4.3.2
Key Lines
"The tabor and the pipe”
"The tabor and the pipe”
BENEDICK: “I have know when there was no music in [Claudio] but the drum and the fife, and now he had rather hear the tabor and the pipe”
Instruments
Instruments
- The contrast between the “drum and the fife”, instruments associated with war, and the more lyrical, romantic “tabor and pipe” illustrate both the change in Claudio’s character now he has fallen in love and is to marry Hero and one of the key differences between his character and Benedick’s.
Courtly love
Courtly love
- Benedick does not understand the conventions of courtly love.
- He tells Beatrice that they were “too wise to woo peaceably” in Act 5, Scene 2.
- Romantic love does not come easily to Benedick and this is perhaps why he is so surprised and concerned by the changes he now detects in Claudio.
“May I be so..."
“May I be so..."
BENEDICK: “May I be so converted and see with these eyes?”
Tentative language
Tentative language
- Benedick’s language here is much more tentative, unlike in Act 1, Scene 1, where he boasted “truly I love none.”
Modal verb
Modal verb
- The use of the modal verb of possibility (“may I be…”) is used by Shakespeare to foreshadow the change in Benedick by the end of the scene.
- The modal verb also adds to the prominent use of dramatic irony throughout the scene, almost as if the audience are a part of Don Pedro’s plot to trick Benedick into falling in love with Beatrice.
Religious connotations
Religious connotations
- “Converted” may hold religious connotations, alluding to the gradual conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity.
- The idea that love is a Christian virtue is also referenced at the end of the scene when Benedick states that if he does not return Beatrice’s ‘love’ for him then he is a “Jew”.
Replacement
Replacement
- A highly controversial idea to a modern audience, the line is often replaced with “dog” - a contemporary insult for Jews in the Elizabethan era - in modern productions.
Humour, Status and Innocence
Humour, Status and Innocence
BENEDICK: “I should think this a gull but that the white-bearded fellow speaks it.”
Humour
Humour
- Shakespeare creates humour in the first deception scene through Benedick’s conviction that what he is hearing must be true when the audience knows otherwise.
Status
Status
- The importance of status is again reflected through the fact that it is Leonato’s word that helps convince Benedick.
Innocence
Innocence
- “White” has connotations of innocence and purity.
- Just as he believes Hero’s innocence in Act 4, Scene 1, Benedick cannot believe that Leonato would be lying.
Key line
Key line
- “This can be no trick. The conference was sadly borne; they have the truth of this from Hero.”
Humour
Humour
- Again, this prepares the audience for Benedick’s defence of Hero later in the play.
- The humour is continued as Benedick states that the conversation between Don Pedro, Claudio and Leonato was “sadly borne”.
- The whole scene has been orchestrated by Don Pedro to fool Benedick.
1Key Terminology
1.1Key Terminology
2Structure & Form
3Act 1: Plot Summary
3.2Act 1, Scene 2
3.3Act 1, Scene 3
4Act 2: Plot Summary
4.1Act 2, Scene 1
4.2Act 2, Scene 2
5Act 3: Plot Summary
5.1Act 3, Scene 1
5.2Act 3, Scene 2
5.3Act 3, Scene 3
5.4Act 3, Scene 4
5.5Act 3, Scene 5
6Act 4: Plot Summary
6.1Act 4, Scene 1 (Part 1)
6.2Act 4, Scene 1 (Part 2)
6.3Act 4, Scene 2
7Act 5: Plot Summary
7.1Act 5, Scene 1
7.2Act 5, Scene 2
7.3Act 5, Scene 3
7.4Act 5, Scene 4
Jump to other topics
1Key Terminology
1.1Key Terminology
2Structure & Form
3Act 1: Plot Summary
3.2Act 1, Scene 2
3.3Act 1, Scene 3
4Act 2: Plot Summary
4.1Act 2, Scene 1
4.2Act 2, Scene 2
5Act 3: Plot Summary
5.1Act 3, Scene 1
5.2Act 3, Scene 2
5.3Act 3, Scene 3
5.4Act 3, Scene 4
5.5Act 3, Scene 5
6Act 4: Plot Summary
6.1Act 4, Scene 1 (Part 1)
6.2Act 4, Scene 1 (Part 2)
6.3Act 4, Scene 2
7Act 5: Plot Summary
7.1Act 5, Scene 1
7.2Act 5, Scene 2
7.3Act 5, Scene 3
7.4Act 5, Scene 4
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