Hiding in Plain Sight: The Physical Trap of Benedick

Much Ado About Nothing is a timeless comedic literary piece from the venerable author William Shakespeare. In this blog, we will analyze Act II, Scene III where Don Pedro, Claudio, and Leonato trick Benedick into believing that Beatrice has fallen desperately in love with him. This scene shall be compared between the 2019 play we watched in class, the original text, and mainly, the 1993 film by Kenneth Branagh.

Benedick's expressions provide crucial emotion to the audience, which is a key feature discussed in this blog

The Doctrine of Hiding

The clearest difference between the 1993 film and Shakespeare's original text is that Benedick is not given significant stage direction when he hides. In fact, in the original text Benedick merely exclaims "I will hide me in the arbor" followed by "he hides" (Shakespeare 2.3.35-36). This somewhat awkward and lackluster stage direction can leave the reader to significant interpretation as to how Benedick exactly hides. In comparison to the original text, the 1993 film adaptation shows a clear and concise physical display of how Benedick hides, better helping interpretation of this scene's intended tone. 

The open air stage of Shakespeare in the Park adaptation

This is also true to the 2019 stage adaptation, Shakespeare in the Park. In this production the stage is very open air in the sense the lighting is mostly consistent, and this play has a unique aspect of audience interaction. Because of this stage's setup, Benedick's hiding is almost comedically obvious, even to Don Pedro, Claudio, and Leonato, who remain oblivious to his position. 

In contrast, the 1993 theatrical adaptation opts to make Benedick look more desperate and unwieldy. Upon hearing Don Pedro, Claudio, and Leonato coming, he clumsily messes with a collapsible chair, resulting in him falling flat on his back, covered in dirt, and then scampering around to hide behind the tall Tuscan hedges that surrounded the garden. 

Benedick fumbles with the chair

This gives immense comedic effect by showing Benedick as awkward, desperate, and perhaps even unhinged by his panicked response. In effect, his actions are an outward display of his internal panic.

Benedick falls in panic from the chair

Body Language and Facial Expressions

As one would expect from a play compared to a film, the film offers much greater physical expression of the character's faces and body language as they react to the environment and other characters around them. In the original text, readers are only able to interpret body language from short stage directions, such as "Is't possible? Sits the wind in that corner?" (Shakespeare 2.3.105). It is left to the readers to interpret and determine Benedick's facial expressions and body language as he listens to the false claims of Beatrice.

The 2019 adaptation is in stark contrast, as the actor playing Benedick displays wide eyes, sudden freezes, etc. to display his shock hearing this about Beatrice. Similarly, Don Pedro, Claudio, and Leonato all maintain a smooth and confident posture while delivering their lines with exaggerated tone and taking short glances at the poorly concealed Benedick. All of these physical displays of body language and facial expressions clearly display two things: Benedick is hiding and shocked, and the three men are in absolute control over the stage in this scene. 

The actor's facial expressions convey a sense of suprise and shock

In Branagh's 1993 film, the camera acts as a sort of force multiplier. Because the camera is not an actual participant/character in a play, it allows for closeup shots on specific characters and exploring less specific non-verbal details that are still important, such as mud, sweat, dirt, etc. These non-verbal details are virtually never described in the original play, and are extremely difficult to notice in a modern stage production. With film, however, these silent but vital details can be captured. 

The Soliloquy

After Don Pedro, Leonato, and Claudio exit the stage/garden Benedick emerges and goes on a prolonged monologue (a soliloquy), which is an excellent point of humor when he says: "This can be no trick. The conference was sadly borne" (Shakespeare 2.3.223-224). The great irony of this statement is that he is saying what he overheard cannot possibly be a trick out loud to himself, when in fact it is a trick. However, in the 1993 adaptation the actor delivers the line with a sense of shock, and his voice pitches upwards, displaying a very clear sense of shock and confusion. In contrast, the original text gives no supporting non-dialogue lines to help indicate how these lines were meant to be delivered. In his voice the audience immediately understands that Benedick believes he has shifted from a position of one-sided romantic feelings to one of mutual romantic feelings. 

Similarly, later in this soliloquy Benedick declares: "When I said I would die a bachelor, I did not think I should live till I were married. Here comes Beatrice" (Shakespeare 2.3.245-246). In the text, that is all the details that are provided. In the film, however, the music stops as he starts to speak, creating a moment of interrupted realization. He then promptly delivers the "here comes Beatrice" portion, complete with a surprised and nervous squeal. This provides exponentially more emotion than the text.

It is also worth mentioning that the actor takes pauses, and sometimes draws certain words our or says them faster. None of those details are present in the origianl text.

The actor's expressions convey a sense of elation 

Conclusion

Because readers of the original text are limited to only what is provided on the page, Shakespeare's text leaves vast freedom of interpretation, and misinterpretation, of the characters' line deliveries, costumes, body language, facial expressions, tone/pitch in their voices, non-verbal details such as sweat and mud, and non-verbal humorous elements. In the 1993 adaptation, viewers witness a humor-filled intimate adventure that ranges from panic to romantic devotion. Especially when compared to the 2019 stage play, both tell the same story, but bring it to life through unique ways.