profound, sharp, radical, Much Ado About Nothing.

 

he’s not particularly notable for anything other than his sharp wit, which he uses to happily and insensitively indulge his mean streak.  

Most things are a joke to him, and he cares little for others’ feelings. He particularly likes to be mean when it comes to matters of love, likely because he spends most of the play railing against marriage. His reasons are complex; while Beatrice thinks no man will ever be good enough for her, Benedick seems to be more hung up on not being tied down.

   Beatrice is afraid to be vulnerable, Benedick approaches lovesickness. As he tries to write Beatrice poetry, he realizes he’s just not a conventional lover. It seems the strangeness of the formalities of romance is what makes love alien to him – not any particular fear of love itself. This is perhaps why he’s willing to be so forward in the love affair. For example, when Beatrice calls him in to dinner, he’s sweet, and he’s also the first one of the pair to even confess that he’s actually in love.