Beatrice Stands Up To So Called Powerful Benedick

Influential Women: Beatrice Stands Up To So Called Powerful Benedick

In the comedy Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, women play a powerful role. Beatrice, a major character in the story, is a woman who is very strong, very loyal, and very passionate. Her feisty character and caring personality add to the plot, as she learns to love but also as she stands up for herself and others. In Act IV.i, Beatrice tells Benedick to kill Claudio because he has humiliated her cousin, Hero. Benedick refuses to kill his friend, so Beatrice reveals her unhappiness by vowing that if she were a man she would kill Claudio for mortifying her own cousin. Beatrice rages at Benedick:

You dare easier be friends with me, than fight with mine enemy. [...] Is it not approved in the height a villain, that hath slandered, scorned, dishonoured my kinswoman? Oh 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? Oh God that I were a man! I would eat his heart in the …show more content…
She says that Benedick would rather be Claudio's acquaintance than her lover. She also viciously questions Benedick about Claudio's status on being a villain, “ Is a not approved in the height a villain that hath slandered, scorned, dishonoured my kinswoman?” She asks him this after Benedick doubts that Claudio is a villain. She then retorts that he has proven himself an unpleasant man by disrespecting and accusing her own cousin. Considering that Benedick is Claudio’s right hand man, Beatrice is unphased. She describes her feelings towards Claudio without any reluctance. This represents her devotion to her cousin and how she is fearless. This is Beatrice’s usual disposition, dominant and