How does Shakespeare Present Women in Act 4 Scene 1 of Much Ado About Nothing

In Act 4 Scene 1, the female characters in Much Ado About Nothing are portrayed in
different ways within patriarchal society. Hero and Beatrice are best friends, however
theyre different as Hero is a typical woman whereas Beatrice is stronger. This is more
evident in the party scene. Beatrice could be described as very independent. This is shown
as Hero easily gives in to Claudio once she hears that he is in love with her, but Beatrice still
says that she doesnt like Benedick when he asks for marriage later on. The play was set in
Elizabethan times, meaning that attitudes towards woman were not high and so Beatrice is
different and is almost like a man as she says what she likes and doesnt want to be married.
A woman was deemed to be the legal property of men in Shakespeares day. Beatrice felt
that she couldnt be restricted to that, which is unusual for a woman to stick up for herself
because they would have been thought of as a shrew in Shakespeares day. Beatrice is a
determined and witty person. Shes intelligent as shell say things that normally, other
women wouldnt say. Once she overhears Hero saying Benedick loves her, she opens herself
to weaknesses of love. Until this, Beatrice and Benedick had disputes. Beatrice was mocking
and said quick comebacks. They hated each other passionately. However, she suggests that
she and Benedick dated as she says I know you of old. By contrast, Hero and Claudio are in
love at first sight which makes everybody happy as they will marry. Hero is a gentle woman
and is shown as a typical woman in society who depends on Beatrice. Shes a dreamer and
will agree to most things. Claudio is also unwise, as although he loves Hero, hes gullible and
believes that Hero is cheating and so makes the wedding unbearable for Hero.
In Act 4 Scene 1, the audience sees both the emotional and defensive sides of Beatrices
character. Her tearfulness is shown, when she is kneeling down in the church and is asked
by Benedick Lady Beatrice have you wept all this while? and Beatrice answers Yea and I
will weep a while longer. When Beatrice is saying that she will carrying on crying, this is
showing a new side of her as before this part of the scene, she would have never admitted
to anyone that she was crying, let alone to Benedick. Also, Beatrice is turning to be more like
a woman, like Hero, as she is expressing her feelings and not hiding them. However, the
reason why she has opened up to Benedick is because she realises that she likes him a lot
and Benedick must at least care of her because he is asking if she is alright. Also, the tears
show her distress over this matter and it shows that she just wants Heros name to be
cleared. On the other hand, when she is talking to Benedick in the church, she pulls herself
together again and begins to defend Hero like she usually does. She says in the height of
villain, that hath slandered, scorned, dishonoured my kinswoman? Beatrice is saying that
Claudio, the villain (to her), has now said that Hero is something that she really isnt and so
he has made her look bad in front of her own father and other close relatives. She isnt
afraid to use the most unpleasant words for Claudio and feels that Claudio should be
punished over it. Angriness overcomes her as Beatrice denounces Claudios savagery, saying
that if she were a man she would kill him herself for his slander of her cousin and the cruelty
of his trick. This is unusual for a woman in Shakespeares day as they would have usually

thought that the man was right. Here, Beatrice also defends herself, saying that if she were
a man, she would do everything to get Hero cleared. This shows that she is trying to
persuade Benedick subtly into punishing him.
However, although Beatrice is shown weak and vulnerable, her aggressive sides are shown.
For example, when she says I will die a woman with grieving; she is sensing her weakness
by saying that she will grieve and die because she couldnt do anything to help Hero out of
this. This would ultimately make Benedick feel sad as he doesnt want his love to be upset
by the fact that she is a woman. Also, Beatrice here is coming more like a lady without
strong feelings. Her weakness is also shown by her tears as she breaks down under the
pressure that Hero has been given. She may feel bad because Hero has always depended on
her if there is anything wrong and now Beatrice isnt there to help her. Nevertheless, her
aggressive side is shown when in two sharp words she says Kill Claudio. Her tone is very
sharp in this and the meaning is obvious as she doesnt explain them in a lengthy phrase.
This must hurt Benedicks feelings a bit as Beatrice knows that they are good friends and still
wants him killed by Benedick. At first Benedick says that he wouldnt do it for the whole
wide world. However, he listens to her saying that she wouldnt love him anymore and so
Benedick changes his mind and soberly agrees to challenge Claudiofor the wrong that he
has done to Hero and for Beatrices sake. This shows that Beatrice got her own way in the
end which not a lot of women would have got.
In this act, Hero is presented as quite defenceless and frail. She is shown to be frail when
she faints after the words hath no mans dagger here a point for me? bothered her by
Leonato. Leonato meant that he wanted to punish his daughter for doing something that
was against his rules. Leonatos statement shows his pain and outrage at the accusation that
she has been unfaithful to Claudio. Hero would have been quite shocked to hear this as just
moments before they were walking down the aisle, hugging and being happy. When Hero is
in her best form, she usually is quite an air-head and depends on Beatrice a lot so when she
is hearing these words, she would be extremely hurt and wouldnt have known what to do.
She realises that the crime that she has been accused of isnt a light one and thats why her
own father hates her. As she acknowledges this, it shows that Hero is feeling quite
depressed, abandoned and possibly suicidal as she wants to be cleared of this wrongdoing.
The frailness is also shown at the fact that Hero is not as strong as Beatrice and so she cant
really cope with the accusation.
Hero is also shown as a timid and vulnerable person as she doesnt really fight back and
instead just cries and is defenceless. This shows that she did not want to challenge her
fathers authority and wanted to be exactly how women were regarded at that period of
time. She is doing what she is told as when the friar comes up with an unexpected plan she
agrees to it without any questions. This also shows that she is very desperate. The grieving,
confused Leonato also agrees to go along with the plan which shows that Leonato is just
starting to forgive Hero.

Kenneth Branagh has directed out this scene very well with some additions to the wedding.
For instance, the hugging and happiness between Hero and Leonato was overdramatized so
that the contrast was shown bigger than it was in the play. Another addition is when
Leonato is cursing and hates Hero. He slaps her across the face and throws benches to show
his pain and madness. Claudio joins in, and not only does he try to show his pain but he also
shows how disgusted he is by turning bright tomato red in the face and spitting out the
words. Branagh has made Beatrice always by her side, to make it look like Beatrice is
protecting her at all times and has made sure that Benedick is the only man with Hero. This
shows that men usually stuck with each other and are fickle with their emotions as just days
before their opinions were complete opposites. Branagh has also focussed the camera on
Margaret for a few seconds to show her emotions. The close up showed how Margaret was
feeling worried and was realising how she had been tricked into being a companion with
Borachio. This is dramatic irony as there are two meanings known to the audience but only
one to the actors and actresses. Us, as the audience, know that Margaret was really the
person who was there at night, not Hero, but everybody on the stage believe its Hero who
has given up her virginity before Hero. Kenneth Branagh has also introduced symbolism as
he has made sure that Hero is wearing the whitest dress out of all of them to show that she
is definitely a pure virgin. Also, Don John is the only person to wear black trousers and this
shows that he is the villain of the play. It is also quite ironic that Hero is wearing a white
dress but is being accused of something that she has proven by dress code. The weather is
very nice, which just makes the day perfect so that it can contrast with all the chaos. If I
were directing this play, I would keep most things the same as Branagh except when Claudio
is accusing Hero of betrayal, I would possibly have Beatrice standing tall so that she can
show that she is equal to the men and also stand Leonato between the men and the women
as he doesnt know who to believe at first. Also, I would have Benedick trying to make eye
contact with Beatrice so that he can show a message of help to her through all the
confusion. I would have a little more physical violence and in addition to that rough music as
then it would draw more attention to the audience.
Throughout this play, I like Beatrice best as she is feisty and a lot different to all the other
women that star in this play. She appears tough but Beatrice is happy. I like the way on how
she changes as before she was a strong person with no emotions that were shown outside
at all and then afterwards she shows her true love to Benedick and is almost similar to Hero.
This shows that I like Hero too as the contrast between Beatrice and Hero is very interesting
and it shows that they have a good relationship. Its also interesting that at the start, what
Hero has Beatrice doesnt have and vice versa, however towards the end they are starting to
become more alike. Overall, I enjoyed the fact that although all the women in this play were
diverse and had different backgrounds, they came together to support each other when
they needed it. Also, it was fascinating to know that none of the main female characters
have mothers mentioned in the play.