REVISION QUESTIONS AND TOPICS

1. The role of deception in society.

2. Division of power between men and women.

3. Dishonour and shame.

4. Attitudes to love ‘ideals’.

5. Illusions and deceptions.

6. Tricked into marriage against their hearts: without social pressure they would have remained unmarried. Do you agree that this is how Shakespeare presents their relationship?

7. Dramatises the conflict between love and friendship.

8. Don John is an anti-social outsider, since he is effectively excluded from the family network.

9. Shakespeare presents the character of Beatrice as offending against society’s expectations about women?

10. A society dependent on and sometimes misled by, the ways in which people perceive one another.

11. Men are deceivers ever.

12. What particularly strikes a modern audience is the extent to which a young women’s conduct is influenced by the presence of a father. What is your response to Shakespeare’s dramatic presentation of Hero and Beatrice?

13. Superficial nature of the society Shakespeare creates in this play.

14. Warmth and equality of Beatrice’s relationship between Beatrice and Benedick, which appeals to the audience today.