| With a good leg and a good foot, uncle, and money enough in his purse, such a man would win any woman in the world. | Beatrice is speaking to LeonatoMeaning: And if he were handsome, agile, and rich, too, he could have any woman in the world. It also has an underlying sexual reference in “with a good leg and a good foot” Beatrice says this after commenting that she wants a man who is halfway between Don John and Benedick. a.k.a. – would talk half as much as Benedick and be half as serious as Don John |
| [A]way to St. Peter for the heavens; he shows me where the bachelors sit, and there live we as merry as the day is long. | Beatrice is speaking to LeonatoMeaning: I’ll be met by Saint Peter guarding heaven’s gates. He will show me the part of heaven where the bachelors sit, and I’ll have fun there forever.Beatrice says this after saying that she (women who die unmarried) will be sent to lead the apes to hell but wont be welcomed in because she is a virgin and from there she will go to Heaven. |
| Not till God make men of some other metal than earth. | Beatrice is speaking to LeonatoMeaning: No man is good enough for me |
| I say my prayers aloud. | Margaret is speaking to BalthasarMeaning: I am a screamer in sex |
| I am sure he is in the fleet: I would he had boarded me. | Beatrice is speaking to BenedickMeaning: I’m sure he’s out there dancing. I could have sworn he trampled on me.Beatrice says this to Benedick at the masquerade knowing that it is him but both are trying to deceive the other by hiding their identities. He tries to get her honest opinion of him by asking her who Benedick is. |
| Friendship is constant in all other things/ Save in the office and affairs of love. | Claudio is speaking to himselfMeaning: Friendship is enduring except when love is involved and then you can’t trust anyoneHe says this after taking off his mask/pretending to be Benedick and Don John and Borachio deceives him by saying that Don Pedro is in love with Hero |
| O God, sir, here’s a dish I love not: I cannot endure my Lady Tongue. | Benedick is speaking to Don PedroMeaning: He has lost his appetite/love for Beatrice and he says this and leaves as she is entering the room |
| Take of me my daughter, and with her my fortune. | Leonato is speaking to ClaudioMeaning: Take my daughter, and, with her, take my fortunes. Don Pedro has helped set Hero and Claudio up and they are to get married. |
| I was born to speak all mirth and no matter. | Beatrice is speaking to Don PedroMeaning: I was born to speak cleverly, not seriously.Setting: Beatrice sees Hero whispering into Claudio’s ear telling him that she loves him. Beatrice cries about being alone and never having a husband. Don Pedro asks if she will take him and she replies with this. |
| Cupid is no longer an archer; his glory shall be ours, for we are the only love-gods. | Don Pedro is speaking to HeroMeaning: They are plotting to Deceive Beatrice and Benedick so that they will fall in love with each other |
| One woman is fair, yet I am well; another wise, yet I am well; another virtuous, yet I am well. | Benedick is speaking to himselfMeaning: If a beautiful woman comes along, I’ll remain unmoved. If a wise woman turns up, I’ll be unmoved. If a virtuous woman appears, I’ll be unmoved. I refuse to fall in love until all three qualities unite in a single woman. |
| Hero thinks surely she will die; for she days she will die, if he loves her not; and she will die, ere she make her love known; and she will die, if he woo her. | Claudio is speaking to Don Pedro and LeonatoMeaning: Hero thinks Beatrice will surely die, for she says she’ll die if he (Benedick) doesn’t love her, and that she’ll die before she tells him, and she’ll die if he woos her |
| The world must be peopled. | Benedick is speaking to himself Meaning: The world needs to be populated. He is saying that he didn’t really mean he’d die as a bachelor, as he said before, but instead he didn’t think he’d live until he got married. |
| By this day! she’s a fair lady: I do spy some marks of love in her. | Benedick is speaking to himself as Beatrice enters to invite him to dinner. Setting: This is immediately following the scene where Don Pedro, Leonato, and Claudio are deceiving him by saying that Beatrice is in love with him |
Much Ado About Nothing Quotes: Act 2
July 14, 2019