Much Ado About Nothing — Quotes

25 quotes with full 6-part analysis

1
STAGNATE

“I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me”

HYPERBOLIC SIMILEDRAMATIC IRONY

Beatrice · Act 1, Scene 1

2
PROGRESS

“Kill Claudio”

IMPERATIVE MONOSYLLABLESCAESURA & STRUCTURAL DISRUPTION

Beatrice · Act 4, Scene 1

3
STAGNATE

“Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more, Men were deceivers ever”

PROLEPTIC IRONYCHORIC FUNCTION

Balthasar's Song · Act 2, Scene 3

4
REGRESS

“O, what men dare do! What men may do! What men daily do, not knowing what they d…”

ANAPHORIC TRICOLONPUBLIC PERFORMATIVITY

Claudio · Act 4, Scene 1

5
PROGRESS

“O that I were a man! I would eat his heart in the marketplace”

VIOLENT IMAGERY / SEMANTIC FIELD OF SAVAGERYEXCLAMATORY SYNTAX & CONDITIONAL MOOD

Beatrice · Act 4, Scene 1

6
PROGRESS

“I do love nothing in the world so well as you — is not that strange?”

LITOTES & SELF-INTERROGATIONPROSE vs VERSE — REGISTER SHIFT

Benedick · Act 4, Scene 1

7
PROGRESS

“When I said I would die a bachelor, I did not think I should live till I were ma…”

PARAPROSDOKIAN / COMIC REVERSALDRAMATIC IRONY

Benedick · Act 2, Scene 3

8
PROGRESS

“Thou and I are too wise to woo peaceably”

PARADOX / OXYMORONIC WITMETALINGUISTIC COMMENTARY

Benedick · Act 5, Scene 2

9
PROGRESS

“Man is a giddy thing, and this is my conclusion”

EPIGRAMMATIC UNIVERSALISMTHEMATIC SUMMATION / CHORUS FUNCTION

Benedick · Act 5, Scene 4

10
PROGRESS

“Contempt, farewell! and maiden pride, adieu! No glory lives behind the back of s…”

APOSTROPHE & PERSONIFICATIONVERSE SHIFT — PROSE TO VERSE

Beatrice · Act 3, Scene 1

11
PROGRESS

“Of this matter is little Cupid's crafty arrow made, that only wounds by hearsay”

MYTHOLOGICAL ALLUSION / PERSONIFICATIONPROLEPTIC IRONY / FORESHADOWING

Hero · Act 3, Scene 1

12
REGRESS

“Is my lord well, that he doth speak so wide?”

INTERROGATIVE SYNTAX / DRAMATIC IRONYLINGUISTIC RESTRAINT / SILENCING

Hero · Act 4, Scene 1

13
PROGRESS

“One Hero died defiled, but I do live, and surely as I live, I am a maid”

SYMBOLIC DEATH & RESURRECTIONTHIRD-PERSON SELF-REFERENCE

Hero · Act 5, Scene 4

14
STAGNATE

“And seemed I ever otherwise to you?”

RHETORICAL QUESTION / MONOSYLLABIC POWERAPPEAL TO EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE

Hero · Act 4, Scene 1

15
STAGNATE

“Silence is the perfectest herald of joy: I were but little happy, if I could say…”

PARADOX / PETRARCHAN CONVENTIONDRAMATIC IRONY / PROLEPTIC CONTRAST

Claudio · Act 2, Scene 1

16
REGRESS

“Give not this rotten orange to your friend”

EXTENDED METAPHOR / OBJECTIFICATIONPUBLIC PERFORMANCE / RITUAL HUMILIATION

Claudio · Act 4, Scene 1

17
REGRESS

“Beauty is a witch, against whose charms faith melteth into blood”

DEMONIC IMAGERY / MISOGYNISTIC TROPESEMANTIC FIELD OF ENCHANTMENT

Claudio · Act 2, Scene 1

18
STAGNATE

“I cannot be said to be a flattering honest man, it must not be denied but I am a…”

PARADOX / ANTITHETICAL SELF-DEFINITIONMALCONTENT ARCHETYPE

Don John · Act 1, Scene 3

19
STAGNATE

“I had rather be a canker in a hedge than a rose in his grace”

NATURAL IMAGERY / ANTITHETICAL METAPHORCOMPRESSED SOLILOQUY / SELF-CHARACTERISATION

Don John · Act 1, Scene 3

20
STAGNATE

“Leonato's Hero, your Hero, every man's Hero”

TRICOLON WITH ESCALATIONINNUENDO / LINGUISTIC POISON

Don John · Act 3, Scene 2

21
STAGNATE

“If I can cross him any way, I bless myself every way”

INVERTED RELIGIOUS LANGUAGEVICE FIGURE / MORALITY PLAY TRADITION

Don John · Act 1, Scene 3

22
STAGNATE

“There is a kind of merry war betwixt Signior Benedick and her; they never meet b…”

OXYMORON / EXTENDED MILITARY METAPHOREXPOSITORY DIALOGUE / DRAMATIC FRAMING

Leonato · Act 1, Scene 1

23
REGRESS

“Mine, and mine I loved, and mine I praised, and mine that I was proud on — mine …”

ANAPHORA / OBSESSIVE POSSESSIVESOLIPSISTIC GRIEF / SELF-CENTRED RHETORIC

Leonato · Act 4, Scene 1

24
REGRESS

“Hath no man's dagger here a point for me?”

RHETORICAL QUESTION / MELODRAMATIC EXCESSPATHOS & TRAGIC REGISTER

Leonato · Act 4, Scene 1

25
PROGRESS

“For there was never yet philosopher that could endure the toothache patiently”

BATHOS / PHILOSOPHICAL DEFLATIONUNIVERSAL APHORISM / COMIC WISDOM

Leonato · Act 5, Scene 1