much ado : quotations 🎭

“I had rather hear a dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.”

“I had rather hear a dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.”

• Beatrice would rather suffer unpleasantness than love

• dog barks are harsh and irratating

• sense of conflict

• use of monosyllabic - suggests she has a strong belief in her words

“A bird of your tongue is better than a beast of yours”

• juxtaposition

• metaphorical language

• insulting Benedick and telling him that she’s sweet and innocent while accusing him of being cruel

“I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest.”

• contrast to act 1 scene 1

• Beatrice admits that she loves Benedick

“Lord, I could not endure a husband”

• verb “endure” means putting up with something that causes suffering and exhaustion

• modal verb imples certainty

• inverting the expectations of gender roles

• not women relying on men

“I pray you, is Signor Mountanto returned from the wars or no?”

• Beatrice is being sarastic

• sexual innuendo

• mountanto is a fencing term for upward thrust

“rare parrot-teacher”

• Beatrice is copying Benedick

• she talks too much

• judgement on women - repeating what they hear with no understanding

“And she were not possessed with a fury, exceeds her as much in beauty.”

• Benedick compared Beatrice to dangerous creatures with the heads of a beautiful woman but the bodies with wings and talons

“I would not marry her, though she were endowed with all that Adam had left him before he transgressed.”

• modal verb: implies that Benedick is certain that he wouldn’t marry Beatrice

• hyperbolic: even if he has paradise, he wouldn’t do it

“for I will be horribly in love with her.”

• adjective: love is an unpleasant duty (mirroring Beatrice’s “endure” quote)

“Thou and I are too wise to woo peaceably.”

• alliteration: implying that they are both too intelligent for them to love each other

“Can the world buy such a jewel?”

• jewel: implying that attractiveness and wealth is the most important to Claudio

• buy: transaction or business deal - refer to dowry

“Is she not a modest young lady?”

• modest: qualities associated with the “ideal” women: quiet, reserved, virgin

• lady: expects her to behave like a respectable woman

“this rotten orange” (referring to Hero)

• rotten: suggesting that she is dishonest and unpleasant

• contrast to what Claudio said before: “She is the sweetest lady…”

“Not to knit my soul to an approvèd wanton”

• knit: metaphorical language: implying that he doesn’t want to be forever “attached” to Hero

• contrast to “If Hero would be my wife”

“beauty is a witch”
(“charms”, “blood”)

• semantic field of magic: love has casted a dangerous spell on him

“My cousin means Signor Benedick of Padua”

• Hero’s first line in Act 1, Scene 1

• shows that she is respectful and quiet, unlike Beatrice

“Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.”

• implying that love can strike in different and unpredictable ways

• reference to deception

“O, God defend me! how am I beset!”

• Hero became hysterical

• Exclamation marks suggest disbelief

“I will do any modest office, my lord, to help my cousin to a good husband.”

• Hero would do anything to help her cousin Beatrice

• alliteration

“My heart is exceeding heavy”

• alliteration: sounds like sighing, implies that she might be feeling sad - hinting about the next scene when Claudio shames her in front of everyone

“any impediment is medicinable to me.”

• Don John will feel better if he causes chaos and melancholy to other people such as Claudio - “I am sick in displeasure to him”

“I am trusted with a muzzle, and enfranchised with a clog.”

• Don John feels trapped because he is born a bastard, so everyone gives Don Pedro more attention and more praise while he has none

• he refers himself as a dog, also suggesting that he can’t speak or go anywhere freely

"And, as I wooed for thee to obtain her, I will join with thee to disgrace her."

• Don Pedro saying this after seeing Hero’s supposed adultery

• modal verb: it’s necessary that Hero should be shamed

“Fair Hero is won.”

• verb: Hero is like a property rather than a human being,

“How many gentlemen have you lost in this action?”

• Start of Act 1, Scene 1

• Leonato is being considerate and kind

“Do not live, Hero; do not ope thine eyes.”

• Leonato is ashamed of her supposedly adultery

• monosyllabic and imperative: he is commanding her and is certain that he woudl rather her dead

• women’s worth is in her virginity

“Will you then write me a sonnet in praise of my beauty?” (to Benedick)

• Margaret speaking above her status

• hints of desire for romance

“Twill be heavier soon by the weight of a man.”

• sexual innuendo

• referring to Hero

“O villain! thou wilt be condemned into everlasting redemption for this.”

• Dogberry using malapropism

• “condemned” and “redemption”

“Is our whole dissembly appeared?”

• Dogberry using malapropism

• “Dissembly” He is supposed to say “assembly”

“misuse the prince, to vex Claudio, to undo Hero and kill Leonato.”

• Borachio and Don John discussing about plans to create chaos

“But seest thou not what a deformed thief this fashion.”

• Borachio talking about how clothes can change easily, referring it to love