Key Lines
English Lit: AQA GCSE Much Ado About Nothing, topic 5.2.2
Benedick
There is a clear sense of comedy at the beginning of this scene, created through the male characters mockery of Benedick's change of character in the face of his love for Beatrice.
Key line
- BENEDICK: Gallants, I am not as I have been.
Mockery
- Despite Benedick’s attempt to justify his decision to love Beatrice through the fact he didn’t think he would live long enough to marry, the audience can sense that he is being (deservedly) mocked by his friends.
Comedy
- There is a clear sense of comedy here, and this serves the dramatic function of contrasting with the sharp change in mood and atmosphere that follows Don John’s arrival.
Don John
Shakespeare illustrates Don John’s Machiavellian character through his tentative language.
Key line
- DON JOHN: You may think I love you not. Let that appear hereafter
Machiavellian actions
- Shakespeare illustrates Don John’s Machiavellian character through his tentative language.
- The audience are fully aware of his true feelings towards Claudio having been privy to his conversations with Borachio and Conrade.
Appearances and deception
- Don John’s use of “appear” also seems deliberately manipulative in light of the lack of concrete proof he will present to Claudio and the key theme of appearances and deception.
Key line
- DON JOHN: Leonato’s Hero, your Hero, every man’s Hero.
Objectification of women
- The possessive language again illustrates the concept the women were objectified in the Elizabethan era, belonging first to their fathers and later their husbands.
Syntax
- The syntax (word order) is significant here as Don John ends with “every man’s Hero”, insinuating that Hero has had many sexual partners.
Claudio
- Claudio is sandwiched between these other men and Leonato, highlighting the fact that he should be the one to take Hero’s virginity following their marriage but he is too late.
Test yourself on Key Lines
Who says "Gallants, I am not as I have been." in Act 3, Scene 2?
Which character is mocked in Act 3, Scene 2?