Act 3 — Much Ado About Nothing — OCR GCSE English Literature J352
OCR GCSE English Literature · J352
Act 3
The plot, part by part
What you need to know
The gulling of Beatrice, Don John's accusation against Hero, the watch's arrest of Borachio and Conrade, Hero's wedding morning,
and Dogberry's failure to make Leonato listen.
Key quotations: 'Look, where Beatrice, like a lapwing, runs / Close by the ground, to hear our conference', 'Disdain and scorn ride sparkling in her eyes', 'Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps', 'What fire is in mine ears?', 'Contempt, farewell! and maiden pride, adieu!', 'And, Benedick, love on; I will requite thee, / Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand', 'Leonato's Hero, your Hero, every man's Hero', 'If I see any thing to-night why I should not marry her to-morrow in the congregation, where I should wed, there will I shame her', 'what a deformed thief this fashion is', 'the most dangerous piece of lechery that ever was known in the commonwealth', 'God give me joy to wear it! for my heart is exceeding heavy', 'Comparisons are odorous', 'Neighbours, you are tedious'.
Form: the women's verse in the gulling of Beatrice against the men's prose in the gulling of Benedick, and Beatrice's rhymed soliloquy.
Dramatic irony: the watch overhear the truth before the wedding, but Dogberry's rambling keeps it from Leonato.
OCR's question on this play is one essay, from a choice of two, for 40 marks: an extract-based question on the printed extract and the play elsewhere, or a discursive question on a view of the play, using at least two moments. Response (AO1) and language, form and structure (AO2) carry the most weight and equal weight, context (AO3) counts as the play shows it, and 4 marks are for vocabulary, sentence structures, spelling and punctuation (AO4). An extract-based answer that never leaves the extract, or a discursive answer built on one moment, cannot go above Level 3. Each worked paragraph and exam tip is labelled with the question it is for.
