BENEDICK
Thou and I are too wise to woo peaceably.
BEATRICE
It appears not in this confession. There's not
one wise man among twenty that will praise
himself.
BENEDICK
An old, an old instance, Beatrice, that lived
in the time of good neighbors. If a man do not erect
in this age his own tomb ere he dies, he shall live no
longer in monument than the bell rings and the
widow weeps. (5.2.72-80)
Beatrice suggests that a man’s reputation should be conveyed and earned by his actions and not his words, and especially not by his own words. Benedick points out that reputation these days is nothing but what men say it is. Who do you agree with more, Beatrice or Benedick?
Quote 14
LEONATO
Well, niece, I hope to see you one day fitted
with a husband.
BEATRICE
Not till God make men of some other metal
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?
No, uncle, I'll none. Adam's sons are my brethren,
and truly I hold it a sin to match in my kinred. (2.1.57-64)
This is a brilliant statement from a gendered point of view. Beatrice first uses "man" in the general sense (as in mankind), but she finally comes around to admitting the gender inequality inherent in marriage. She plays on the notion that all mankind is ashes to ashes dust to dust, so it isn’t fitting that a woman should be ruled by a man (who is in the end only dust). The capstone to this deliciously incisive commentary is Beatrice’s assertion that all of Adam’s sons are her brothers, and she’d commit the sin of incest to marry them.
She doesn’t actually believe she’s a blood-sister with all men—incest is just the easiest way to write off marrying any man. In claiming all Adam’s sons as her brothers, and admitting that all humankind is dust together, Beatrice has threaded together the argument that men and women are kindred and equal—they are made of the same material (earth, dust), return to being the same after death, and together they are all God’s children.
It’s a fantastic insight that adds to Beatrice’s many reasons for not marrying—she is unwilling to be subservient to one of her equals (a man), which it seems she’d have to do if she were married. (It’s particularly juicy that Benedick also worries about giving up his independence and freedom by getting married. Though Beatrice has more cause to worry as far as losing freedom, we’re beginning to see Shakespeare draw parallels between the two characters.)
BENEDICK
Surely I do believe your fair cousin is
wronged.
BEATRICE
Ah, how much might the man deserve of me
that would right her!
BENEDICK
Is there any way to show such friendship?
BEATRICE
A very even way, but no such friend.
BENEDICK
May a man do it?
BEATRICE
It is a man's office, but not yours. (4.1.273-280)
It’s interesting that Beatrice can’t enact her plan to avenge her cousin because she’s a woman. You might think she would’ve come up with some scheme she could do herself (because she’s so independent and strong-willed), but this seems one of those rare chances when Beatrice admits that she’s unable. There’s no discussion of why her plan needs to be executed by a man, but even for Beatrice there’s an implicit understanding that some work is done by women, and some by men.