MovieChat Forums > Much Ado About Nothing (1993) Discussion > 'against my will' - double meaning?

'against my will' - double meaning?

posted 12 years ago by neo2005
17 replies | jump to latest

Ok, I just have to ask: What the hell was the double meaning that Benedick sensed there?

edit: Maybe to be more precise: Beatrice was sent to fetch Benedick for dinner, after he already heard the staged "Beatrice loves Benedick" conversation. She says something along the lines of "against my will, I was send to fetch you for dinner". After she leaves, he ponders her wording and suddenly realizes "against my will - there's a double meaning in that".

It has always bothered me, what that second meaning is supposed to be. Is it a joke by Shakespeare (i.e. there is no double meaning, but Benedick is so enamoured with Beatrice that his mind plays a trick on him) or am I just not good enough at English to find it?

[–] rimnod 12 years ago

There was no double meaning at all --she meant exactly what she said. You are right that it was just Shakespeare's way of showing the tricks that love play on was. Benedick is in the early stages of love and his mind is hearing and his eyes seeing things that are not really there.

[–] JackBluegrass 12 years ago

The works of Shakespeare are filled with words and phrases having double meanings. Shakespeare would not be Shakespeare without his creative puns and metaphors.

In this case,how about "against my will[iam Shakespeare],I was sent to fetch you for dinner"?, or since Beatrice did initially find Benedick attractive, did she mean for Benedick to "come" dine on Beatrice? Just asking.

Stupid!?! I never called you stupid! To call you stupid would be an insult to stupid people!

[–] hexagon2 12 years ago

In Shakespeare's era, "will" was slang for many things, including "lust" and the sexual organs of men and women. I think Shakespeare is having a laugh with his knowing audience here, with Benedick trying to read some sexual meaning into Beatrice's statement.

[–] neo2005 12 years ago

lol, that is one novel interpretation, thanks!

[–] Ghetto_Defendant 9 years ago

It's not novel. Shakespeare's plays were full of sexual innuendos.

Read The Decameron by Boccaccio, which the narrative tells us are ten stories over ten days. He wrote his book in the 1300s and they are full of sexual satire. It's quite a clever piece of Renaissance literature (mostly directed toward the clergy).

[–] johandav 12 years ago

It strikes me as one of the few things that Benedick or Beatrice say that doesn't have a double meaning!

I think that Benedick was just trying for find something in what she said that would show she did indeed love him.

You think you’re smart, but you’re not. You’re dumb. Very dumb. But you’ve met your match in me!

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] siobanphotogirl 11 years ago

I always thought that the 'double meaning' was that she was so hopelessly in love with him that she feared being near him because she might embarrass herself by letting her affection for him be seen.
The butterflies in her stomach might get the best of her!
I think that's what Benedick was referring to.

[–] beierfilms 10 years ago

It's not a double meaning. That's the joke. The whole point of the scene is that Benedict is now convinced she's into him even though she clearly isn't. She says something which is filled with OBVIOUS contempt and he responds, "she likes me!"

If there were an actual double meaning in it, the joke would make no sense because, at this point, Beatrice hasn't been set up to fall for him.

And yes, one can argue that there is sexual tension between them BEFORE the other characters trick the two of them into falling in love but there's still no double meaning in her lines here because THIS SCENE is about Benedict making a fool of himself because he's been tricked.

[–] siobanphotogirl 10 years ago

No she is not in love with him yet but Benedick thinks she is so to him that might be what the double meaning is. But since she still loathes him, there is no double meaning in her mind.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] Blueghost 10 years ago

There wasn't any. It was just Claudio being an idiot wrapped up in his thinking Beatrice really wanted to come see him, even if it was just to call him in to eat.

[–] PreachCaleb 10 years ago

I'm pretty sure that was Benedick and not Claudio.

Can't stop the signal.

[–] Thomasina 9 years ago

I had a teacher once who said we should pay attention to any time Shakespeare used the word "will," which was, of course, his own name.

[–] Suzume-san 9 years ago

Nice idea, especially true in the Sonnets, but I don't think it applies in this case. Benedick is just wishful-thinking. She means exactly what she says - they (the Prince and Leonato, probably) told her to go and call Benedick, so she had to go, though she didn't want to do it. She's fed up with him right now, after the Lady Disdain sparring match.