In the text Shakespeare and Character, Paul Yachnin and Jessica Slights stated that the late twentieth century experienced the disappearance of character being used as an analytic category in the criticism of Shakespeare. It was not until recently that a fresh term was placed on the table that reinvigorated scholars’ interest in contemplating character and why it is important to the modern study of Shakespeare. The term “new character criticism” places emphasis on the question, ‘what is character?’, which has encouraged scholars to view the concept of character through the scope of present-day topics (Yachnin, Slights, 2009). In his book Preface to Shakespeare, Samuel Johnson wrote of Shakespeare’s characters that “they are the genuine progeny of common humanity, such as the world will always supply, and observation will always find. His persons act and speak by the influence of those general passions and principles by which all minds are agitated, and the whole system of life is continued in motion.” When viewing the characters of Shakespeare as you would people in our world, new approaches to studying Shakespeare’s plays begin to present themselves, mainly by emerging from plot-driving themes that rely on motifs which propel character development. In this essay, the motif of antithesis will be presented from Shakespeare’s comedy Much Ado About Nothing. In regard to the interconnection of characters, Much Ado’s plot could not evolve without the role of antithesis, or the concept of “opposites attract”.

Love, deception, and wit are themes that play pivotal roles in the assembly of Much Ado’s storyline, and yet none of the three could progress without the contrast between attributes that define each character. In the play there are two main relationships that move from chaste interactions to romantic pursuits, and while the characters who end up coupled are those that share the most similar personalities, these twosomes also begin as magnets facing the same direction. Benedick and Beatrice are two north-ended magnets. Claudio and Hero are two south-ended magnets. Without help from the opposing end, all that can happen is a game of pushing and resistance until they are persuaded to take a new side that will allow for attraction. This is especially true of Benedick and Beatrice, as neither will give or relent in their battles of wit. These two are so alike, in fact, that each of their lines almost anticipate the next. For example, from Act 1, Scene 1:

Benedick: Well, you are a rare parrot teacher.

Beatrice: A bird of my tongue is better than a beast of yours.

Benedick: I would my horse had the speed of your tongue and so good a continuer (113-116).

In this exchange, both characters are so “on” that it should be no mystery as to why the two could not fit together in the beginning of the play. This back and forth is quick-witted and astute, each line containing a metaphor about an animal. Both Benedick and Beatrice are equipped to shoot fire at the other without pause, quite possibly because each line they hurl is something the other would have said if it had been their turn to speak. It is as if the two have an unconscious desire to resist one another if only to distract from acknowledging that they are repeatedly in sync.

For Benedick and Beatrice’s relationship to change, they would require assistance from an opposing force. If Benedick and Beatrice are north-ended and Claudio and Hero are south- ended, this means that pairing Benedick with Claudio and Beatrice with Hero would make each friend the antithesis of the other. Beatrice is animated and formidable compared to her soft- spoken, obedient cousin, and yet the two complement each other as Benedick’s abrasive attitude aligns with Claudio’s romanticism. In a story like Much Ado, it is more important that opposing relationships are present than those that bear similarities, as fighting magnets need an outside hand to flip them in another direction. A line from Benedick to Beatrice reads: “...it is certain I am loved of all ladies, only you excepted...” (1.1.100). The line itself places Beatrice in an opposing stance compared to other women. In fact, Beatrice’s personality in general commonly has her doing the opposite of what would be expected of a woman from Shakespeare’s time. This makes the roles of Hero and Claudio that much more important, as their romantic influences are there to combat Benedick and Beatrice’s pessimism regarding love and their resistance to follow custom. Beatrice says, “I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.” (1.1.106). She, like Benedick, is so stubborn that it takes the interference of other characters to facilitate her ability to open her heart to love. Others prod the pair into wanting something more conventional. However, it is arguable that Benedick and Beatrice only needed a slight nudge compared to an all-out shove. A bond must have previously been established between them for just the mere suggestion that one loves the other to result in them falling head- over-heels so abruptly. Benedick says, 

Hah! ‘Against my will, I am sent to bid you come in to dinner.’ There’s a double meaning in that. ‘I took no more pains for those thanks than you took pains to thank me’: that’s as much to say, any pains that I take for you is as easy as thanks. If I do not take pity of her, I am a villain. If I do not love her, I am a Jew… (3.1.228-233). 

Suddenly, characters that resisted love so fiercely are finding it in places no one else would, and this was only made possible by the opposing characters’ ruse to bring Benedick and Beatrice together.

When considering the workings of opposites attract, it is plain to see that it is necessary for the sake of Benedick and Beatrice’s relationship, but one might ask why Claudio and Hero’s relationship would also need to be facilitated by outside parties. At first glance, Claudio and Hero work easily with each other. They do not resist one another as their friend and cousin resist one another. Instead, it seems they come together swiftly and happily. However, if not for the handiwork of Pedro, Claudio might not have proven bold enough to win Hero’s hand himself. Claudio says to Pedro, “My liege, your highness now may do me good.” (1.1.246). He then proceeds to tell Pedro of his love for Hero, who replies, “If thou dost love fair Hero, cherish it, and I will break with her and with her father, and thou shalt have her. Was’t not to this end that thou began’st to twixt so fine a story?” (1.1.264-267). Upon the realization that he loves Hero, it becomes apparent that the idea makes Claudio nervous, and he chooses to seek Pedro’s aid rather than seek Hero herself. Additionally, because Hero plays more the role expected of a woman in her time, she is demure and values filial piety. She is a faithful daddy’s girl, meaning she would not likely refuse a man her father chose for her or approved of, and would be less likely to pursue a man who did not pursue her first. Therefore, if not for outside characters whose personalities are the antithesis of Claudio’s and Hero’s – in that they are confident and unconfined – Claudio and Hero’s relationship might never have begun.

Though Pedro’s plan to woo Hero on Claudio’s behalf goes off without a hitch, things go awry when Hero is wrongfully accused by Claudio of committing fornication. A similarity that even the opposing characters share lies with emotion. Much Ado contains many emotional characters. Upon hearing his daughter has not shamed their family after all, Leonato cries the emotion-laden line that “She [Hero] died...but whiles her slander lived,” a quote which contains an antithesis in itself by using the opposing concepts of death and life (5.4.66). Of course, Leonato is only able to take this stance in the wake of Beatrice and Benedick’s determination to clear Hero’s name. Beatrice in particular is seen at her most emotional in this portion of the play. She says,

In ‘a not approved in my height a villain that hath slandered, scorned, dishonored my kinswoman? Oh, that I were a man! What, bear her in hand until they come to take hands and then with public accusation, uncovered slander, unmitigated rancor—O God, that I were a man! I would eat his heart in the marketplace (4.1.297-302).

Beatrice with passion and wit challenges Benedick to kill his best friend. She gives him an ultimatum, stating he would kill her by refusing to kill Claudio. She says, “I am gone, though I am here,” (another use of antithesis in writing) “There is no love in you” ... “You dare easier be friends with me than fight with mine enemy.” (4.1.289, 294). Beatrice’s clever use of words persuades Benedick to shift his allegiance entirely over to her, a representation of how the issues involving opposing characters results in the reversing of Benedick’s magnet so that he and Beatrice can meet.

By the end of the play, though it was Dogberry’s police work that proved Hero’s innocence, it can be argued that Claudio and Hero’s marriage was made possible by the faith that certain characters, namely Beatrice and Benedick, had in her all along. The plan to pass Hero off as the daughter of Leonato’s brother gave Claudio the opportunity to shift his allegiance over to Hero’s family. This would assist in reversing his magnet in much the same way Benedick reversed his, that is, through the efforts of opposing characters. Leonato says, “My brother hath a daughter, almost the copy of my child that’s dead, and she alone is the heir to both of us. Give her the right you should have given her cousin, and so dies my revenge.” (5.1.273-277). Claudio’s agreement to honor Hero and her father by marrying Leonato’s niece is the final detail that unites the couple.

Every character in Much Ado About Nothing works to affirm Samuel Johnson’s thoughts on Shakespeare’s characters. His characters are timeless and represent all people from all walks of life, which shows that they were as relatable in Johnson’s time as they are today. This is the reason character cannot be a forgotten category in the analysis of Shakespeare. There is much to learn in the ways he developed his characters that we can apply to the people and behaviors of today. While there are many qualities that make up different persons, studying the idea of opposites attract in relation to character development is significant, as it is one of the universal laws of attraction. In so being, it is often used as a catalyst to evoke emotion and response in characters. This is a large aspect of what keeps his stories strong and keeps them moving forward, which is relatable as this is also how we as people progress and live within our own world.

Works Cited

Johnson, Samuel. “Preface to Shakespeare.” Preface to Shakespeare / Samuel Johnson, The University of Adelaide Library, 27 Feb. 2014, https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/j/johnson/samuel/preface/complete.html.

Shakespeare, William, et al. The Norton Shakespeare. 3rd ed., W.W. Norton & Company, 2016, pp.

Yachnin, Paul and Jessica Slights. Shakespeare and Character: Theory, History, Performance and Theatrical Persons. Palgrave Macmillan, 2009, pp. 1-18

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HALEY WIK is a senior pursuing a Baccalaureate degree in English with a minor in Creative Writing. This piece was selected by Professor Sharon Emmerichs.