friar's plan to fake Hero's death to prove her innocence. After the wedding, Benedick tells Beatrice that he loves her. After some hesitation, Beatrice reveals that she feels the same way. Benedick tells Beatrice that he will do anything for her and she asks that he "Kill Claudio". Benedick denies her request and she rages at him about the injustices perpetrated against her cousin. Benedick eventually agrees, albeit reluctantly, to kill Claudio. Later, Benedick tells Beatrice he has challenged Claudio to a duel, though she finds this insufficient. Hero is proven innocent and ends up marrying Claudio before Benedick needs to act on his promise. After some pretending, Beatrice and Benedick are compelled to admit to their true feelings when love letters they have written are revealed by Hero and Claudio. With their love revealed, Beatrice and Benedick marry, concluding the play. Analysis Feminist critiques Feminist critics argue that Beatrice's wit and female power only serve to enable and maintain male power. In this interpretation, Beatrice's marriage at the end of the play represents her ultimately losing her power in order to become a wife. These critics see Beatrice and Benedick's marriage at the play's conclusion as representing a curing of social abnormality. On the other-hand, critics such as Barbara Everett and John Crick have described Beatrice as a protofeminist. Cedric Watts noted that during the twentieth century, more and more performances favoured a feminist Beatrice with an increased combativeness. Regardless of whether Beatrice can be considered a contemporary feminist, she certainly disrupted conventional sixteenth-century gender norms. Some argue that Beatrice appropriates phallic language and thereby places herself among male society. Her speech is more typical of male characters of the period. "Kill Claudio" In act 4, scene 1, Beatrice famously asks Benedick to "Kill Claudio". The last portion of act 4, scene 1 is often referred to as the "Kill Claudio" Sequence and has been the subject of much discussion among both actors and scholars. Some critics have argued that Beatrice's "Kill Claudio" line exposes the violence that underpins chivalric ideals. William Babula argues that by demanding that Benedick kill Claudio, Beatrice refuses to be categorized and avoids the simplicity of a label such as "shrew". Some scholars condemn "Kill Claudio" as being overly harsh in light of the fact that Claudio was tricked into defaming Hero. Later in the scene, Beatrice repeats the phrase "that I were a