“You must come to your uncle. Yonder's old coil at home.”
Why it's great
Two urgent sentences: come at once, and there is a mess waiting at home.
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Use it yourself
You must come to your parents. There is trouble at home.
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Benedick Proposes to Beatrice, Explained
Much Ado About Nothing · 1993
Chapter 23 of 24 · 2'05"
The messenger's news changes everything: Hero was falsely accused, Don John is the author of it all, and he has fled. Benedick, meanwhile, wastes no time: "I will live in thy heart, die in thy lap and be buried in thy eyes," he tells Beatrice, then asks Leonato for her hand in marriage.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:02–0:39
Good News Reaches Beatrice
37s - 0:42–1:21
Leonato Sets Tomorrow's Wedding
40s - 1:23–2:04
❝ Monologue · 5 lines Benedick Asks for Beatrice's Hand
41s
Benedick Proposes to Beatrice, explained
What happens
A messenger arrives with the truth: Hero was falsely accused, Don Pedro and Claudio were deceived, and Don John, the author of the plot, has fled. Benedick seizes the moment to declare his love for Beatrice. Then Leonato sets up the next day's wedding, arranging for Antonio to give Hero to Claudio, and Benedick asks for Beatrice's hand.
What's really going on
The plot's loose ends get tied in a single rush. The accusations that drove the tragedy are reversed, and the two men who trusted them are cleared of malice even as they're made to grieve. Benedick's speech is the comedy's reward: the man who swore he'd never marry turns his wit into a love speech — "I will live in thy heart, die in thy lap and be buried in thy eyes" — and then, straight-faced, turns around and negotiates the wedding with Leonato. His plea that he saw "an eye of favour" is the same confident Benedick, just aimed at marriage instead of mockery. Even the messenger's line, "Yonder's old coil at home," has it both ways: the household is in chaos and in celebration at once.
Key lines & what they mean
- “You must come to your uncle. Yonder's old coil at home.”
- An urgent summons: come home, because there's a huge commotion there. 'Old coil' is Elizabethan for a noisy fuss — and here the fuss is good news.
- “I will live in thy heart, die in thy lap and be buried in thy eyes, and moreover, I will go with thee to thy uncle's.”
- Benedick's romantic overstatement, capped with a joke: after all that poetry, the practical point is that he'll walk her home.
- “I am glad that all things sort so well.”
- Relief that a tangled mess has ended well. 'Sort' here means to turn out or resolve, not to arrange.
- “You must be father to your brother's daughter, and give her to young Claudio.”
- The friar's instructions for tomorrow's wedding: Antonio, Hero's uncle, must stand in for her father and give her away to Claudio.
- “To bind me or undo me, one of them.”
- Leonato tells the friar it comes down to two outcomes: either the marriage is completed and saves him, or it undoes him. A line about total commitment.
- “Signior Leonato, truth it is, good signior, your niece regards me with an eye of favour.”
- A suitor states his case plainly: your niece looks at me with favour. 'An eye of favour' is a look of preference, i.e. she likes him.
Theme
- Romance — Benedick turns his jokes into a love declaration and asks Leonato for Beatrice's hand, while Hero and Claudio are set to marry.
- Redemption — The false accusation is undone, the deceived men are forgiven, and the play moves to restore what was nearly lost.
What this chapter teaches
Teaching points
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A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
Language points
Click a card to jump to its moment in the videoGolden lines
A great line in its own right — why and how to use it“I will live in thy heart, die in thy lap and be buried in thy eyes, and moreover, I will go with thee to thy uncle's.”
Why it's great
A three-step crescendo of devotion, then a plain offer to walk with her, romantic and comic at once.
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literary
Use it yourself
I will live in your smile and die in your laugh, and then I will walk you home.
“I am glad that all things sort so well.”
Why it's great
A quiet line that settles a whole tangle of trouble in one breath.
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Neutral
Use it yourself
I am glad that all things sort so well after such a week.
“You must be father to your brother's daughter, and give her to young Claudio.”
Why it's great
It frames the wedding as duty and gift: be her father, then give her away.
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Formal
Use it yourself
You must be father to the girl and give her to the young man.
“To bind me or undo me, one of them.”
Why it's great
Marriage framed as an all-or-nothing choice, spoken in nine blunt words.
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Formal
Use it yourself
This job will make me or undo me, one of them.
“Signior Leonato, truth it is, good signior, your niece regards me with an eye of favour.”
Why it's great
A courtly way to announce love: her eyes, he says, look on him with favour.
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Formal
Use it yourself
She regards the new teacher with an eye of favour.
Monologue
One character carrying the scene — shadow the whole passage❝ Benedick's proposal
Signior Leonato, truth it is, good signior, your niece regards me with an eye of favour. The sight whereof you had from me, Claudio and the prince. - What's your will? - Your answer is enigmatical... but my will is your good will may stand with ours this day to be conjoined in the state of honourable marriage, in which, good Friar, I shall desire your help.
He circles the request in courtly turns, and the formality betrays how serious he is.
Up next · 24hands against our heartsThe scene: Benedick and Beatrice Deny Their LoveTakeaways
What you walk away with- Benedick's vow peaks in grand images, then lands on a walk home.
- Leonato's calm line hides how close the plot came to ruin.
- An eye of favour says love without naming it.
- Sort so well treats a happy ending as things falling into place.
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Questions, then the linesHow does everyone learn Hero was innocent?
Borachio's confession is passed on: a messenger reports that Hero was falsely accused, that Don Pedro and Claudio were deceived, and that Don John, the plot's author, has fled.
Why is Leonato suddenly ready for the wedding?
Because the truth has cleared Hero's name, and she was never really dead — the friar's plan worked. Leonato now arranges for Antonio to give the disguised Hero to Claudio the next morning.
What does Benedick ask Leonato for?
Beatrice's hand in marriage. He says her niece "regards me with an eye of favour," and asks that their wills be joined "in the state of honourable marriage," with the friar's help.
Did Benedick and Beatrice really fall in love, or were they tricked?
The play leaves both readings open. They were gulled into noticing each other, but once the truth comes out they choose each other freely, and Benedick's speech here is entirely his own.
What does "old coil" mean?
An Elizabethan phrase for a commotion or fuss. Here it describes the uproar at Leonato's house, which turns out to be the good news arriving all at once.