“Poor fool, it keeps on the windy side of care.”
Por qué es buena
The heart becomes a little fool that stays upwind of trouble, a sailing image for staying cheerful.
Registro
literary
Úsala tú
She keeps on the windy side of care and never complains.
00:00 / 03:22
00:00 / 03:22
Don Pedro Schemes to Match Beatrice, Explained
Much Ado About Nothing · 1993
Capítulo 9 de 24 · 3'22"
The revels are over and the talk turns to marriage. Beatrice jokes that everyone is paired off but her, crying 'Heigh-ho for a husband!', then politely refuses Don Pedro: 'Your grace is too costly to wear every day.' He decides to match her with Benedick anyway.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:02–0:37
Beatrice's Merry Heart
36s - 0:24–1:14
Beatrice Jokes About Wanting a Husband
50s
Don Pedro Schemes to Match Beatrice, explained
What happens
After the masked dance, Don Pedro teases Beatrice about love and offers to find her a husband. She jokes that everyone is married off but herself, then turns the offer down with a compliment about his being too costly to wear daily. The scene ends with Don Pedro planning to match her with Benedick.
What's really going on
The scene is built on a contradiction that everyone but Beatrice seems to find funny. Don Pedro praises her as a woman born in a happy hour — 'you were born in a merry hour' — and she answers with the same wit she uses as a shield: 'No, sure, my lord, my mother cried.' Marriage is the one subject she will not take seriously, and her refusal of the Prince is a masterpiece of politeness, since 'Your grace is too costly to wear every day' says no without ever sounding rude. Yet the men immediately start planning her life for her: Don Pedro wants 'to bring Benedick and Beatrice into a mountain of affection.' The audience is invited to laugh, but the joke is also the plot — Beatrice's freedom is exactly what the others intend to arrange away.
Key lines & what they mean
- “Poor fool, it keeps on the windy side of care.”
- Beatrice's way of saying her heart stays out of trouble: it keeps to the sheltered side, where worry cannot reach it.
- “Thus goes everyone to the world but I, and I am sunburnt.”
- Her joke that everyone else is pairing off while she is left out, comparing herself to someone passed over and left in the sun.
- “I may sit in a corner and cry, "Heigh-ho for a husband!"”
- Her mocking picture of the unmarried woman's complaint, sighed from a corner like a ballad refrain.
- “Your grace is too costly to wear every day.”
- Her graceful refusal of Don Pedro: he is too precious to be worn daily, a compliment that is also a no.
- “which is to bring Benedick and Beatrice into a mountain of affection, the one with the other.”
- Don Pedro's stated aim in the plot: to make the two sworn enemies fall deeply in love with each other.
Theme
- Marriage — Beatrice jokes about husbands and refuses the Prince, while the men calmly plan her marriage to Benedick.
- Identity — Her wit and her refusal define her as the one woman in Messina who will not be paired off.
Qué aprendes en este capítulo
Puntos de enseñanza
Repasa justo después de verMi nivel0/7
A1–C2 es la escala MCER. Las tarjetas por encima del nivel elegido se atenúan y la reproducción no se pausa en ellas.
Puntos de lengua
Toca una tarjeta para saltar a ese momentoFrases de oro
Una gran frase en sí misma: por qué y cómo usarla“Thus goes everyone to the world but I, and I am sunburnt.”
Por qué es buena
She admits being left out and adds one self-mocking detail, which makes the loneliness funny rather than sad.
Registro
literary
Úsala tú
Everyone here is married but me, and I am sunburnt too.
“I may sit in a corner and cry, "Heigh-ho for a husband!"”
Por qué es buena
A wistful sigh turned into a little song: the corner, the cry and the old phrase make loneliness charming.
Registro
literary
Úsala tú
Every wedding makes me cry heigh-ho for a husband.
“Your grace is too costly to wear every day.”
Por qué es buena
She refuses a proposal by saying he is too fine to wear daily: a face-saving joke that says no.
Registro
literary
Úsala tú
This watch is too costly to wear on a building site.
“which is to bring Benedick and Beatrice into a mountain of affection, the one with the other.”
Por qué es buena
The matchmaking is framed as a labour, capped by the absurdly grand phrase a mountain of affection.
Registro
literary
Úsala tú
Their friends tried to bring them into a mountain of affection.
Siguiente · 10make an oyster of someoneLa escena: Benedick Mocks Men in LoveIdeas clave
Lo que te llevas- The windy side of care is a sailing image for staying cheerful.
- Getting puns between obtaining and begetting.
- Refusing to wear someone daily is a neat way to say no.
- The prince turns matchmaking into a laboured project.
Preguntas frecuentes
La pregunta, luego la fraseWhy does Beatrice refuse Don Pedro?
She keeps marriage at a distance throughout, and answers his offer with a joke about his being too costly to wear daily. It is a polite refusal, not an insult.
What does 'Heigh-ho for a husband' mean?
It is the sigh of an unmarried woman, half joke and half complaint. Beatrice uses it to mock her own situation while everyone around her pairs off.
What does Don Pedro plan for Beatrice?
He plans to match her with Benedick, hoping to turn their constant quarrelling into love, and asks the others to help him do it.
Do the others think Beatrice and Benedick suit each other?
Yes. Leonato calls her an excellent wife for Benedick and jokes that a week of marriage would have them talking each other mad.
Who agrees to help Don Pedro?
Several of the company say they are for him, and Hero offers to do any modest office to help her cousin find a good husband.