Susceptible Lovers: Juliet and Beatrice

Susceptible Lovers: Juliet and Beatrice
The great English poet, Shakespeare, wrote over thirty –six plays, including comedies, tragedies, and histories. Though it may seem strange, it is easy to show the similarities in one of his comedies and tragedies. Romeo and Juliet was a tragedy because it involves suspense and many deaths, including ones of the main characters. Much Ado About Nothing was a comedy because it involves many pun-filled lines and supplied much comic relief to the audience. Juliet from Romeo and Juliet and Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing are equivalent characters though they are from different styles of Shakespeare.
First of all, both Juliet and Beatrice are very prominent characters in their stories. Juliet is a young princess from the Capulet family and Beatrice is the niece of a wealthy governor of Messina, Italy. In their roles they both possess power and are considered to be very noble. They both change dramatically throughout the play as they both mature. Juliet is a young thirteen year old girl who is not interested in the thought of marriage while Beatrice is young adult who is mortified of the thought of marriage and believes that there is no man perfect enough for her to marry.
In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet meets a young man whom which she falls in love with only to realize that he heirs from the enemy family of the Montagues. She is certain that she loves Romeo and will do anything to be with him. Their true love is tested when Romeo is banished from the city of Verona because he had killed her cousin, Tybalt. Juliet fakes her death and when Romeo comes to visit her “corpse” he kills himself. Juliet wakes up from her death only to see her true love dead and so she stabs herself with his dagger. Though they both died, they will be with each other forever.
In Much Ado About Nothing, Beatrice accidentally falls in love with a noblemen, Benedick, that she once hated. In the beginning of the play, Beatrice and Benedick constantly exchange witty remarks towards one another. The friends of Beatrice and Benedick create a plan for them to think that they are madly in love with each other but are afraid to say their true feelings. There plan succeeds when Benedick and Beatrice meet and exchange vows of love. The truth is revealed when the princess, Hero, dies and all the secrets are told. Though it was never true love, Benedick and Beatrice fall in love and happily marry.
In their own stories, both Juliet and Beatrice mature. Juliet acts older than her age and becomes a very strong independent woman who does anything to be with her one true love. Beatrice realizes her foolish thoughts and dramatically changes her personality when she discovers that Benedick loves her. In both of these plays it is revealed that the women of Shakespeare are a very dominant sex and they seem to turn out the most mature. Beatrice and Juliet show similarities because of the outcome of their story.
Next, it is considered that Juliet has more morals than Beatrice. Though Beatrice may have been younger than Juliet, she was most definitely more immature. She constantly relayed witty remarks and believed that no man could meet her standards. Juliet may have disobeyed her parents but she did this for her strong love for Romeo. Juliet also questioned the thought of it being true love while Beatrice gullibly fell in love with Benedick through lies. Though Juliet was more mature, she deserved what she got in the end. She made poor decisions and tested the respect of her father. She blindly fell in love and believed that she was destined to be with Romeo. Because of her questionable motives, Juliet killed herself because she could not love without Romeo. Though Beatrice was not as mature, she would not have taken her own life for any man.
Also, Juliet is a more relatable character than Beatrice. Juliet is a young teenager who believes in true love. She falls for a young boy and believes that she was born to be with him. She devotes her entire life to him, which in the end, is responsible for her death. In modern day, Juliet is like many young teenagers that believe in love. She does not think straight, sometimes losing her common sense, and blindly devotes herself to a young boy. Because of this, Juliet is the more relatable character of the two plays.
To sum it all up, Juliet from Romeo and Juliet and Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing are equivalent characters though they are from different styles of Shakespeare. Juliet is the younger of the two and commits suicide for her true love. Beatrice gullibly falls for a man whom she thought she would never marry. They both mature greatly throughout their story and their personality changes dramatically as well. In these plays, it is easy to see what love can do to a person. Whether in a tragedy or a comedy, anyone can become a susceptible lover.