Benedick 3
English Lit: AQA GCSE Much Ado About Nothing, topic 9.1.5
“May I be so..."
Act 2, Scene 3 key lines spoken by Benedick.
Key line
- “May I be so converted and see with these eyes?”
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
- 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
- “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
- 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
Act 2, Scene 3 key lines spoken by Benedick.
Key line
- “I should think this a gull but that the white-bearded fellow speaks it.”
Humour
- Shakespeare creates humour in the first deception scene through Benedick’s conviction that what he is hearing must be true, when the audience know otherwise.
Status
- The importance of status is again reflected through the fact that it is Leonato’s word that helps convince Benedick.
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
- “This can be no trick. The conference was sadly borne; they have the truth of this from Hero.”
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.