Much Ado About Nothing Key Quotations wjec-eduqas Shakespeare

Key Quotations

Remember, the assessment objectives explicitly state that you should be able to “use textual references, including quotations”. This means summarising, paraphrasing, referencing single words and referencing plot events are all as valid as direct quotations in demonstrating that you understand the text. It is important to remember that you can evidence your knowledge of the text in these two equally valid ways: both through references to it and direct quotations from it. 

Overall, you should aim to secure a strong knowledge of the text, rather than rehearsed quotations, as this will enable you to respond to the question. It is the quality of your knowledge of the text which will enable you to select references effectively.

If you are going to revise quotations, the best way is to group them by character or theme. Below you will find definitions and analysis of the best quotations, arranged by the following themes:

• Love

• Gender roles and attitudes

• Deception

• Honour and virtue

• Wordplay

Love

Love is a prevalent theme in Much Ado About Nothing, with the relationship between Claudio and Hero being a key plot driver, and the relationship between Beatrice and Benedick providing much of the comedy and wit in the play.

“I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me” – Beatrice, Act I Scene I

Meaning and context

• This quote appears in Act 1, Scene 1, when Beatrice and Benedick first exchange insults

Analysis

• Here, Shakespeare demonstrates Beatrice’s attitude towards love and marriage

• She would rather be subjected to a repeatedly annoying sound than bear the annoyance of a man declaring his love to her

• The audience are aware that Beatrice and Benedick are known to each other

• Their insults continue, establishing that their wit is equal and they are actually well suited

“Sweet Hero, now thy image doth appear in the rare semblance that I loved it first” – Claudio, Act V, Scene I

Meaning and context

• At the end of the play, Claudio learns the truth about Hero when Borachio confesses to the treachery

Analysis

• He is essentially saying that her image has returned to the beautiful one he experienced when he first met her, now she is proved as innocent again

• This suggests Claudio’s love for Hero is perhaps not as true as it could be, as it is dependent on Hero’s reputation and the image that others have of her

• This further reinforces the idea of Hero as an object to be looked upon rather than heard

“If it prove so, then loving goes by haps; Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps” – Hero, Act III, Scene I

Meaning and context

• This line is spoken by Hero to Ursula while tricking Beatrice into believing that Benedick loves her

Analysis

• The first clause relates to Hero and Claudio, and the second to Beatrice and Benedick, who are tricked into revealing their love for each other

• However, the line is also ironic, as Claudio is tricked at the end into believing that Hero is actually Leonato’s niece

Gender roles and attitudes

Much Ado About Nothing both reinforces and challenges traditional gender roles in its presentation of the female characters and male attitudes towards women.

“O God that I were a man! I would eat his heart in the market place” – Beatrice, Act IV, Scene I

Meaning and context

• This line is exclaimed by Beatrice when Claudio publicly shames Hero at the altar, accusing her of being unfaithful

Analysis

• Here, Shakespeare acknowledges the limitations of Beatrice’s gender, as she is unable to tackle Claudio’s accusations as a man would if another man’s honour had been called into question

• She wishes that she were entitled to the qualities that men are not only allowed to have, but are celebrated for, such as the ability to take revenge

• Because she is a woman, she has to ask Benedick to do this on her behalf

“Well, niece, I trust you will be ruled by your father” – Antonio, Act II, Scene I

“Yes, faith, it is my cousin’s duty to make curtsy and say ‘Father, as it pleases you'” – Beatrice, Act II, Scene I

Meaning and context

• Antonio, Hero’s uncle, reminds Hero that she is to obey her father and agree when she is proposed to by Don Pedro

Analysis

• Antonio mistakenly believes that it is Don Pedro who means to propose for himself, rather than on behalf of Claudio

• However, as Hero embodies the Elizabethan feminine ideal, her duty is to obey her father without question and marry

• It does not actually seem to matter to Leonato whether it is Don Pedro or Claudio whom she marries

• Beatrice reinforces this by confirming that this is her cousin’s role — to do as her father pleases, but this is not a role she wishes for herself

“Adam’s sons are my brethren, and truly I hold it a sin to match in my kindred” – Beatrice, Act II, Scene I

Meaning and context

• This quote is part of Beatrice’s response to Leonato wishing that she would one day be married

Analysis

• Here, Beatrice is saying that we are all born of Adam and Eve and, therefore, made of the same earth and dust

• Unusually, the character is commenting that men and women are born equal, challenging the prevailing gender associations and stereotypes of the day

• Beatrice is also acknowledging that, in marriage, men have more power, but because she thinks herself equal, she refuses to marry and have to be subservient to someone whom she regards as on an equal power footing to herself

Deception

Deception and disguise are tools used for both good and bad in Much Ado About Nothing, with both the tragic elements and the happy ending coming about through trickery.