Literature: Beatrice As A Shrew In Much Ado About Nothing (Book Report Sample)

Literature: Beatrice As A Shrew In Much Ado About Nothing Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Course Instructor Date The definition of a shrew is an aggressively assertive or nasty-tempered woman whose spiteful behavior can result from being hurt. A shrew's spiteful and malignant behavior desires to annoy, injure, or vex. They tend to say something with malicious or malignant intent to hurt to get their point across. A shrew is perceived not to consider another person's reasoning but instead lash out at them, frequently a scolding or turbulent wife. In Shakespeare's play much ado about nothing; he portrays Beatrice as a shrew in society. In the play, we understand that Beatrice, though not a protagonist per se, is one of the more interesting characters in the play. She is the niece of Leonato, a wealthy governor of Messina, and friends with Leonato's daughter Hero, who is quite different from her. Whereas Hero is polite, quiet, respectful, and gentle, Beatrice is feisty, cynical, witty, and sharp. She is a strong female character, intelligent, loyal to her family, and comical. For most of Beatrice's adult life, though she approves of love for her cousin Hero, she has sworn off love for herself. As the play progresses, Beatrice's perception of matters does not change, except for her aversion to marriage herself. She changes her attitude towards marriage when she realizes she has found a familiar feeling with Benedick, who is similar to her in more than one way. They are both independent and stubborn and willing to stay single for life to avoid being hurt, wounded, or rejected by the opposite sex. At the beginning of the play, she is witty, intelligent, independent, and unconventional. In a way, she challenges the gender conventions of Elizabeth's era, being overbearing rather than robust and submissive rather than weak. Beatrice is indeed a shrew of society because of various attributes she possesses; One is that she has a sharp tongue and is bold. As portrayed in the play, she is good at is using her sharp tongue to say and express precisely what she wishes. Beatrice puts down benedict in front of others at the beginning when the messenger mentions Benedict's name as one of the soldiers leaving the war. When he returns to Messina, she immediately jokes about him being a poor soldier and his habit of attaching himself to his peers. She also states that 'he wears his faith but as the fashion of his hat,' which means he quickly changes his mind and cannot be trusted to settle. When Benedick arrives, Beatrice engages in a banter conversation with him, verbally battling with him and insulting him with her clever words. She expresses her hatred towards him to the messenger. She uses the phrase 'nobody marks you during the conversation, which is ironic since she notices and loves him. Beatrice appears to be insulting and spiteful towards Benedicts with her exclaims that a creature such as a parrot that can speak is better than a dumb one such as a horse. She tells Benedick that he is a dull fool that makes evil men laugh and deserves to be beaten. Despite Beatrice's disdain for Benedick, we realize that she enjoys a battle of wits to get a chance to speak with him. Beatrice is also a shrew because of her Aversion to Marriage. It was unusual for a woman to deny getting marriage during Shakespeare's time. Beatrice shocks her audience when she insists that she will only get married when men are made of different metals. She is unwilling to get married because she wants to keep her liberty and can't see herself submitting to the will of her controlling partner. She claims to be happily single, and she rejects all offers of love, including Don Pedro’s casual suggestion that they should get married. Perhaps her aversion rises from the feeling of insecurity whereby Beatrice worries that a man might leave her hence wounding her heart. However, later in the play, we see her declaring that she would have married derrick a long time ago, but she was worried that he wouldn't take their union seriously. Several characteristics that prove Beatrice as a shrew include that she is argumentative and outspoken. Benedick mentions her as Lady Disdain which is a nickname meaning scornful. The sarcasm implied by this nickname show how their relationship is based on their quick-witted arguments. Beatrice has a fiery temper and is outspoken. Her uncle warns her that she won't get married if she continues to be sharp in how he speaks. She was expected to be discrete, and being outspoken was viewed as an undesirable personality trait. Lastly, Beatrice is frustrated by society. She is dissatisfied with the role dictated to the women and claims that if she was a man, she could take revenge on Claudio. Claudio left her cousin on the alter on the day of their marriage with claims given by Don Jon that Hero was unfaithful. Beatrice believes that she is a woman limits her to certain things, including taking revenge, and even instructs Benedick to kill Claudio. Her attribute of challenging men is quite insulting to the audience because it wasn't expected during Elizabeth's era. Beatrice is frustrated that she can't take her place in the world as an equal to any man. She is cleverer than all of the other characters in the play. She feels injustice but can't do anything about it because she is a woman. Despite Beatrice's attributes, only Benedick views her as a shrew in the play. He considered her a shrew mainly because she was resentful primarily to him and insulted him on most occasions. The other characters view her as an independent woman loyal to her fam...