A summary of Much Ado about Nothing Much Ado about Nothing is a comedy play written by the famous author, William Shakespeare. The play is set in Messina about 1500 A.D. In the start of the play, Don Pedro of Aragon and his noblemen visit their good friend Leonato in Messina after having crushed an riot led by Don John, the prince’s half-brother. With him is the misogynistic and witty Bendick, the former flame of Leonato’s sharped-tonged and fierce niece Beatrice. The former couple are both very stubborn and proud.…
The most prevalent theme out of all that are presented in the play/movie Much Ado About Nothing is deception. One of the main characters in the film that was skilled at deceiving was Don John which is Don Pedro’s brother who is the prince. Claudio which was a friend of of Don Pedro also used deception with the help of Don Pedro in the film. There were more examples but these characters showed the largest impact on the other characters in the film and also influenced the plot.…
In modern society, humans have come to judge each other off of superficial characteristics. These superficial characteristics are often a result of facticity, or characteristics people are unable to change about themselves, or at least not easily, as they are born with these qualities. Some of the most common elements that are used to form an opinion about people and serve as a basis for how to interact with them are their gender and socioeconomic status. The idea of identity, such as being a middle class male, shaping the status of a person in society is not only prevalent in reality, but also in literature, films, and theatre. Shakespeare, in his play Much Ado About Nothing, highlights the way both gender identity and socioeconomic identity shape the way people act and the way others interact with them.…
Has someone in your life ever found a way to deceive you? In some cases deception can be beneficial for others; however, in other cases deception could be a way of someone trying to ruin your life. In the play, “Much Ado About Nothing,” playwright William Shakespeare gives us five examples of deception that contribute to the play’s theme: love will always have moments that are deceitful and treacherous. Throughout the plot of the play, Shakespeare has characters find ways to scheme one another with the purpose of creating new love or causing trouble in relationships. The first example of deception is shown when Don Pedro, Leonato, and Claudio speak about how Beatrice is “madly in love” with Benedick.…
Benedick maintains the belief that ‘he will live a bachelor’, although as the play proceeds, his feelings become clear and that he is ‘horribly in love’ with Beatrice. Beatrice and Benedick deceive each other again at the masquerade ball. While Beatrice pretends to not know that she is dancing with Benedick, she begins to insult him by calling him the “prince’s jester” and that “none but libertines delight in him”, all the while Benedick believes that he is deceiving Beatrice into thinking that he is someone else. There is another example of deceit at the masquerade ball involving Don John ‘the Bastard’.…
Don John resents his brother, and this causes him to commit evil deeds out of spite. He is known as the ‘bastard brother’, while Don Pedro is widely respected as a leader and voice of reason in Messina. On top of this, Don Pedro has just defeated him in battle, with Claudio by his side. When Don John hears that Claudio…
It’s All Fun and Games Until Someone Gets Hurt (A discussion on the similarities and differences in Shakespeare’s King Lear and Much Ado About Nothing) When renting movies nowadays, the movies are often organized according to their genres. There are thrillers, comedies, rom coms, action/adventure, horror, etc. The list goes on for ages. Before there were movies, there were plays. Shakespeare is the most famous playwright in history.…
Throughout the play, Don John is very candid about his yearning to ruin Claudio. In fact, while talking to Borachio about his plan to ruin Claudio’s marriage, Don John bluntly asserts, “If I can cross him any way, I bless myself every way” (I.iii.65-66). Shakespeare makes Don John’s intentions transparent in order to emphasize the pure wickedness of Don John’s desires to ruin Claudio’s life– he will go to any measure to achieve his goals, regardless of the consequences. Don John also neglects the possible effects on other people's reputations through his acts of deception. He assures Claudio that Hero is unfaithful, “I came hither to tell you;... she has been too long a-talking of, the lady is disloyal” (III.ii.95-97).…
Shakespeare entitled his play Much Ado About Nothing because of how the play was based on misunderstandings that are not really important. The play was based on misconceptions because of how Benedict and Beatrice believe that they both loved each other. Because they both spied on their friends, they were tricked by them and they fell in love with each other in the end. This was not an important aspect of the play because it did not have a conflict or problem. Another wrong idea that happened in the play was when Claudio thought Hero was cheating on him so he publicly denounced her at their wedding.…
Benedick and Claudio It is easy to say that Shakespeare was an accomplished poet, having written at least 35 plays (Shakespeare FAQ). In his many plays, love was a very common theme, especially conflict within love. Needless to say, in Shakespeare’s play, Much Ado about Nothing, love is the main theme and conflict.…
In literature, Shakespeare is known for many of his notorious comedies such as The Comedy of Error, As You Like It, The Merchant of Venice, and much more. Much Ado About Nothing is supposedly a comedy: Beatrice and Benedick trade insults for professions of love, and Claudio and Hero fall in love, out of love, and back in love again. But the play contains many darker, more tragic elements than a typical comedy. The play, Much Ado About Nothing is tragic because of when Benedick challenged Claudio, Hero’s death and when Borrachio was sent to jail. The themes of the play are love, deceit, and reputation.…
Nothing Much To Do begins with Beatrice moving from Wellington to Auckland to live with her cousins Hero and Leo while her parents work in Australia. Hero and Leo's parents, a lesbian couple, are on a belated six month honeymoon, so the teenagers and Leo have the house to themselves. This is already a big difference to Shakespeare's text: Hero and Beatrice are not in Leo's custody, although he likes to play the protective older brother. Beatrice is an emancipated girl who is able to make choices about her own life.…
In Shakespeare’s play Much Ado about Nothing, each character was developed perfectly in order to fully present the plot at hand. As an author, Shakespeare carefully planned the usage and characteristics of each character in his play. He used language, comedy, and the personal attributes of each character to really develop them in his writing. After continuing to read more of Shakespeare I see that he not only did this for Much Ado About Nothing, but he makes sure he develops his characters carefully, but also perfectly for the plot at hand. In Much Abo About Nothing, there were many characters that I feel Shakespeare carefully took his time developing.…
One of the concepts Shakespeare explores in Much Ado About Nothing is that of the different natures of relationships. Throughout the play, Shakespeare sets up two distinct pairs of lovers, both exemplifying a different model of relationship. Shakespeare contrasts two ideals of relationships, one of which being a relationship of immediacy based on necessity and a need to fulfill social norms, and the other being a relationship that is based on genuine feelings of love that are cultivated slowly and thoughtfully over time. The conversation between Anthony, Leonato, Beatrice, and Hero in Act Two Scene One, regarding how Hero should respond to her impending proposal, contributes to this exploration of differing types of love by juxtaposing the nature of relationship that Anthony, Leonato, and Hero subscribe to with the differing ideal of relationship that Beatrice favors.…
One of the many reasons behind Shakespeare’s success was his awareness of the human condition and his ability to accurately portray it in his works. His capacity to depict the ever-changing relationships and dynamics between people is what made the plays so appealing to audiences then and now. In his play, Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare demonstrates the power relations between men and women in the time period. The main storyline of the play gives the reader insight into how women had limits on what they could and could not do. During the exchange of words between Benedick and Beatrice in Act 4, Scene 1, it is apparent that men had more freedom to carry out plans than women did in this time.…