Shakespeare’s Best and Worst Couples

Without question. We are about to dive into the worst couple in my THE 2000 class (dual enrollment 12th graders). The reminder regarding Beatrice and Benedick has me thinking about following Macbeth with Much Ado. I think they will enjoy the contrast.

Should: Antony and Cleopatra hands down. An intelligent, capable, couple who get great enjoyment from each other, and life generally – until it all comes crashing down. Where the Macbeths crumble in adversity, they soar above. For a more comfortable couple, the Pages. They will make admirable grandparents, Meg Page will help young Nan out when Fenton gets carried away by aristocratic fantasies, as he will.
Shouldn’t:Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.

I’m amazed that people are so down on the Macbeths but don’t even mention Othello and Desdemona!? Doing capital crimes together is definitely wrong, no argument there, but imho killing your wife is worse, at least as a feature of coupledom.

2nd worst: Claudius and Gertrude.

Best: Viola and Orsino!

I. Couples that shouldn’t be together:

Leontes and Hermione in “The Winter’s Tale”: Leontes asks Hermione to help him convince his friend, Polixenes, to extend his visit. When she does so, he accuses her of infidelity, triggering events that change the rest of her life (not the least of which is the death of their son).

Othello and Desdemona: She falls in love with his stories and ends up marrying him. In their relationship, he is the one who talks and she is his audience. He clearly knows little about her and trusts her even less. His lack of trust makes him vulnerable to manipulation, and he ends up killing his innocent wife.

Other couples I don’t care for:
— Iago and Emilia shouldn’t be married.
— Oberon and Titania (“Midsummer Night’s Dream”) are a poor match (Oberon gives me the creeps).
— Hamlet and Ophelia
— Petruchio and Katharina in “The Taming of the Shrew.” The whole concept of women being shrews who need a real man to tame them nauseates me.

II. Matches made in heaven:
I agree with the ones identified in your post (particularly, Beatrice and Benedick; Orsino and Viola; Perdita and Florizel). I would add Miranda and Ferdinand in “The Tempest” although I have some mixed feelings about them (she is so inexperienced; he is the first young man she ever laid eyes on) but overall I like them.

A Winter’s Tale: Definetly Hermione deserves to be away from Leontes ! What a brat !
Romeo and Juliet are the loving couple forever:match-made-in-heaven

I’m wondering why Hamlet and Ophelia aren’t mentioned as worst couple. He mistreats her and kills her father. She kills herself. Very dysfunctional.

The worst couple in Shakespeare are Valentine and Sylvia in “Two Gentlemen of Verona.” Valentine offers to give his girlfriend (Sylvia) after his best friend attempted to rape her.