nufactured completely through
deception on the behalf of their friends, although most likely based on a previous attempt at
love. In Act II, Scene 3 Benedick is deceived into thinking that Beatrice loves him because of
the speech in the garden between Leonato, Claudio, and Don Pedro. Beatrice is sent to fetch
Benedick for dinner, and Benedick notes "some marks of love in her [Beatrice]," (240-241) and
he decides to take pity upon her and return her love. In Act III, Scene 1 Beatrice is deceived as
she overhears Hero and Ursula talk of Benedick's affection for her. Beatrice then decides to
allow herself to be tamed by Benedick's "loving hand," and return his love. Beatrice and
Benedick are made to fall in love through the deception of those around them, and ironically
find happiness more readily than Claudio and Hero.
The idea of ""noting"" is also continued throughout the play, and is particularly
exemplified by the changing relationship between Beatrice and Benedick. They play games with
each other''s wit, which in the end amounts to nothing because they fall in love. At one point,
Benedick surreptitiously notes, "I do spy some marks of love in her [Beatrice]," while Claudio
also observes Margaret speaking with Balthasar, but mistakenly notes that Margaret is Hero, and
Don John purposely mistakes the masked Claudio for Benidick. These three examples of noting
continue the play''s theme of false observations. In addition, there is a strong theme of music
and dance running through the play. Balthasar introduces the first piece of singing to the
performance: " Be you blithe and bonny, Converting all your sounds of woe Into hey, nonny,
nonny." (74-76) The characters all dance several times throughout the play; in the late 16th
Century, organized dancing such as that portrayed here was perceived to be a sign of
sophi...