Quote 1
PEDRO
She cannot endure to hear tell of a husband.
LEON
O, by no means. She mocks all her wooers
out of suit.
PEDRO
She were an excellent wife for Benedick. (2.1.340-343)
As Beatrice tosses out Don Pedro’s marriage proposal, he realizes that the girl hasn’t married because she hasn’t found her equal in mockery and wit. As he wonders who could possibly stand up to her (and maybe by doing so, win her love), Benedick comes up as a natural choice. We’ve got to wonder whether he chooses Benedick because he really believes they could fall in love, or because he’d like to put Beatrice through a little suffering for not seriously considering him as a potential husband.
DON PEDRO
You embrace your charge too willingly. [Turning
to Hero.] I think this is your daughter.
LEONATO
Her mother hath many times told me so.
BENEDICK
Were you in doubt, sir, that you asked her? (1.1.101-104)
The first mention we have of a married couple (Leonato and his absent wife) is a joke about whether that wife may have deceived Leonato about the parentage of their child. Marriage is set up to be lampooned, but it seems that deception is expected as a natural part of marriage.
Quote 3
DON PEDRO
'Tis once, thou lovest,
And I will fit thee with the remedy.
I know we shall have reveling tonight.
I will assume thy part in some disguise
And tell fair Hero I am Claudio,
And in her bosom I'll unclasp my heart
And take her hearing prisoner with the force
And strong encounter of my amorous tale. (1.1.313-320)
Don Pedro will manipulate Hero into falling in love with Claudio. It’s a little shady that Don Pedro will get Hero to fall in love with his words, thinking they’re Claudio’s words. Claudio and Don Pedro don’t care if they manipulate the girl under false pretenses, as they’ve got their eyes on the prize of winning her (even if she is deceived into being won by a guy she doesn’t know and has never spoken to).