MAIN POINTS FOR LOVE AND MARRIAGE + TEXTUAL EVIDENCES

A) Arguing about LOVE: (Presents LOVE in two different categories + LOVE is a direct contrast to pride)

 In Much Ado About Nothing, love is presented as instantaneous (not over time).

 In lines 183-184, page 18 (Act 1 Scene 1), Claudio is in “love at first sight”, showing that he is
romantic as he declares his love for Hero to Benedick.

 In lines 185-188, page 18 (Act 1 Scene 1), it might be argued that Claudio’s love is presented as
superficial (appearing to be true or real only until examined more closely) as he falls in love
with an “ideal woman” rather than the reality.

 In Much Ado About Nothing, love is presented as an “unspoken love” (Unbeknownst to each other) that
can only be public/open through deception and manipulation.

 In line 376, page 59 (Act 2 Scene 2), the use of the trickster god of love, Cupid, strongly
associates love with deception as Don Pedro intends to deceive Beatrice and Benedick to make
them fall in love as Cupid had caused individuals to fall deeply in love.

 In lines 247-248, page 77 (Act 2 Scene 3), Benedick had not noted any love in Beatrice until now
as we see Benedick’s softening towards Beatrice.

 In line 117, page 91 (Act 3 Scene 2), Beatrice’s change of heart can be seen as she eavesdrops on
Hero’s and Ursula’s conversation.

 Overall, these pieces of textual evidences suggest that the love between Benedick and Beatrice
seems to be hidden to themselves. Their friends have to TRICK (deceive/manipulate) them into
realizing their feelings.

 In Much Ado About Nothing, Benedick and Beatrice take pride in being bachelors (is not and has never
been married). Love is presented as the opposite of pride and ultimately defeats pride.

 As seen from the beginning of the play for Benedick in lines 241-242, page 21 (Act 1 Scene 1)
and for Beatrice in lines 48-49, page 39 (Act 2 Scene 1), Beatrice and Benedick agree that they
want nothing to do with love and that they will remain as bachelors.

 Later on in the play for Benedick in lines 245-246, page 77 (Act 2 Scene 3) and for Beatrice in
line 115, page 91 (Act 3 Scene 2), Beatrice and Benedick both realize their love for each other
AND how their pride interferes (“maiden pride”) with their expression of love.

 As a result, near the end of the play, all the way from lines 75 to line 87, pages 193 and 195 (Act
5 Scene 4), since neither will admit their feelings first, this suggest that the witty, arrogant
expressions about love throughout MAAN occur because they are both too proud to admit that
they love each other.

 Thus, the progressive stages of the play of both characters taking pride of themselves on being
independent and self-reliant people results in their pride coming before a fall (reference to Bible)
and in the end love is triumphant (both are married).
MAIN POINTS FOR LOVE AND MARRIAGE + TEXTUAL EVIDENCES
B) Arguing about MARRIAGE: (Presents MARRIAGE through the Imagery of a “Savage Bull”)

 In Much Ado About Nothing, the image of marriage is ultimately a gamble that shifts in the play along
with a transformed imagery of the “savage bull.”

 William Shakespeare uses the symbolism of the “savage bull” in Act 1 to draw a parallel
contrast with Act 5 by including several references in Act 1 about yoked bulls and cuckolds to a
more positive image of the bull, one tipped with gold, in Act 5 as a way of inserting a
commentary about the perspective of marriage in MEN.

 While falling in LOVE and getting MARRIED seem like an intimidating and suffocating
prospect as it may result in a loss of power (men’s freedom) and shame (cuckold), it can also
provide comfort / warmth to those who embrace it (a gamble).

 Overall, the bull FIRST symbolizes the fear of being a humiliated beast of burden, but by the
end it becomes associated / incorporated with pride, as they no longer have a fear of marrying
but rather, they have a sense of pridefulness in doing so.

 In Much Ado About Nothing, marriage is considered a PUNISHMENT in the play as it is spoken of so
negatively.

 Imagery of a “Savage Bull”: A bull that is wild and free and then tamed and harnessed.

o In line 256, page 21 (Act 1 Scene 1), Don Pedro taunts Benedick through the symbol of
the “savage bull,” meaning in time even Benedick will surrender to the taming of love
and marriage.

o Symbolizes how just as the bull is tamed by human’s training, the free bachelor is tamed
by responsibility when he is married.

 Imagery of a “Savage Bull”: Symbolism of SHAME.

o In lines 257-260, page 21 (Act 1 Scene 1), Benedick equates marriage with being
whipped, tamed, and cuckolded. Marrying would mean sacrificing his independence and
breaking his pride, and Benedick finds the prospect of losing either foolish.

o Pluck...forehead: horns grow in the forehead of a cuckold, a husband whose wife is

unfaithful.

 Imagery of a “Savage Bull”: Reference to a bull’s “YOKE” (Alluded Symbolism).

o In lines 190-198, page 17 and 19 (Act 1 Scene 1), Benedict thinks marriage turns men
into burdens, as men are the one being yoked AND a fear of being cheated on.

o Yoke: has a connotation that the one yoked is the one serving another and carrying their
burden (Reference to Scripture – connotate slavery, servitude, or influence in familial
relationships and religious ones).

o But...suspicion: his cap may be hiding his growing horns, as a result of a husband whose
wife is unfaithful.
  The notion that marriage can be a kind of prison to men is repeatedly alluded to in the play
through the symbol of the “savage bull”. Altogether, the image of the tamed bull suggests that
marriage robs a man of his freedom, turns him into a beast of burden, and comes with a risk of
cuckold-like shame.

 In Much Ado About Nothing, marriage is considered a REWARD in the play as it is sought after
constantly.

 Imagery of a “Savage Bull”: A bull with horns that is tipped with gold.

o In lines 44-45, page 191 (Act 5 Scene 4), Claudio assures Benedick that his horns will be
“tipped with gold” and love through his marriage, as exemplified by Jove (Zeus), who
transformed himself into a bull to seduce Europa (Greek Mythology).

o In lines 125-128, page 197 (Act 5 Scene 4), Benedick’s view of marriage changes
dramatically to a more positive view, that he even commands Don Pedro (Prince) to get
himself a wife.

IF SOMEONE BRINGS UP ABOUT GENDER ISSUE IN TOPIC

I. A bunch of characters are subject to limitations and expectations because of their gender: Hero willingly
submits to her father as his daughter, but she’s equally willing to submit to her husband as his wife. 

II. In a play where a woman (Beatrice) is arguably the most interesting and strong character, gender
limitations aren’t as central as the expectations each gender has of the other.

III. In addition, both genders have the same expectations about each other in love—the men joke about
being cuckolded (as if they expect women to be unfaithful) and the women are told they must put up
with men’s deception too (Song – lines 64-65, page 67 [Act 2 Scene 3]). 

IV. In this play, men and women alike are subject to foibles, not because of their gender, but because they
are human. Men and women are not treated differently in the play at all—they’re all equally ordinary
(and subject to ordinary human failings).

V. EXAMPLE: Beatrice knows the restrictions that should limit her as a woman, but she initially escapes
them by not being a wife. She hesitates to marry Benedick at the end because she knows she will have to
fall into the subservient role of a wife.