Hero
No; rather I will go to Benedick
And counsel him to fight against his passion.
And, truly, I'll devise some honest slanders
To stain my cousin with. One doth not know
How much an ill word may empoison liking.
I’ll make up some bad stories about Beatrice that will upset her for a little bit. Rumours are a powerful way to put people off someone. (Note that this is exactly what Don John does to Hero.)
Ursula
O, do not do your cousin such a wrong!
She cannot be so much without true judgment -
Having so swift and excellent a wit
As she is prized to have - as to refuse
So rare a gentleman as Signor Benedick.
What does this scene reveal about Hero? Does it change anything we know about her relationship with Beatrice?
Hero
He is the only man I ever saw.
Always excepted my dear Claudio.
He is the only man I would consider worth fancying, apart from my Claudio.
Ursula
I pray you, be not angry with me, madam,
Speaking my fancy; Signor Benedick,
For shape, for bearing, argument and valour,
Goes foremost in report throughout the land.
Hero
Indeed, he hath an excellent good name.
Ursula
His excellence did earn it, ere he had it.
When are you married, madam?
Hero
Why, every day, tomorrow. Come, go in;
I'll show thee some attires, and have thy counsel
Which is the best to furnish me tomorrow.
Ursula
(To Hero) She's limed, I warrant you; we have caught her, madam.
‘Limed’ refers to a way of trapping birds.
Hero
(To Ursula) If it proves so, then loving goes by haps;
Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.
‘By haps’ means by chance.
Beatrice
(Coming forward) What fire is in mine ears? Can this be true?
Stand I condemned for pride and scorn so much?
Contempt, farewell! and maiden pride, adieu!
No glory lives behind the back of such.
And, Benedick, love on; I will requite thee,
Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand.
If thou dost love, my kindness shall incite thee
To bind our loves up in a holy band.
For others say thou dost deserve, and I
Believe it better than reportingly.
Beatrice’s soliloquy is the same length and structure as a sonnet. Why do think Shakespeare has her speak in this way?
‘A holy band’ is a wedding ring.