Sir Philip Sydney, a contemporary of Shakespeare, composed a series of love sonnets dedicated to his beloved Stella. Sonnet 12 begins with this description of his beloved:
Cupid, because thous shin'st in Stella's eyes,
That from her locks, thy day-nets, none 'scapes free,
'That those lips swell, so full of thee they be,
That her sweet breath makes oft they flames to rise,
That in her breast thy pap sugared lies,
In the conventions of courtly love, the poet immortalizes his beloved by praising her ideal beauty. Compare this description to the interchange between Claudio and Benedick in Much Ado:
Claudio: In my eye she is the sweetest lady that ever I looked on.
Benedick: I can see yet without spectacles, and I see no such matter.
Later in the play Benedick reflects on the qualities of a woman necessary to "transform [him] to an oyster": One woman is fair, yet I am well; another virtuous, yet I am well; but till all graces be in one woman, one woman shall not come in my grace"(2.3.28-30).
What is this play telling us about courtly love? Does it embrace or criticize this tradition? How does it relate to the bawdy jokes and fears about cuckoldry that is found through out the play? What is the relationship between courtly and "real" love? How do the ideals of courtly love aid or impede the pursuit of the beloved (of finding a suitable marriage partner)?
In Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare uses Benedick’s transformation from hating relationships to courting Beatrice to exemplify the social norm and expectation of courtly love in society. For all couples in the comedy, the male courting the female is the expected path to marriage in Shakespearean England, and it’s either hot and heavy or cold as ice; there is no in between.
ReplyDeleteWhen Benedick and Beatrice first meet, there is a “skirmish of wit between them” (1.1.59) and “the gentleman is not in your (Beatrice’s) books” (1.1.76). Although they have a rocky start, miscommunication and deception turns Benedick and Beatrice’s relationship from hatred to perceived infatuation (they think the other is in love with them); this is where the courting begins.
Before he believes he’s in love with Beatrice, Benedick proclaims that he “will live a bachelor” (1.1.241). He doesn’t understand Claudio’s interest in Hero, or in women at all. Once he thinks Beatrice is in love with him and wants to be with him, he begins courting, an act he used to condemn, believing that it is the proper way to treat a woman he is in love with.
The first example of Benedick’s delve in courting is when he says Beatrice, “exceeds her (Hero) as much in beauty as the first of May doth the last of December” (1.1.187). Benedick is comparing Beatrice, his love interest, to a season, and therefore glorifying her into an ideal form of physical beauty rather than an actual human.
Benedick then tries to court Beatrice in the early form of their romantic relationship by saying “Fair Beatrice, I thank you for your pains” (2.3.251). He never addresses Beatrice in poetry prior to this line, bickering with her and speaking to others in prose. When he tries this poetic line, a line of love, on Beatrice, she answers him with prose, not returning the act of love. However, Benedick does not give up, determined that his courting will succeed.
The final act of courting happens when Beatrice asks Benedick to challenge Claudio on the behalf of Hero. He is willing to do what she says, responding “I am engaged. I will challenge him. I will kiss your hand, and so I leave you” (4.2.346). He had previously bashed Beatrice to Claudio, and now he is willing to challenge him on behalf of Beatrice. He is 100% devoted to her in the same way that he was previously 100% sure he loathed her.
Shakespeare is displaying the extremity and intensity that courtly, marital love entails. In this play, a person is either trying to be in love, like Benedick at the end of the play, or hating love, like Benedick at the beginning of play. In Shakespearean society, the in between phase of love is not considered “true love”, and a person can switch from one end of the spectrum to another, as Benedick shows.
In Much Ado About Nothing, courtly love is shown in many scenes. The reader may think that it is used as something to describe how a character feels so fondly of another character, but reality this is not the case. For example, in the very beginning of the play when Claudio is talking to Benedick about Hero, Benedick laughs at the very idea of her being attractive.
ReplyDeleteClaudio: Can the world buy such a jewel?
Benedick: Yea, and a case to put it into.
Benedick is mocking Claudio about his affections towards Hero. Courtly love is used in the play as a joke. In many cases in this play (mostly Claudio and Benedick), after a character talks about how fond of they are of another character, they get shut down.
Another example of courtly love in the play is a bit later on and it's slightly more on the just making fun of it side. In the scene when Leonato and Claudio stage a conversation for Benedick, who is hiding, to overhear about Beatrice's dying love for him.
"Hero thinks surely she will die, for she says
she will die if he lover her not, and she will die ere
she make her love known, and she will die if he woo
her rather than she will bate one breath of her
accustomed crossness"
This is a great example of mocking courtly love. This speech was made for Benedick to hear and think that Beatrice is dying for him, Claudio mocks Beatrice in this quote making her sound very desperate. Since we know this conversation was staged, we know the quote was made over dramatic to make Benedick believe. Courtly love is very weird in this play, its use not as it would be normally. It is a tool for mocking and making fun of love and character's feelings towards others.
Throughout Much Ado About Nothing the idea of courtly love is made fun of. The strongest example of this is Claudio and Hero’s relationship. Claudio begins the play by praising Hero asking his friends, “Can the world buy such a jewel?” (1.1.177). Hero in this case would be the priceless jewel and Claudio wonders whether he is even worthy of her. This drastically changes after Claudio thinks that Hero might not be who he thinks she is. Once Claudio is convinced that Hero has been sleeping around he immediately publically shames her, puts her own father against her, and calls her a “rotten orange” (4.1.32). Claudio saying this means that everything he had said before is cancelled out. His emotions change so quickly it is hard to believe that he really loved her in the first place, making it seems like the play is trying to say that courtly love isn’t really something you can really mean, it’s essentially useless. These two end up married at the end against the odds set up in act 4 which is what make this a comedy, it’s unrealistic. This idea that the feelings cancel out is also prominent in the relationship between Beatrice and Benedick. At the start of the play these two characters are in an active battle of wits, constantly making fun of each other and end they love each other. This relationship makes it even clearer that courtly love isn't something that you can really feel for someone in the way that you’re supposed to.
ReplyDeleteThroughout Much Ado About Nothing the idea of courtly love is made fun of. The strongest example of this is Claudio and Hero’s relationship. Claudio begins the play by praising Hero asking his friends, “Can the world buy such a jewel?” (1.1.177). Hero in this case would be the priceless jewel and Claudio wonders whether he is even worthy of her. This drastically changes after Claudio thinks that Hero might not be who he thinks she is. Once Claudio is convinced that Hero has been sleeping around he immediately publically shames her, puts her own father against her, and calls her a “rotten orange” (4.1.32). Claudio saying this means that everything he had said before is cancelled out. His emotions change so quickly it is hard to believe that he really loved her in the first place, making it seems like the play is trying to say that courtly love isn’t really something you can really mean, it’s essentially useless. These two end up married at the end against the odds set up in act 4 which is what make this a comedy, it’s unrealistic. This idea that the feelings cancel out is also prominent in the relationship between Beatrice and Benedick. At the start of the play these two characters are in an active battle of wits, constantly making fun of each other and end they love each other. This relationship makes it even clearer that courtly love isn't something that you can really feel for someone in the way that you’re supposed to.
ReplyDelete