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Against my will, I am sent to bid you come in to dinner.
Much Ado About Nothing - Language
Test yourself on language in this GCSE English Literature quiz. Much Ado About Nothing contains dazzling wordplay as Beatrice and Benedick conduct their verbal sparring. The play, which ends in two marriages, includes much language about love. But beneath the wit and the talk of love lie hints at something much darker. Look out for the language of violence, betrayal, mistrust and shame. The play relies much upon deception and disguise, patterns marked in Beatrice’s speech, which rarely holds a single meaning, instead preferring to toy with multiple meanings.
Most of the characters in Much Ado About Nothing use language in a straightforward manner when they are not trying to deceive someone else. Pay attention to the words and phrases which are repeated in different scenes and by different characters.
1.
"You have among you killed a sweet and innocent lady. For my lord Lackbeard there, he and I shall meet, and till then, peace be with him." What does Benedick imply by his use of the term "Lackbeard" for Claudio?
Claudio is vain
Claudio is immature
Claudio is not very intelligent
All of the above
Benedick challenges Claudio to a duel, insulting the other man by referring to him as an immature coward who is not afraid to attack a young woman
2.
LEONATO: Well, niece, I hope to see you one day fitted with a husband.
BEATRICE: Not till God make men of some other mettle than earth. Would it not grieve a woman to be overmastered with a piece of valiant dust? — to make an account of her life to a clod of wayward marl?
Which words give the impression that Beatrice does not think very highly of men?
BEATRICE: Not till God make men of some other mettle than earth. Would it not grieve a woman to be overmastered with a piece of valiant dust? — to make an account of her life to a clod of wayward marl?
Which words give the impression that Beatrice does not think very highly of men?
God, mettle, woman, piece
Mettle, woman, overmastered, valiant
Earth, dust, clod, marl
Valiant, account, life, wayward
Beatrice is referring to the Biblical account of man being made of dust. Here she contrasts these lowly origins with society's expectation that women will obey men as their superiors. She continues by explaining that she sees men as "brethren" and therefore not suitable for marriage
3.
"Now, divine air! Now is his soul ravished. Is it not strange that sheep's guts should hale souls out of men's bodies?" Benedick contrasts the unlikely material from which musical strings are made (sheep's guts) with which of the following?
The awkwardness of "men's bodies"
The discomfort of the soul
The freshness of the air
The divine sound of music
The beauty of music, he says, draws souls out of bodies. Both he and Don Pedro are disappointed with the quality of the singing, however
4.
"God restore you to health. I humbly give you leave to depart, and if a merry meeting may be wished, God prohibit it." What does Dogberry actually mean to say?
He asks permission to leave and hopes that God will allow another meeting if Leonato desires
He dismisses Leonato and hopes that he never has to see him again
He asks permission to leave and hopes he never has to see Leonato again
He dismisses Leonato for now, but hopes to see him again soon
Dogberry muddles up his words, especially when he tries to use polite vocabulary. Everyone around him understands precisely what he means despite the mix-ups
5.
"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." Benedick here indulges in which of the following?
Simile
Hyperbole
Paradox
Personification
Benedick wishes Don Pedro to know that he would rather go on the most extreme and foolish errand, such as fetching a toothpick all the way back from the furthest point of Asia, than to spend time in Beatrice's company
6.
HERO: O, my father,
Prove you that any man with me conversed
At hours unmeet, or that I yesternight
Maintained the change of words with any creature,
Refuse me, hate me, torture me to death.
How does Hero suggest Leonato "prove" her?
Prove you that any man with me conversed
At hours unmeet, or that I yesternight
Maintained the change of words with any creature,
Refuse me, hate me, torture me to death.
How does Hero suggest Leonato "prove" her?
Through the calling of witnesses
Through a quiet chat
Through pain and torture
Through questioning in court
Hero calls upon the violent imagery of torture as a method of questioning a suspect, suggesting that her father should torture her in order to discover the truth (thus asserting her confidence in her own innocence)
7.
"But for my will, my will is your good will / May stand with ours this day to be conjoined / In the state of holy matrimony." What does "will" mean here?
Intention
Desire
Intention, desire, and blessing
The document disposing of a person's property after death
Playing, as ever, with language, Benedick refers to his intention (will) to marry Beatrice and his desire (will) that Leonato will be pleased and will wish them well (good will)
8.
In which of the following lines does a play on words remark on deceptive appearances?
"If I have known her, / You will say she did embrace me as a husband"
"What man was he talked with you yesternight / Out of your window betwixt twelve and one?"
"But fare thee well, most foul, most fair, farewell / Thou pure impiety and impious purity"
"For thee I'll lock up all the gates of love"
Claudio believes Hero's fair and pious exterior to hide a foul and impious interior. "Piety" refers to faith, specifically religious faith, but Claudio also employs it with respect to himself (i.e. Hero should be faithful to him)
9.
"He hath borne himself beyond the promise of his age, doing in the figure of a lamb the feats of a lion." What does the messenger mean by comparing Claudio to a lamb?
Claudio is young and innocent-looking, but has been fierce on the battlefield
Claudio is small and delicate, but managed to be mostly brave on the battlefield
Claudio is small and young, which excuses his poor performance on the battlefield
Claudio ran away from battle, as a lamb might do
Claudio, the messenger implies, looks like a lamb but is as fierce as a lion
10.
BEATRICE: Against my will, I am sent to bid you come in to dinner.
BENEDICK: Fair Beatrice, I thank you for your pains.
BEATRICE: I took no more pains for those thanks than you take pains to thank me. If it had been painful I would not have come.
What is the source of humour in these lines?
BENEDICK: Fair Beatrice, I thank you for your pains.
BEATRICE: I took no more pains for those thanks than you take pains to thank me. If it had been painful I would not have come.
What is the source of humour in these lines?
Benedick now sees each of Beatrice's actions, even calling him to dinner, as an act of love
Beatrice believes Benedick to be mocking her as usual
Beatrice turns the tables on Benedick, remarking that she has made as little effort as he has made in thanking her
All of the above
For Beatrice, language is to be used in mockery. Overly courteous language such as Benedick's is ripe for mockery
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