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Key quote: "I had rather hear a dog bark at a crow than hear a man say he loves me"
Beatrice, Act 1 Scene 1
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Key quote: "I had rather hear a dog bark at a crow than hear a man say he loves me"
Beatrice, Act 1 Scene 1
Analysis
Beatrice expresses her disdain for love and marriage, establishing her witty, unconventional attitude towards gender norms.
Key quote: "Sweet, Hero, now thy image doth appear/ In the rare semblance that I loved it first"
Claudio, Act 5, Scene 1
Analysis
Claudio's shallow love for Hero is revealed as depending solely on her reputation and outward appearance.
Key quote: "Oh God! That I were a man, I would eat his heart in the marketplace"
Beatrice, Act 4, Scene 1
Analysis
Beatrice laments the limitations of her gender, wishing she could openly challenge Claudio's dishonouring of Hero as a man would.
Key quote: "Adam's sons are my brethren, and truly I hold it a sin to match in my kindred"
Beatrice, Act 2, Scene 1
Analysis
Beatrice radically suggests men and women are equal, refusing to marry and be subservient to someone she views as her peer.
Key quote: "Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more, /Men were deceivers ever"
Balthasar, Act 2, Scene 3
Analysis
The song implies men's inherent nature is to be unfaithful, which is hypocritically accepted by society, while women must remain virtuous.
Key quote: "I cannot hide what I am"
Don John, Act 1, Scene 3
Analysis
Don John, the play's malcontent, admits his villainous nature is due to his illegitimate birth.
Key quote: "Give not this rotten orange to your friend. / She's but the sign and semblance of her honour"
Claudio, Act 4, Scene 1
Analysis
Claudio insults Hero using a corrupted metaphor, suggesting a woman's value lies solely in her honour, and worthless once her presumed virtue is lost.
Key quote: "She died, my lord, but whiles her slander lived"
Leonato, Act 5, Scene 4
Analysis
Hero metaphorically died when her honour was questioned, only able to truly live again once her innocence was proven.
Key quote: "There is a kind of merry war betwixt Signor Benedick and her. They never meet but there's a skirmish of wit between them"
Leonato, Act 1, Scene 1
Analysis
Leonato compares Beatrice and Benedick's banter to a military skirmish, setting up their love through an extended metaphor of love as war.
Key quote: "Marry, sir, they have committed false report; moreover, they have spoken untruths; secondarily, they are slanders..."
Dogberry, Act 5, Scene 1
Analysis
Dogberry's confusing misuse of language (in order to appear refined) undermines the honour of his decision to bring the criminals, Borachio and Conrad, to confess.