Beatrice: Truth of Feminism

Beatrice of Shakespeares Much Ado About Nothing has enjoyed great

notoriety among feminist readers and scholar, but does she truly depict pure
feminism or the bastardized version that endures today? Or both? What exactly is
pure feminism? The goal of women achieving equal status in society with the
accompanying benefits and equal education and opportunities. Beatrice does
indeed uphold some of these virtues as depicted by various lines in the play.
However, notice that this ideology of feminism does not include the disparagement
of men or the complete liberation of sexuality, which has become pervasive
amongst modern-day feminists. Shakespeares famous comedy portrays Beatrice is
an emotionally unstable, man-despising, and combative woman who does not seek
equality with men, but instead seeks to subjugate them out of spite.
Beatrice, in opening lines of Act 1 Scene 1, goes out of her way to libel
Benedick to the Princes messenger without him even being present. Her lines in
this scene demonstrate her inability to interact with Benedick in a civilized fashion.
Leonato even says, They never meet but theres a skirmish of wit between them.
We cannot know if Benedick speaks poorly of Beatrice when outside of her
presence, but Shakespeare provides us with Beatrices account to display her
pettiness and pervasive interest in Benedick. She not only asks about his survival
from the wars as Signoir Mountanto, but is also interested in how many he hath
killed. Though she will never overtly admit it, she has a unconscious attraction
towards Benedick, otherwise she would not be so curious regarding his affairs. Her
persistent commentary is a subtle mechanism to learn about Benedicks survival,
his performance in the wars, and who his companions are a question that she
actually asks twice. Lastly, Beatrice makes an ironic statement to trigger the witty
exchange between herself and Benedick, Signior Benedick, nobody marks you.
Beatrice makes it apparent that she was, in fact, marking Benedick and
deliberately incites a verbal duel with him.
Dj vu Act 2 Scene 1 opens with Beatrice unnecessarily taking the
opportunity to insult Benedick further while not even in his presence. The other
(Benedick) too like my ladys eldest son, evermore tattling.
Despite Beatrices haughty attitude and constant derision of males, especially
Benedick, she does have some salient lines, although flawed, that demonstrate her
belief in feminist liberty and equality. For example, she says that He (Benedick) is
no less a stuffed man, but for the stuffing well, we are all mortal. Although this is
another demonstration of her propensity to disparage by claiming that Benedick is
stuffed with the pretense of intangible praise, she does delineate the fundamental
mortality of all humans, regardless of power, achievement, or status as well as
gender or race. Beatrice, although against the idea of marriage, makes another
relevant comment when she tells Hero to say, Father, as it please me, when
deciding the man to marry. This is an anachronistic idea in Elizabethan times, but
predates feminisms provision of womens current freedom in choosing a lover or
husband outside of parental influence. Beatrice, flashing her wit, poetically
describes men as earth, a piece of valiant dust, and a clod of wayward marl.

Her purpose here is to demonstrate that men are not anything special, but instead
simply manifestations of the earths material like all other things animate and
inanimate. This does indeed bolster her idea of male and female equality, but at the
expense of subjugating the entire human race. Her feminism here becomes swollen
into an anti-humanism and nihilist agenda that suggests the irrelevance of
humanity. She completes her thought with a multi-layered statement: Adams sons
are my brethren, and truly I hold it a sin to match in my kindred. (Talk about
Puritans and the lack of sustenance of the human race with this attitude; despite
her implying that men and women are equals).
Act 2 Information
Beatrices unrealistic and contradictory expectations for love and attraction
are demonstrated BEATRICE Just, if He send me no husband, for the

which blessing I am at Him upon my knees every

morning and evening. Lord, I could not endure a
husband with a beard on his face. I had rather lie in
the woolen!
LEONATO You may light on a husband that hath no
beard.
BEATRICE What should I do with him? Dress him in my
apparel and make him my waiting gentlewoman?
He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he
that hath no beard is less than a man; and he that is
more than a youth is not for me, and he that is less
than a man, I am not for him. Therefore I will even
take sixpence in earnest of the bearherd, and lead
his apes into hell.
LEONATO Well then, go you into hell?
BEATRICE No, but to the gate, and there will the devil
meet me like an old cuckold with horns on his
head, and say Get you to heaven, Beatrice, get you
to heaven; heres no place for you maids. So deliver
I up my apes and away to Saint Peter; for the
heavens, he shows me where the bachelors sit, and
there live we as merry as the day is long.
Benedicks attraction for Beatrice demonstrates her beauty ( Theres her

cousin, an she were not possessed with a fury, exceeds her as much in beauty as the first
of May doth the last of December.)

Benedick, while away from Beatrice, does not go out of his way to tear her down
in front of the others until she pushed him too far (dancing scene).
Beatrice is this the model that feminists want to be represented by? She has a few
interspaced modern thoughts but intermixed with much lability and childish behavior, she
becomes irrelevant as a character reference.