William Shakespeare’s ever popular romantic comedy “Much Ado About Nothing”, has been much praised upon not only because of its plot but also because of the characters and their role in making the play leave its ever lasting impact. One of the characters without which the play would not be intriguing is Benedick. He is the character who has transformed drastically throughout the play and has entertained the readers with his fast paced tongue and out of box wits.
The prince, Don Pedro, describes Benedick to be a man of ‘noble strain, of approved valor, and confirmed honesty’. These words are not yet quite enough to describe the witty Benedick. Popular among his friends and ‘exceptional’ among the women of Messina, Benedick has a strong disdain for marriage. He thinks that no women is ever going to be perfect for him and would deceive him, thus, making him wearing …show more content…
He readily agrees to reciprocate his love for her and hence wants to mend his ‘detractions’. He doesn’t leave any stone unturned in praising Beatrice and her qualities, which in the past he had taunted at. When Hero’s wedding is called off due to Claudio’s false accusation, it is Benedick who first doubts Don John to be the master of this whole conspiracy. He shows his fidelity by promising Leonato to hide the truth of Hero’s false death. It is indeed very touching to see Benedick consoling the hurt Beatrice and him believing that ‘her cousin was falsely accused’. At the same time, he also confesses his love for Beatrice. Benedick has a soft corner for his friends and hence at first refuses to kill Claudio when Beatrice asks him to do so, but ultimately he decides to challenge Claudio. This shows the shift of loyalty from his friends to Beatrice and also his genuinely generous and compassionate love for Beatrice. He is thus very logical in his thoughts and