

Act 3 Scene 1 (Beatrice gulling scene)

How does the form of the language in this gulling scene differ from that used in the scene with Benedick?
 In this scene, Beatrice is deceived and her personality changes suddenly, as does Benedick's. However, they differ, as the women in Beatrice's scene speak in verse which is more romantic, whereas in Benedick's the men speak in prose. This is to contrast more explicitly the difference between men and women.
 They are also different because the men in Benedick's scene exaggerate and over-act, claiming Beatrice to be in love, making her out to be more and more desperate every time something is said - "Maybe she doth but counterfeit", "she loves him with an enraged affection" to "down upon her knees she falls, weeps, sobs, beats her heart, tears her hair, prays, curses, 'O sweet Benedick! God give me patience!'" - whereas the women are more refined and selective in their choice of words - they claim Benedick to love Beatrice but should advise him otherwise, and are more personal in what they say to make Beatrice believe it, whereas Benedick wants to believe it. This shows the maturity and competence of the women (the underdogs) in comparison to the hesitance of the men and how they exaggerate more as the conversation develops - "Why, what effects of passion shows she?" "What effects, my lord?".
 Benedick's gulling scene is more comedic (bawdy) and the other more conscious and cunning, though both are deceptive plots. Shakespeare changes language over the two scenes to accentuate the differences in sex.

What are 3 elements found in common in the gulling of both Benedick and Beatrice?
 Firstly, the personality changes - both characters start out being self-deceptive of their love for each other, but by the end of both scenes they are talking in verse, which suggests romance, as does the monologue from each character at the end of both scenes.
 Secondly, the deceivers - the people who deceive Benedick and Beatrice are their closest friends, making the scenes comedic. Not only are they deceived, but deceived indirectly. Benedick and Beatrice overhearing is intentional - "See you where Benedick hath hid himself?"- to gull them into thinking they know something they weren't supposed to, and consequently believe what the hear.
 Both scenes are single sex scenes. This is probably because the women and the men would handle the situation in two completely different ways and women did not speak among men unless spoken to.

What is unusual about the form of the language of the last ten lines in this scene? Why does Shakespeare have Beatrice speak like this?
 Beatrice’s speech in the end of the scene is written in couplets and in verse. The form of Beatrice’s speech reflects the subject and contrasts the way in which she has spoken in previous acts. Until Act III, Beatrice has been disdainful towards love and marriage and has spoken in prose; however, she now speaks in verse about requiting Benedick’s love and marrying him.
 Shakespeare has Beatrice speak like this to show the acknowledgement of Benedick's love has enticed her break out of self-deception, when she was speaking in prose, to her now speaking in verse to show the audience that she has fallen in love, as it suggests romance.

The Gulling of Benedick

'Benedick and Beatrice are self deceptive' - Richard Henze.

Benedick's soliloquiy does not contain iambic pentameter - plain speech, attempting to trick himself into thinking he isn't in love. Self-deceptive.

Audience assumes more power as they know that Benedick and Beatrice love each other.

Claims he wants a 'mild' woman - self-deceptive, Benedick wants Beatrice who is outspoken and sharp tongued.

Gulling Scene (Act 2, Scene 3)

• Compliments followed by insults - builds Benedick's confidence up, then knocks him down again = to make him believe that Beatrice is in love with him but not let him get big-headed about it, or boast about it to his companions. Meanwhile, in Beatrice's gulling scene, she is given solely insults to make her ponder upon her actions = guilt.
• Exaggerated and suspicious but Benedick does not suspect a gulling = hoping that it's true, whereas in Beatrice's gulling scene, the women are relaxed and convincing - Beatrice is less gullible and needs more convincing.
• 'Aside' lines - tells the audience that it's a trick and that Don Pedro, Claudio and Leonato know Benedick is hiding - intentional that Benedick overhears = foreshadowing that Benedick and Beatrice will fall in love, or reveal their love and break out of their self-deception.
• 'Beatrice will not tell Benedick' - whether Beatrice denies or admits her love, it's a win-win situation, as the men emphasise that she will not admit it = if she denies it, she loves him. If she admits it, she loves him.

Act 1 Scene 3

Yet more nothing, this time without smut.

Today's focus:
- Language & power (patriarchy - male, father authority).
- Misunderstanding & deception.
- Interpretation.

Camille Wells Slights - Shakespeare Comic Commonwealth 1993.
"The play is centrally concerned with the social nature of language - with the power of language and with language as an articulation of power".

References to:

Language and power

• Don John referred to as "my lord" = holds power over a select few, despite his low intellect.
• However, Don John complains about his lack of power - "I have decreed not to sing in my cage" - refrained from speaking because of his low authority, so his words mean little. He will not speak others words if he cannot have his own, low authority in comparison to half-brother Don Pedro = jealousy, trapped by his bastardy.
• "Muzzle" - refers to his speech as a dog's bark and everyone else's as a singing bird's = lesser than the other characters in the play.

Misunderstanding

• Borachio eavesdrops and thinks Don Pedro is going to woo Hero - "and there heard it agreed upon that the prince should woo Hero for himself" - misunderstanding. This could bring Don John even less power than the little he already has, as he is delivered false information.

Comedy NOT Comic

'Old comedy' - BC, Greek:

Bawdy, scatological (bodily functions), set pieces and sketches (catch phrases).

'New comedy' - still BC, Greek:

Romance, reuniting characters, plot, happy endings, fast paced (scenario's resolved quickly) and witty (puns, banter).

Characters:

- Love struck young man

- Cunning yet cowardly slave

- Angry father
- Bragging soldier (handsome, strong, expected hero).
- Kind hearted prostitute (more mature in life and love that the main female character, who is sweet and innocent).

'Shakespearian comedy' - 1580 onwards:
Young love > difficulty, problems resolved by marriage, doesn't have to be funny.
Mixed bawdiness (sexual humour) with serious deep thoughts (bawdiness for the lower orders, serious for the upper).