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What does Hero identify to be as bad as death caused by tickling?
Much Ado About Nothing - Extract 1
This GCSE English Literature quiz is the first of two extract questions for Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare. It takes place during the third act of the play, after Benedick’s and Beatrice’s friends hatch a plot against them. Ursula and Hero are walking in the orchard with the intention of allowing Beatrice to overhear them. The scene is amusing because although it is based on deceit, the ploy allows Hero and Ursula to aim some truths at Beatrice: their jokes about her seem to express some of their genuine feelings that they might normally hesitate to express directly. Read the passage through at least twice before tackling the questions. When answering, pay close attention to the text while also bearing in mind the wider issues of the play as a whole.
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HERO: Why, you speak truth. I never yet saw man,
How wise, how noble, young, how rarely featured,
But she would spell him backward. If fair-faced,
She would swear the gentleman should be her sister.
If black, why nature, drawing of an antic,
Made a foul blot. If tall, a lance ill headed;
If low, an agate very vilely cut;
If speaking, why, a vane blown with all winds;
If silent, why a block moved with none.
So turns she every man the wrong side out,
And never gives to truth and virtue that
Which simpleness and merit purchaseth.
URSULA: Sure, sure, such carping is not commendable.
HERO: No, not to be so odd and from all fashions
As Beatrice is cannot be commendable.
But who dare tell her so? If I should speak
She would mock me into air, O, she would laugh me
Out of myself, press me to death with wit.
Therefore let Benedick, like covered fire,
Consume away in sighs, waste inwardly.
It were a better death than die with mocks,
Which is as bad as die with tickling.
URSULA: Yet tell her of it, hear what she will say.
HERO: No. Rather I will go to Benedick
And counsel him to fight against his passion.
And truly, I’ll devise some honest slanders
To stain my cousin with. One doth not know
How much an ill word may empoison liking.
URSULA: O, do not do your cousin such a wrong.
She cannot be so much without true judgement,
Having so swift and excellent a wit
As she is prized to have, as to refuse
So rare a gentleman as Signor Benedick.
HERO: He is the only man of Italy,
Always excepted my dear Claudio.
URSULA: I pray you be not angry with me, madam,
Speaking my fancy. Signor Benedick,
For shape, for bearing, argument, and valour
Goes foremost in report through Italy.
HERO: Indeed, he hath an excellent good name.
URSULA: His excellence did earn it ere he had it.
When are you married, madam?
HERO: Why, every day, tomorrow. Come, go in.
I’ll show thee some attires and have thy counsel
Which is the best to furnish me tomorrow.
URSULA [aside]: She’s limed, I warrant you. We have caught
her, madam.
HERO [aside]: If it prove so, then loving goes by haps.
Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.
Exeunt [HERO and URSULA]
BEATRICE [coming forward]: What fire is in mine ears? Can this be true?
Stand I condemned for pride and scorn so much?
William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing (W. W. Norton, 2008)
HERO: Why, you speak truth. I never yet saw man,
How wise, how noble, young, how rarely featured,
But she would spell him backward. If fair-faced,
She would swear the gentleman should be her sister.
If black, why nature, drawing of an antic,
Made a foul blot. If tall, a lance ill headed;
If low, an agate very vilely cut;
If speaking, why, a vane blown with all winds;
If silent, why a block moved with none.
So turns she every man the wrong side out,
And never gives to truth and virtue that
Which simpleness and merit purchaseth.
URSULA: Sure, sure, such carping is not commendable.
HERO: No, not to be so odd and from all fashions
As Beatrice is cannot be commendable.
But who dare tell her so? If I should speak
She would mock me into air, O, she would laugh me
Out of myself, press me to death with wit.
Therefore let Benedick, like covered fire,
Consume away in sighs, waste inwardly.
It were a better death than die with mocks,
Which is as bad as die with tickling.
URSULA: Yet tell her of it, hear what she will say.
HERO: No. Rather I will go to Benedick
And counsel him to fight against his passion.
And truly, I’ll devise some honest slanders
To stain my cousin with. One doth not know
How much an ill word may empoison liking.
URSULA: O, do not do your cousin such a wrong.
She cannot be so much without true judgement,
Having so swift and excellent a wit
As she is prized to have, as to refuse
So rare a gentleman as Signor Benedick.
HERO: He is the only man of Italy,
Always excepted my dear Claudio.
URSULA: I pray you be not angry with me, madam,
Speaking my fancy. Signor Benedick,
For shape, for bearing, argument, and valour
Goes foremost in report through Italy.
HERO: Indeed, he hath an excellent good name.
URSULA: His excellence did earn it ere he had it.
When are you married, madam?
HERO: Why, every day, tomorrow. Come, go in.
I’ll show thee some attires and have thy counsel
Which is the best to furnish me tomorrow.
URSULA [aside]: She’s limed, I warrant you. We have caught
her, madam.
HERO [aside]: If it prove so, then loving goes by haps.
Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.
Exeunt [HERO and URSULA]
BEATRICE [coming forward]: What fire is in mine ears? Can this be true?
Stand I condemned for pride and scorn so much?
William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing (W. W. Norton, 2008)
1 .
What is the immediate context for this passage?
Hero and Ursula have sent Margaret to inform Beatrice that they are gossiping about her in the orchard
Leonato has just agreed to marry his daughter Hero to Claudio
Benedick has just written a sonnet to Beatrice
Margaret has just impersonated Hero in her chamber with Borachio
The story Margaret brings to Beatrice is true: she is being discussed in the orchard. She does not, however, question Margaret's motive for fetching her there, nor the possibility that the conversation has been staged for her benefit
2 .
What immediately follows this passage?
Dogberry instructs the watchmen
Beatrice decides to reciprocate Benedick's love
Claudio rejects Hero at the altar
Beatrice calls Benedick to dinner
Beatrice falls into the trap laid for her
3 .
Which of the following is an example of foreshadowing in this passage?
"If I should speak / She would mock me into air, O, she would laugh me / Out of myself"
"Therefore let Benedick, like covered fire, / Consume away in sighs, waste inwardly"
"And truly, I’ll devise some honest slanders / To stain my cousin with. One doth not know / How much an ill word may empoison liking"
"Signor Benedick, / For shape, for bearing, argument, and valour / Goes foremost in report through Italy"
Hero will soon be slandered, her own reputation stained and Claudio's "liking" poisoned
4 .
Hero says she has never met a man that Beatrice does not "spell backwards". What does she mean by this?
Beatrice is not very good at spelling
Beatrice casts spells on men
Beatrice is easily confused, like Dogberry
Beatrice is contrary; she portrays each man in reverse
The examples Hero gives show that Beatrice exaggerates each man's qualities until they are unattractive or unpleasant
5 .
What does Hero identify to be as bad as death caused by tickling?
Death caused by sorrow
Death by physical torture
Death by mockery
Death by war
Hero says that it would be better for Benedick to sigh himself to death rather than to suffer Beatrice's sustained mockery. Mockery here becomes an instrument of torture; the pain caused by its intended humour is compared to the exquisite torture of tickling
6 .
Hero says, in her aside, that Cupid kills some "with arrows, some with traps". What does she mean by this?
People can find themselves unexpectedly paired together, even if they have never fallen passionately in love
People who do not fall passionately in love would be better off not getting married
People who do not fall passionately in love have been able successfully to avoid Cupid
Beatrice and Benedick have absolute freedom to make whatever choices they desire
Hero's language is violent: Cupid, the god of love, kills and traps his victims. Beatrice and Benedick are as lacking in choice as she has been
7 .
Who is compared to a bird in this passage?
Beatrice
Benedick
Hero
Claudio
Beatrice has been "limed" and "caught", like a bird ("birdlime" is a type of glue cruelly used to trap birds when they land in trees). Just before this passage Hero refers to Beatrice as a lapwing
8 .
Which of the following lines expresses the idea that reputation is created by deeds?
"Signor Benedick, / For shape, for bearing, argument, and valour / Goes foremost in report through Italy"
"Stand I condemned for pride and scorn so much?"
"He is the only man of Italy, / Always excepted my dear Claudio"
"His excellence did earn it ere he had it"
Ursula insists that a good name derives from excellence, rather than good personal qualities automatically proceeding from high social status (a good name)
9 .
Ursula appeals to which of Beatrice's characteristics?
Humility
Jealousy
Pride
Greed
Ursula cleverly implies that any woman with the wit and discernment of Beatrice could not possibly refuse such a fine man as Benedick. Pride is exactly the type of characteristic to make Beatrice wish to prove Ursula wrong
10 .
Beatrice refers to "fire" in her ears. What is the significance of this metaphor?
Gossip is dangerous, like fire
She feels some shame at the impression of herself which her dear friends hold
Beatrice's ears are "burning" because other people are talking about her
All of the above
Having hot ears traditionally means that someone somewhere is talking about you. Beatrice is also likely to be blushing with shame
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