"The Count is neither sad, nor sick, nor merry, nor well, but civil count, civil as an orange, and something of that jealous complexion." -- Beatrice, Much Ado About Nothing, 2.1.255-7 The acid tongue of Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing is one half of a splendid duel between man and woman, between wit and... wit. Beatrice is Benedick's opponent before love enters and forces the two to realize that their dislike is in fact, a prelude to something more. Isn’t this familiar? Boy meets girl. Boy dislikes girl. Girl loathes boy. But a more perfect match there never was. Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice gave us Elizabeth and Darcy. His Girl Friday pitted Cary Grant vs. Rosalind Russell. Belle and Beast? Need we say more? As the central couple in Much Ado..., Beatrice and Benedick also personify the theme of the play. Their hate is based on what? Is it based on something or nothing? Are their exchanges more about show than actual dislike? "She speaks poniards, and every word stabs." (2.1.216) Benedick: Will your grace command me any service to the world's end? I will go on the slightest errand now to the Antipodes that you can devise to send me on. I will fetch you a toothpicker now from the furthest inch of Asia, bring you the length of Prester John's foot, fetch you a hair off the Great Cham's beard, do you any embassage to the pigmies, rather than hold three words' conference with this harpy. You have no employment for me? (2.1.229-36). Beatrice protects herself by being cold, by seeming not to care, when in truth, she cares very much. Benedick taps into her heart, connects with her on a level that others have been unable to, and ironically, it is the hate between them that provides the opening for them to meet. Signor Benedick declares that love is for others, not for him. He scorns Claudio once he learns of his love for Hero. He tries to convince his friend of the pitfalls of love but soon finds himself falling, too. Shakespeare unfolds the love story of Beatrice and Benedick into the rest of the play's events effortlessly and makes their hate-turned-love romance into something that is expected, but arrived at in a roundabout way. In a play about “much ado,” it is inconceivable that something so obvious as their love can be revealed with any simplicity.
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