Question

Though Hero is supposed to be the heroine of the play, she is a passive character.
Discuss.

Answer 1

The beautiful young daughter of Leonato and the cousin of Beatrice, Hero is lovely, gentle, and kind. She falls in love with Claudio when he falls for her, but when Don John slanders her and Claudio rashly takes revenge, she suffers terribly. Hero is an entirely passive character, who is acted upon by other characters and events in the play, instead of herself acting and influencing the course of action. In Act I, although she is the lady of the house, she speaks only once to explain her father that 'Signior Montanto' is Beatrice's reference of Benedick. At her next appearance, she quietly accepts the order of her father to accept middle-aged Don Pedro, if he proposes marriage to her, and equally passively accepts Claudio when she is transferred to him by the Prince and her father.
Hero is the short-statured daughter of Leonato. She is a lady of considerable physical charms, Claudio finds her sweet and fair, and Don Pedro thinks her worthy of Claudio. Claudio considers her to be, the sweetest lady he had ever looked on, and Don Pedro. who is a seasoned man of the world also regards her worthy of his love, and promises to arrange his marriage with her. She speaks very little in the play. For most of the time she is silent, but her silence speaks and fills the entire atmosphere as if with sweet fragrance. She is indeed, one of Shakespeare's minor triumphs - in spite of her silence, she is a living breath reality.
Her wit and intelligence are seen in the 'garden-scene' where, along with Ursula, she plays the role of the love-god; and practices deception on her cousin. It is with pleasant shock that we realise that we owe to her the oft-quoted line, "Pride and scorn ride sparkling in her eyes". The scene shows that she is certainly not a fool; she knows exactly what will influence and move her cousin. The scene also brings out her delicate sense of humour; she enjoys playing her pan in the game.
Meek and Submissive Hem is a girl, meek, submissive and resigned to her fate. Hers is to do or die and not to reason why. In the moment of her greatest misfortune - when so shamefully and brutally slandered in the Church - she can speak very little in her defence. "Hath no man's dagger here a point for me ?" she asks and swoons. The same passivity, the same willingness to accept her lot without any complaint or resistance, is seen in the last, reconciliation scene, when she readily accepts Claudio and agrees to marry him. This, "passive acceptance of a cad" has exposed her to adverse criticism, but it is in character with the rest of her life.
A Young Innocent : This aspect of her character is fully brought out in the scene just before the wedding, when she chooses the dress and ornaments, she would be wearing as a bride. She appears here as the young innocent girl apt to shy away from the physical realities of marriage. Such a "young innocent", lacking in experience and self-confidence, would naturally be dependent on the more experienced, and willing to accept the course of conduct laid out by others.
Moreover, it should also be remembered that her "rebirth" has a symbolic significance : "The apparently 'Miraculous' re-birth of Hero" is a potent symbol for a new and ideal concord now fruitfully established; a concord within which her death through mistrust could not again occur. It is in this way that the dramatist suggests the continuity of life, despite all accidents and circumstances. We are thus assured that her death through mistrust would never occur again. Mistrust and negation are thus rejected, and their place is taken by trust and acceptance.
Further, it should also be remembered, that Hero suffers because of contrast with her more vivacious and sprightly cousin. She overshadows Hero and dazzled by the brilliance of Beatrice, we fail to appreciate her sweetness and charm. Hero and Beatrice are poles apart. Hero is a girl with no will or discrimination of her own. She will leave everything to be dictated to her by her father. In fact, Hero has never learnt to act on her own. Her passivity may be a source of unhappiness to herself as well as to others, but the greater evil is the possibility of its being exploited, it may be, with tragical consequences to herself. Yet there is something attractive in her very meekness and easy surrender of her affection (at the dictation of her father). Hero's individuality remains undeveloped. Beatrice, on the other hand, is endowed with individual will and personality. She is a distinct character. She covers her sensitiveness under a mask of self-assertion. The fundamental difference is that Beatrice is self-assertive and conscious of all that is due to her, whereas Hem is passive, non-resisting and oblivious of any claim of human personality. Her wit and intelligence give her a distinction above other women. She can hold her own in any encounter with a member of the opposite sex; she can cove with any critical situation.