Much Ado About Nothing: Act V Sonnets

When considering Benedick as a sonneteer, it is somewhat difficult to imagine what approach and style he would portray in his sonnet to Beatrice. In Pinksy’s article, he gives several examples of written sonnets, all with different meanings yet most of them shared one common purpose; to woo and court their lover. The problem that occurs with Benedick and the sonnet that he would produce is the fact that he never originally intended to court Beatrice. As you may recall, at the beginning of the play Benedict had quite a negative disposition concerning the idea of courtship, love and especially marriage. He also possessed a particular sense of disdain for Beatrice. Many, if not most sonnets involve the sonneteer commenting on several qualities possessed by their lovers, whether it is their astounding beauty or indescribable charm. Pinksy explains this use of exaggeration in sonnets to appeal to these lovers by complimenting and praising them. The issue that arrives from this in Benedict’s case is that he did not initially feel attraction (at least knowingly) towards Beatrice, therefore any sonnet featuring these exaggerated compliments of beauty and personality would appear forged and would even mock Beatrice. If she indeed contained such beauty to be praised of, there would have been nothing to prevent his attraction to her in first place. Therefore, I feel that Benedict would and could not write a traditional sonnet, professing his undying admiration and pain at her resistance. Instead, he must write something more truthful. As we see in the play, Beatrice is witty and also clever and would recognize a false attempt at his courtship. There is one sonnet in particular that I feel resonates with their situation and could imagine Benedick writing something along these lines. Shakespeare’s Sonnet 145 is a great example of their situation. In this sonnet, the sonneteer is torn by his lover who has unrequited feelings towards him. “Those lips that love’s own hand did make breathed forth the sound that said, “I hate” to me that languished for her sake” This poem somewhat exemplifies initial feelings of displeasure but by the end of the poem, such as the play, these feelings change. The last line states that, “She took hatred away from “I hate”, saving my life with “Not you”. Beatrice and Benedict ends up married, despite their initial feelings towards each other. Beatrice would perhaps have a slightly different approach. We know from the play that Beatrice felt strongly that she would never be married. I would envision her sonnet to be somewhat of a dedication to her unexpected discovery of love and marriage. Although Benedick had similar feelings towards marriage, he never entirely spoke against companionship, even if they are fleeting. Beatrice, on the other hand not only spoke against marriage but also ran off all of her suitors. Her sonnet would perhaps exaggerate her previous notions towards finding love and how she surprisingly encounters it in the person she least expected.