| Hero’s first line in the play is a clarification on Beatrice’s behalf. This implies that her own storyline with Claudio will be less important than the subplot of Beatrice and Benedick. | “My cousin means Signior Benedick of Padua.” 1.1.35 |
| 2.1.5 She is a gentle character who seeks the best in people; this is certainly kinder that what everyone else is saying about him! | She notes that Don John “is of a very melancholy disposition.” |
| Beatrice highlights how dutiful Hero can be; we learn a lot about Hero through what others say about her. | “…it is my cousin’s duty to make curtsy and say, “Father, as it please you.”” 2.1.44 |
| Hero shows a little “sass” in saying she does what SHE wants and not just what her father says. | To the disguised Don Pedro when he asks Hero to dance and woo her on Claudio’s behalf, “I may say so, when I please.” 2.1.85 |
| Hero’s dialogue with disguised Don Pedro is witty; she jokes that she hopes his face is better than his mask. | “When I like your favour; for God defend the lute should be like the case.” 2.1.94 |
| Hero says she will do any decent thing to help Beatrice find a husband. She is thoughtful, helpful and likes to keep everything “proper”. She acts also as a foil to Beatrice. | “I will do any modest office, my Lord, to help my cousin to a husband.” 2.1.375 |
| Hero sets up the eavesdropping scene for Beatrice. Although not as witty as Beatrice, she has a beautiful way with words. | “bid her steal into the preached bower, where honeysuckles, ripen’d by the sun, forbid the sun to enter…” 3.1.1-3.1.13 |
| Hero wisely acknowledges that love is about self-sacrifice; each person needs to lose something to gain love. Perhaps this explains her forgiveness of Claudio at the end? | “I know he doth deserve as much as may be yielded to a man, but Nature never framed a woman’s heart of prouder stuff than that of Beatrice.” 3.1.49 |
| Hero is not deluded in love; she’s aware, like Beatrice, that men have their failings, and that women still fall in love with men in spite of their failings, (luckily for Claudio!) | Hero to Ursula , “…praise him more than ever man did merit.” 3.1.15 |
| It is ironic that Hero acknowledges that rumours can wound love; something which is about to happen to her. | “little Cupid’s crafty arrow…that only wounds by hearsay.” 3.1.18 |
| Hero admits if she asked Beatrice to calm down, she would mock her to death; she is no match for Beatrice’s sharp wit. | “If I should speak, she would mock me into the air…It were a better death than die with mocks.” 3.1.72 |
| Foreshadowing Hero’s upcoming situation! | “I’ll devise some honest slanders to stain my cousin with: one doth not know how much an ill word may empoison liking.” 3.1.82 |
| Hero seems to be excited about her marriage, seeking Ursula’s advice on what to wear. | “Why, every day, tomorrow…I’ll show you some attires, and have thy counsel which is the best to furnish me tomorrow.” 3.1.101 |
| Hero has a sense of humour, making a joke at Beatrice’s expense. | “Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.” 3.1.104 |
| Hero shows determination to wear what she wants to the wedding even if Ursula and Beatrice disagree. | “My cousin’s a fool, and thou art another: I’ll wear none but this.” 3.4.10 |
| Foreshadowing as Hero makes a strange comment about her heart being heavy on the morning of her wedding. | “My heart is exceeding heavy.” 3.4.22 |
| Whilst Hero should be concerned with her own wedding, she is worried about Beatrice. More foreshadowing? | “Why how now? Do you speak in the sick tune?” 3.4.41 |
| She simply asks if she has ever not seemed honest and chaste to Claudio. | “And seem’d I ever otherwise to you?” 4.1.50 Unlike, Claudio, Hero does not simply “flip out” when accused. |
| Hero reacts to Claudio’s false accusations by asking after his health. This kindness probably unwittingly antagonises Claudio further. | “Is my lord well, that he doth speak so wide?” 4.1.62 |
| Hero asks who can possibly say anything truthful and bad about her. She is determined to answer only to the name “Hero” and not “harlot”. | “Is it not Hero? Who can blog that name with any just reproach?” 4.1.80 |
| Unlike Beatrice, Hero speaks very little. Whilst Claudio accuses her using elaborate expressions, she replies with straightforward truth. | “I talked with no man at that hour, my lord.” 4.1.83 |
| Hero stands up for herself, insisting that the accusation is utterly false and that she knows no man more than chastity allows. | “They know that do accuse me; I know none: if I know more of any man alive than that which maiden modesty doth warrant, let all my sins lack mercy!” 4.1.177 |
| Hero is forgiving and her speech is straightforward and lacking in blame. | “And when I lived, I was your other wife: and when you loved, you were my other husband.” 5.4.60 |
| Hero’s one moment of power; her main objective was to prove her innocence/reputation and not just to get Claudio back. | “One Hero died defiled, but I do live, And surely as I live, I am a maid.” 5.4.62 |
| Like her first line, Hero’s last line in the play is about Beatrice, therefore, deferring her importance in the play. | “And here’s another writ in my cousin’s hand…containing her affection unto Benedick.” 5.4.88 |
Hero: ‘Much Ado’
July 15, 2019