Note to Much Ado About Nothing, 5.1.179: "God saw him when he was / hid in the garden."


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Much Ado About Nothing,
Act 5, Scene 1, lines 179.
God saw him when he was hid in the garden: —This is a joking reference to both the Bible and a previous scene in the play. In Act 3, Scene 1 Benedick thought he was hidden in the garden when he overheard Claudio, Don Pedro and Leonato talk about how Beatrice loved him. In the Bible (Genesis 3), Adam and Eve, having eaten the forbidden fruit, realize that they are naked and try to hide from God. The point of Claudio's joke is that Benedick wasn't hidden any more than Adam and Eve were hidden.