4.1.4

Key Lines 3

Test yourself

Don Pedro

DON PEDRO: If we can do this, Cupid is no longer an archer; his glory shall be ours, for we are the only love-gods.

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Don Pedro’s plan

  • Don Pedro’s use of the conditional tense (“if”) suggests that he knows that it will be no easy task to make Benedick and Beatrice fall in love.
  • He talks of Cupid’s “glory”, implying he takes a great deal of pride and honour in successfully matching couples.
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Hamartia

  • His self-comparison to Cupid could be viewed as arrogant, especially by a more modern audience.
  • Again, structurally this hint at Don Pedro’s over-confidence relates to the concept of fatal flaws (hamartia) in a classical tragedy.
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Act 5, Scene 1

  • It also prepares the audience for his disrespectful attitude towards Leonato and Antonio in Act 5, Scene 1.

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