Benedick And Claudio In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

Benedick and Claudio It is easy to say that Shakespeare was an accomplished poet, having written at least 35 plays (Shakespeare FAQ). In his many plays, love was a very common theme, especially conflict within love. Needless to say, in Shakespeare’s play, Much Ado about Nothing, love is the main theme and conflict. All of the characters get wrapped up in the conflict in some way or another, especially two of the lead roles, Benedick and Claudio. Here is a very quick summary of Much Ado about Nothing to get the main idea. Hero, the daughter of the Governor of Messina, is wooed by Claudio. He wins Hero’s hand in marriage and they decide to get married in a week. Benedick, Claudio’s friend, and Beatrice, Hero’s cousin, are both opposed to …show more content…
The biggest difference between Claudio and Benedick is that Claudio desperately wants to get married. On the other hand, Benedick has nothing good to say about getting married, or women for that matter. Benedick has a very negative outlook on marriage, he thinks it is pointless and that he will never find a faithful woman. Not only do they differ in that way, but also Claudio is very shy and quiet, whilst Benedick is very flamboyant and witty. Furthermore, one smaller thing that is different about the two men is what they think about Hero. Claudio is obviously madly in love with her, but Benedick on the other had isn’t a fan. This is what he said about her after Claudio announced he was in love: “I can see yet without spectacles, and I see no such matter. There’s her cousin, an she were not possessed with a …show more content…
The main concept they have in common, is they are both soldiers. Both men fought under command of Don Pedro, making them both very respectable. For this reason, both men are also very gentlemanly. Claudio and Benedick are very respectful towards woman. At the same time, Benedick can also say some disrespectful things about women who are not around. Furthermore, both men, when they finally fall in love, love hard. Both Bendick and Claudio showed this in the play Much Ado about Nothing. Benedick did this by doing whatever Beatrice asked to him to do while she was upset about Hero being “dead”. Claudio showed this by wanting to marry Hero so soon and being so devoted to her. One major similarity between the two men that is necessary to point out, is their love for drama and deception. Throughout the play both men are involved with starting drama and/or being involved with deception of some sort. Yes, both men are different, but they still do have characteristics that make them