How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line) Line numbers correspond to the Riverside edition.
Quote #4
CLAUDIO
My liege, your Highness now may do me good.
DON PEDRO
My love is thine to teach. Teach it but how,
And thou shalt see how apt it is to learn
Any hard lesson that may do thee good. (1.1.284-287)
Love in this play is also the love between friends – Don Pedro is loyal to Claudio and cares for him. Although Don Pedro is Claudio’s superior in age and status, he’s willing to do what he can in Claudio’s service.
Quote #5
ANTONIO
[to Hero] Well, niece, I trust you
will be ruled by your father.
BEATRICE
Yes faith. It is my cousin's duty to make
curtsy and say, 'Father, as it please you.' But yet for
all that, cousin, let him be a handsome fellow, or
else make another curtsy, and say, 'Father, as it
please me.' (2.1.50-56)
Familial love is another form of love in the play, and in this instance it’s expressed as duty. Hero’s subservience to her father’s will is not because she’s a girl, but because she’s a daughter. Beatrice—also out of love for her cousin—reminds Hero that there’s some wiggle room in familial obedience.
Quote #6
CLAUDIO
'Tis certain so. The Prince woos for himself.
Friendship is constant in all other things
Save in the office and affairs of love.
Therefore all hearts in love use their own tongues.
Let every eye negotiate for itself
And trust no agent, for beauty is a witch
Against whose charms faith melteth into blood. (2.1.172-178)
Claudio thinks all bets are off when it comes to love; that romantic love can supersede or intrude upon friendship. As a result, he’s convinced that Don Pedro is wooing Hero for himself.