Character Circumstances

HERO: Character Circumstances and Relationships

The 9 Questions 

1) WHO AM I?

My name is Hero, I am Leonato's daughter, Beatrice's cousin, Antonio's niece and the fianceé of Claudio.  I am eighteen years old and live within Leonato's household, and have done my whole life in Messina,  Sicily.  I have known and lived with Beatrice my whole life and out of everyone in my life, she is the person I trust and value the most. I look up to her a lot and although I am aware of some of her weaker qualities, I have unconditional love for her. 

Myself and Beatrice spent our childhood in Leonato's house, and when my mum died when I was seven of lung disease, we got closer. I wasn't that close to my mother when I was younger since she was often very distant, and had been ill since I was born. She seemed quite unhappy in her relationship with my father and this took quite a toll on me as a young girl, but when she died, the grief of my whole family struck me very hard - it struck my father especially badly. Since Beatrice understood the grief of losing someone and essentially began to live with me, she became my sister rather than my cousin, despite being seven years older than me.

My earliest childhood memories I possess with Beatrice. I often had nightmares when I was little, especially when my mother died, and so I used to go into Beatrice's room and she'd comfort me and I'd fall asleep in her arms.  Myself and Beatrice's favourite place though would be the garden, and I have a vast array of memories of just playing in the garden together. I have enjoyed quite a lot of wealth my whole life, considering my father is the mayor of the town, and as a result we've had servants as long as I can remember. They used to garden and plant as we ran around the orchard. I remember when I was six, Beatrice was chasing me and I tripped over a tree stump. I felt immense pain and I remember vividly that Beatrice was just laughing in my face. She felt so guilty when she realised that the pain was real and I had broken my arm and and to make it up to me, over the next couple of months showered me with homemade presents and even picked out all the flowers in the orchard to give to me. To this, I remember my father got very angry but it did make me feel a lot better.  Myself and Beatrice haven't always got on:  when I was twelve, Beatrice and I seemingly distanced.  I once stole one of her lipsticks, one of her favourites, and she got really angry at me. We got into an argument and didn't speak for a week because both of us were too stubborn to say sorry. We naturally became friends again, as usual, as we were playing at the dinner table incidentally just a week later.  One of the best things Beatrice has ever done for me was lend me her favourite novel. My father often constrains us to the limitations of our house, and although I love his household, sometimes it can become a bit mundane. Beatrice at the time, when she was 22 and I was 15, lent me her favourite novel Wuthering Heights. I remember manicly reading it over five days and giving it back to her after that five day period. I loved it, and ever since then we've both had an avid passion for literature. Beatrice has shown me all her favourite works, including Jane Eyre, another favourite of mine, and she has got me into the habit of spending time in the library. That is when my father isn't relenting me to do mundane tasks in the garden or the kitchen.

Since my mother's death, my father, Leonato, has become more stern and hardened.  I have a difficult relationship with my father. Although I want to please and fulfil him, the principle act in doing this to be through marriage with a noble man, I still feel as though sometimes I am not truly loved by him and that I am just a reminder of his dead wife. He hasn't ever shown that much warmth to me, except a dire need for me to get married. He is overprotective of me as his only daughter, which frustrates me sometimes because I believe Beatrice has more free liberty than me.  I conform to this though because she is older, perhaps wiser and I understand that this is my rightful place within the household. Ever since I was little, my father has always stressed and anticipated the point of me getting married at the earliest possible moment, and I have come to understand that to live in a good life this is what is expected of me.   Beatrice sometimes teases me about what I would do with an 'ideal' husband. I find that she often brings out the fun side in me, so this type of teasing is common. Having said this, I love my father, and I respect him a lot and am constantly seeking to make him proud.  

I've been experiencing home tutoring since I was eight years old. I've always got good grades and done all my reading. My favourite subjects are literature and history. My tutor is quite old and stern, and is a man. He is a lot easier on me than he was on Beatrice - Beatrice was always quite naughty and would always hide rather than going to her tutor sessions. But I loved tutoring and I loved to learn. As I am 18, this is the last year that I will receive it. As well as this, my whole life I have been conditioned to follow the Christian way. I go to church with my father and Beatrice. My father is an avid Christian and I suppose I am too because I believe in God. 

People often assume I am innocent, beautiful and studious. I would say I am good, and play by the rules because I wouldn't want to upset my father.  I'm quiet because my presence often isn't needed, and when my father has meetings with noble men at the house I am not expected to speak or say my opinion.  Besides, most of the time I'm away from the crowd in the garden or reading books in the library. Sometimes Beatrice patronises me - she thinks I'm 'too pure' for this world.  I don't think I am overly innocent but I rather have a sense that everyone is inherently good and I look to see the good in people, but Beatrice sometimes counsels me and says I'm a pushover.  I think I'm quite selfless and would rather see the benefits of other people than myself. 

TEXTUAL CLUES:

What do people say about Hero / what does Hero say about herself?  

FACT / OPINION 

Hero is Leonato's only daughter. 
"I think this is your daughter" -Don Pedro, Page 3
"No child but Hero; she's his only heir" -Don Pedro, Page 7
"Marry on Hero, the daughter and heir of Leonato" -Borachio, Page 9

Hero is obliged to follow her father on who she should or shouldn't marry. This implies she is below her father and doesn't have free liberty, which is accepted by everyone in the play.
"Well, niece, I trust you will be ruled by your father" -Antonio, P10
"Daughter, remember what I told you: if the prince do solicit you in that kind, you know your answer" -Leonato, P11
"It is my cousin's duty to make curtsy and say 'Father, as it please you'" - Beatrice, P10

Claudio plans to marry Hero when Don Pedro sets them up together (this is unbeknown to Hero's knowledge)
"And tell fair Hero I am Claudio, and in her bosom I'll unclasp my heart. Then after to her father will I break, and the conclusion is, she shall be thine" -Don Pedro, P18
"It is so, the count Claudio shall marry the daughter of Leonato" -Don John, P18

Claudio believes that Hero is modest. 
"Is she not a modest young lady?'" -Claudio, Page 5

Hero believes that Don John has a melancholy disposition, quite a nice thing to say in comparison to what everyone else is saying about him.
"He is of a very melancholy disposition" -Hero, p10

Benedick doesn't find Hero attractive.
"Methinks she's too low for a high praise, too brown for a fair praise, and too little for a great praise / she were unhandsome"  -Benedick, Page 5

Claudio believes that Hero is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. 
"Can the world buy such a jewel?"  -P5
"In mine eye, she is the sweetest lady that ever I looked on" -P5

Don Pedro believes that Hero is worthy of Claudio's love.
"Amen, if you love her, for the lady is very well worthy" -Don Pedro, P6
"Fair Hero" -Don Pedro, P7

Claudio looked on Hero before he went to war.
"I look'd upon her with a soldier's eye"
"All prompting how fair young Hero is, saying I liked her ere I went to wars" -P7

Claudio loves Hero.
"That I love her, I feel" -Claudio, P6

Don John believes Hero is lively and young.
"A very forward March-Chick" -Don John, P9

Don John tricks Claudio into believing that Don Pedro has wooed Hero. 
"My brother is amourous on Hero"
"He is enamoured on Hero" -Don John, P13

Hero jokes with Don Pedro at the masked ball, and is open towards being wooed by Don Pedro/Claudio. 
"So you walk softly and look sweetly and say nothing, I am yours for the walk. And especially when I walk away"  -Hero, p11

Claudio feels a sense of ownership over Hero, and commitment towards her.
"Lady, as you are mine, I am yours: I give away myself for you and dote upon the exchange" -Claudio, P16

Hero feels as though she has a duty to unite Beatrice and Benedick and she cares about her cousin's happiness. 
"I will do any modest office, my lord, to help my cousin to a good husband" -Hero, P17
"My talk to thee must be how Benedick is sick in love with Beatrice" -Hero, P24
"And here's another writ in my cousin's hand, stolen from her pocket, containing her affection unto Benedick" -Hero, p55

Hero cleverly plots how to execute Don Pedro's plan, and instructs Ursula and Margaret to help her.
"Bid her steal into the pleached bower, there she will hide her, to listen our purpose.
Our talk must be only be of Benedick. When I do name him, let it be thy part to praise him more than ever man did merit" -p24

Hero criticises Beatrice for being 'too proud'
"Disdain and scorn ride sparkling in her eyes, misprising what they look on, and her wit values itself so highly that to her, all matter else seems weak. She cannot love, nor take no shape, or project of affection. She is so self endeared" -Hero, p25

Hero has a good familiarity of Leonato's garden.
"Bid her steal into the pleached bower" -p24

Don John tricks Claudio and Don Pedro into believing that Hero is unfaithful.
"The lady is disloyal" -Don John, P28

Don John insinuates every man's ownership of Hero, and her low status as a woman to accentuate her unfaithfulness.
"Leonato's Hero; your Hero, every man's Hero" -Don John, p28

Claudio is determined to shame Hero on their wedding day, believing she is unfaithful.
"There will I shame her" -Claudio, p28

Hero can't wait to marry Claudio.
"Why, everyday, tomorrow" -Hero, p26
"My heart is exceeding heavy" -Hero, p32

Hero feels offended by Margaret and is determined to wear what she wants.
"My cousin's a fool, and thou art another. I'll wear none but this." -Hero, p32
"Fie upon thee! Art not ashamed?" -Hero, p32

Hero notices Beatrice is ill.
"Why how now? Do you speak in the sick tune?" -Hero, p32

Claudio shames Hero as an unfaithful 'whore', accusing her of sleeping with Borachio. 
"She's but the sign and semblance of her honour. She knows the heat of a luxurious bed. Her blush is guiltiness, not modesty" -Claudio, p35/p36
"Not to knit my soul with an approved wanton" -Claudio, p36
"You are more intemperate in your blood than Venus, or those pamper'd animals that rage in savage sensuality" -Claudio, p36

Don Pedro also denounces Hero as a whore.
"A common stale" -Don Pedro, p36
"You are no maiden"

Leonato is ashamed of Hero.
"Death is the fairest cover of her shame that may be wish'd for" -Leonato, p37
"Thou seest that all the grace she hath left is that she will not add to her damnation a sin of perjury, she not denies it!" -Leonato, p38

Friar Francis and Beatrice are adamant of Hero's innocence.
"If this sweet lady lie not guiltless here under some biting error" -Friar Francis, p38
"O, on my soul, my cousin is belied" -Beatrice, p38
"Sweet Hero! She is wronged, she is slandered, she is undone" -Beatrice, p41

Benedick also believes Hero is innocent.
"I do believe your fair cousin is wronged" -Benedick, p40
"You have killed a sweet lady, and her death shall fall heavy on you" -Benedick, p46
"You have among you killed a sweet and innocent lady" -Benedick, p47

Hero knows she is innocent.
"They know that do accuse me; I know none" -Hero, p39

Leonato eventually realises Hero is innocent. 
"Thou hast so wrong'd mine innocent child and me" -Leonato, p45

Hero fakes her death following the wedding.
"Your daughter here the princes left for dead, Let her awhile be secretly kept in, and publish it that she is dead indeed" -Friar Francis, p39

Don Pedro feels sorry for Hero's 'death' but believes shaming her was the right thing to do. 
"My heart is sorry for your daughter's death. But, on my honour, she was charged with nothing but what was true and very full of proof" -Don Pedro, p45

Claudio realises of his love for Hero once he realises she's guilty.
"Sweet Hero! Now thy image doth appear in the rare semblance that I loved it first" -Claudio, p48

Hero sees Claudio as her soulmate regardless of what happened.
"And when I lived, I was your other wife. And when you loved, you were my other husband" -Hero, p54

Hero proclaims herself to go ahead as an innocent virgin.
"One Hero died defiled, but I do live, and surely as I live, I am a maid" -Hero, p54

MY RELATIONSHIP WITH CLAUDIO 
(I worked on this back story with Sean) 

A few weeks before the war, Claudio was staying at Leonato's house with Benedick and Don Pedro as a number of ceremonies and meetings were taking place for arrangements. Claudio noticed Hero as they began to bump into eachother, or see eachother around the house countless times. Hero and Claudio were instantly attracted to eachother, but Hero felt subordinate and not worthy of Claudio considering that her status was a lot lower. Nonetheless, Hero found Claudio as a mysterious soldier very attractive. Eventually, they started talking to eachother in the corridor after Claudio iniated conversation and realised who Hero was as Leonato's daughter.  They made links and got on very well, and Claudio asked Hero a lot of questions about herself and flirted with her a lot. Hero was very flattered but saw it as a one time occurance as she was used to a lot of men who visited the house being quite friendly and flirty. Hero complained to Claudio that her father was making her work in the garden the following day to unpick weeds and do gardening, which Claudio found amusing as he enjoyed her wit and complaints. Claudio assured Hero as a joke that if he didn't have military training at that time then he would keep her company, and wished her well.  The next day, when Hero was in the garden, she noticed Claudio lingering around, clearly trying to catch her attention. He'd skived off military training to see her, and she was flattered. They spoke for hours on a bench next to the cherry tree, about everything and anything until Hero had to go back inside for dinner. They joked about seeing eachother in the same place the next night, but it actually occured, and for every night of the remainder of the time Claudio and Hero met in the same place to talk. It was a secret and intimate place. One night, Claudio asked Hero to dance with him in the garden, which cemented her attraction towards him. Their growing intimacy in such a short time led them both to be infatuated with eachother and Hero was very much in denial that Claudio would have to go to war soon, until the night before he left where he promised her he would see her again. Over the next seven months, Hero carried on with her life, but was impatient to see Claudio again, and when she finally did, she was ecstatic with joy. Their relationship from before the war to when Claudio returned was very much built on the foundation of lust, but after Hero's rejection by Claudio and all of the orchestrated ordeals that occur, Hero and Claudio mature and realise that in fact they do love eachother. Hero matures a lot from the situation with Claudio as she realises her place within society and begins to become more self confident. 

2) WHERE AM I?

During most of the play, I am in Leonato's household, in the garden or in the hall. These are settings in which I am overwhelmingly familiar, and so I am mostly comfortable in those surroundings.  My favourite setting is the garden, where I spend a lot of independent time, and that is why I seek to trick Beatrice there, because I have a good understanding of the locations.  Nevertheless, I have an astute awareness of who I am around in these settings, all of which generally have a higher status than me, especially Don Pedro, who I find quite intimidating because of the overwhelming power he has over me.The climate in Sicily is generally quite humid, so I am usually wearing airy clothing of light colours.  The setting I live in is most exciting at the time of the play because the war has just ended and the town is alive with celebration and excitement. 

^Messina in 19th Century

3) WHEN IS IT?

It is spring, set in the modern timeless era before the 1950s.

4) WHAT DO I WANT?

Hero's super objective is stability throughout the play to maintain her social position. Because she's a woman and is more towards the bottom of the social structure, she has to maintain stability through pleasing other people, particularly her father who enforces the social structures through his pressure on her to marry a good husband.

5) WHY DO I WANT IT?

Hero wants stability because she has enjoyed privilege all her life, and because she isn't that respected by the men around her, she asserts that the best way to be happy is to be stable, whether that is marrying someone she hardly knows to please her father or to pretend she is dead. 

6) WHY DO I WANT IT NOW? 

Hero is eighteen and at the age where she is expected to marry to a good husband and move away from the family home. She feels she is mature enough to make this progression.
She has also seen that Beatrice, her elder cousin who has not married yet has subtly offended her father, and has learnt from Beatrice's example of how to please her father.

7) WHAT HAPPENS IF I DON'T GET IT NOW? 

Marriage is viewed by those around Hero as extremely important and vital for the stability as a woman. It is expected of her at eighteen to already be paired with a man. If she doesn't maintain stability through this way she will be shamed upon from society, at risk of social ostracisation particularly as a high status woman with more pressure to fulfil social norms. The main source of this pressure comes from her father, and she feels if she doesn't follow his command then she will be ostracised from the family and sent to a convent, something which happens to a lot of girls in her class and at her age. 

8) HOW WILL I GET WHAT I WANT BY DOING WHAT?

In the long term, I will ensure that I am continually aware of my position within the social strata and never subvert from this. I will obey my father and my uncle, and I will accept the hierarchy that I exist in, meaning I have to pay respect to those higher than me.
I will seek a husband, Claudio, and attempt to please my father constantly.

9) WHAT MUST I OVERCOME? 

Primarily, I have to overcome Beatrice's example. Beatrice is my cousin and my best friend and she somewhat rebels against the social expectations of women our age. She is a lot more witty than I am and brings the fun out of me, but sometimes to an extent where it displeases my father, and makes me easily influenced and as a result, more rebellious under her example.
But more significantly, I have to overcome the harsh intentions of others who have contrasting motivations to me. I seek to see the good in everyone continually but sometimes this means I can be naive and therefore I am wronged by people when I least expect it. I have to overcome this to ensure I can reach my objective of stability.