Comparing Marriage In Much Ado About Nothing And Elizabeth Bennet

Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing and Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice serve similar roles in their respective novels. The characters are a mirror image of each other, acting the same way and holding similar opinions about marriage and love. The role that these characters play serve as a counterexample to women who followed expectations surrounding marriage at the time, which overall serves to criticize the broken marriage system. Both Beatrice and Elizabeth are oddly uninterested in marriage and would rather opt out of it than be in a dull and binding relationship. Both are in the midst of many loveless marriages that turn out to be business deals, convincing them that marriage isn’t worth the trouble and that to be an independent woman is better. Elizabeth is surrounded by couples like the Collins, who married for stability, and her own parents, who fell in love without really knowing each other and quickly became indifferent after marrying. Beatrice isn’t surrounded by quite so many …show more content…
Most women of the novels, like Hero or Jane, were sweet and mildly tempered, which attracted men. But Beatrice and Elizabeth build up a defense of wit against marriage and relationships. Leonato comments on Beatrice that she “mocks all her wooers out of suit,” (2.1.341-342) which is the same as what Elizabeth does when she bickers with Darcy, especially when she is quick to attack him, such as pointing out that his “defect is a propensity to hate everyone” (65). Their defense blinds them from their true feelings, causing them to be unaware of their love for Benedick and Darcy. Beatrice and Elizabeth ironically also court with Benedick and Darcy by using this wit, and the men throw the same insults back, demonstrating that while their relationships were not traditional, the couples were actually perfect for each other all