Saturday, November 26, 2016


Is it possible disdain should die while she hath

such meet food to feed it as Signior Benedick?
 
-Beatrice

Much Ado About Nothing           Act I, scene i       Line 112
So the key word in this line appears to be ‘disdain’. What exactly, and I do mean exactly, is disdain. It’s a not uncommon word, but do we really know its specific meaning. It’s a feeling of contempt for someone or something regarded as unworthy or inferior. That’s from merriam-webster.com. So this is a pretty good insult. As long as we’ve got Signior Benedick around, we’ll always have someone that we feel is contemptible. Well it turns out that these two, Beatrice and Signior Benedick have a bit of a running feud going on. They’ve not started some specific argument in this scene, but rather they are continuing something that appears to have been going on between them for some time. And it gives me great wonder as to whether or not there is really any disdain here, or whether they might not actually like each other and are simply using this ongoing spat as a way to continue to be able to interact with each other. I guess we’d have to either finish the play, or at very least read the summary, but I’m betting that they end up together before it’s all over. Any takers?

Okay, I read the last scene of the play. I win.

My friend is treating me with a certain amount of disdain by refusing to be photographed with me. But whether or not it's disdain, dis Spain.

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