Quote 1
HERO
God give me joy to wear it, for my heart is
exceeding heavy. (3.4.24-25)
It’s Hero’s wedding day, and she should be really excited, but she’s not. Some camps might interpret this to mean that her feelings foreshadow the ills that will befall her at her wedding. Those of us who don’t believe in psychics see some other, more practical reasons. She’s about to marry a man who she has not (at least not on stage) had a single conversation with. All the other characters of the play have spent a good deal of time talking about what marriage means to them, but we have yet to hear Hero’s thoughts on her own wedding.
Quote 2
HERO
Good Margaret, run thee to the parlor.
There shalt thou find my cousin Beatrice
Proposing with the prince and Claudio.
Whisper her ear and tell her I and Ursula
Walk in the orchard and our whole discourse
Is all of her. Say that thou overheardst us,
And bid her steal into the pleachèd bower
Where honeysuckles ripened by the sun
Forbid the sun to enter, like favorites
Made proud by princes, that advance their pride
Against that power that bred it. There will she hide
her
To listen our purpose. This is thy office.
Bear thee well in it and, leave us alone. (3.1.1-14)
Hero’s descriptive language here is some of the only flowery stuff in the play. From this passage we see that Hero’s ability in language isn’t clever humor, but the ability to find beauty. Just as Beatrice and Benedick’s language reflects their sharp nature, Hero’s beautiful language reflects her sweetness and gentleness.
Quote 3
HERO
One Hero died defiled, but I do live,
And surely as I live, I am a maid.
PRINCE
The former Hero! Hero that is dead!
LEONATO
She died, my lord, but whiles her slander lived. (5.4.65-68)
Hero doesn’t lament the damage that the men have done to her feelings, or even to herself, but instead excuses the men because her reputation has been cleared.