The characters Beatrice and Benedick belong to the play <em>Much Ado About Nothing</em>, by William Shakespeare.
The plot is full of comical misunderstandings between lovers. Beatrice asks Benedick to kill Caudio after one of such misunderstandings.
Claudio was supposed to marry Beatrice's relative, Hero, but was deceived into believing she had cheated on him. Claudio then humiliates Hero on the altar, leaving her reputation tainted. Beatrice wants her kinswoman to be revenged, that is the reason why she asks her own fiancé Benedick to kill him.
At the same time, however, Hero's father has his own plan to make Claudio regret what he has done going on. In the end, Claudio is not killed, but reunited with Hero. Both couples are then happily married.
