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Play Analysis Of 'Much Ado About Nothing'

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Play Analysis – Essay 1 “Much Ado About Nothing “ Submitted by Noor Ul Ain Shaikh (BSMS 2A) What seems to be a comedy play for an audience who enjoys a theatre with good humor and romance, “Much Ado About Nothing” contains much more than just entertainment. If we dig in deep, William Shakespeare’s play has much more than a tragic story with happy ending; even that is debatable. The theme of this play revolves around deception, plotting against your own, personal gains and rejection. The audience may understand the concept of love and romance flowing within the characters because it was to portrayed that way but the critics would argue the fact that some of the characters like Beatrice and Benedick were made to fall in love with each other through deception. As simple as the characters were, the situations arousing in the play became more complexed as scenes passed by. What led to the trouble and chaos in the play also led to the solution in the end, when Claudio and Don Pedro were deceived into thinking by Don John that Hero was unfaithful. That very same idea also solved the problem in the end when Leonato, Hero’s father, deceived Claudio by making him believe that she is dead and that it is his duty to clear Hero’s name by reading out on her tomb and marrying the said niece who looks just like Hero. Again the plotting against own is present where the said niece turns out to be Hero and she comes back to life again. Shakespeare, no doubt, solves almost
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The play Much Ado About Nothing ends with Act 5 scenes 3 and 4. Scene 3 is one of the shortest scenes in the whole play. In scene 3, Claudio goes to the tomb of Hero where he requested by Leonato to tell everybody that Hero is innocent. He does this by first reading an epitaph aloud. As he reads out the epitaph, he tells everybody to sing solemn hymns.

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The audience knew that Hero was a maid and still pure, but Claudio was gullible enough to believe it.this shows the irony of how the characters didn 't know what the reader or audience knew. Claudio and Don Pedro were both

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Shakespeare, a name common in English literature and a staple in high school English. Amongst his sonnets and tragedies lies comedies, one of those being Much Ado About Nothing. The play is a tale of two pairs of lovers, that of Benedick and Beatrice, as well as Claudio and Hero. Through twists of plots Hero ends up slandered and feigns death, while Claudio is humiliated. While the tale could have easily dropped into a tragedy, Shakespeare turns it around with the fair maiden called Hero and her purity, dedication, and patiences.

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Gossip is the main driver of the various plotlines in Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing. The conflict in the play is shaped entirely around false rumor spread by characters and the hearsay that accompanies it. The characters’ actions are enormously affected by the conversations they overhear and their willingness to believe secondhand information over direct experience. Patricia Meyer Spacks states in her novel Gossip, that rumor in the play “creates its own territory using materials from the world at large to construct a new oral artifact” (Spacks, 1985, Location No. 315).

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Claudio fell in love with Hero right when he laid his eyes upon her. Claudio claims, “In mine eye she is the sweetest lady that I ever looked on (I.i.183-184).” This example shows that Claudio fell in love with her looks, not her personality. Another reason for their unrealistic relationship is Hero fakes her death after being accused of cheating. Shakespeare wrote, “Done to death by slanderous tongues, was the Hero that here lies.

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When considering the portrayal of gender roles is worth taking a look at the minor characters in Nothing Much To Do. Although the male characters are of as much interest as female ones, it is the minor roles that leave much room for creativeness in adaptations, but are often overlooked by criticism. In Much Ado About Nothing, Ursula and Margaret are Hero 's waiting women and make few appearances in the play. They are present in the dance scene (2.1) where they have a more or less comedic function; While Balthazar and Margaret flirt playfully, Ursula dances with Antonio, Leonato 's brother who has been dropped completely in Nothing Much To Do, and addresses the issue of masquerading and pretending, a reoccurring topic in the play; Ursula recognizes Antonio by his mannerisms despite the mask covering his face.

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“Much Ado About Nothing” by Shakespeare takes the reader back to the Elizabethan time period. The play’s comedic tone presents the conflict that is taking place in the city Messina. The performance gives perspective on the characters’ relationships throughout a brief time span. Beatrice and Benedick are major characters whose relationship evolved throughout the play. Through the development of character relationships, the reader can sense the gender roles included in the production.

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During my assessment I will be exploring how Beatrice and Benedick’s relationship develops throughout the play ‘much ado about nothing’. I will also explore how their relationship follows the conventions of a relationship in the Elizabethan era. Also how their relationship subverts conventions due to the common idea of looking at the outside appearance to fall in love, however they fall in love with each other due to their intellect; Claudio and Hero fall in love because of beauty. In the beginning of the play we see through Beatrice’s witty remarks on love of how she subverts normal conventions of marriage: “I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me”.

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Aside from the dominant repetition of those themes throughout the comedy, there is another crucial motif in this play: ‘deception’ as a “two-sided coin”. (Lawson, 2009) Richard Henze outlines in his article, ‘Deception in Much Ado about Nothing’, that, “… deception in Much Ado is of two sorts – one leads to social peace and the other breeds conflict and distrust.” Deception itself is not candidly condemned by the play – but the negatives of this attribute by far exceed the ‘truth of deception’, and effectively portrays that deception, as a whole, is a caustic thing. A clear representation of destructive deception is shown through the characterisation of Don John, “the Bastard”, who believes that “any impediment [to others] would be medicinal” to him.

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Shakespeare’s famous play, Much Ado About Nothing, encompasses a complex web of events that amuses the audience through misconceptions and quick wit. All the characters are involved in schemes that cause their companions to run in circles of confusion and doubt. Even Benedick, the most rational character in the piece, is dragged into multiple schemes and manipulated into undertaking foolish activities. The first scheme, leading him to fall in love with Beatrice, changed his perspective on the value of love and friendship and caused his to redefine his priorities. In the beginning of the play, Benedick, enjoying the life of a bachelor, swore against marriage.

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As one of the famous comedies of Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing sets up at Messina, where brings the romantic atmosphere of Italy to the play. Through contrasting two types of love stories in the play, Shakespeare indirectly criticizes the men society and the confinement of human nature at the Elizabethan times, which can arouse students’ ponderation of unequal treatment and low social status of women. In addition, he indicates the importance of trust and respect in the relationship between people by way of depicting reputation, slander, deception. As one of the four main characters, Hero is submissive and gentle. Her dutiful image effectively represents the typical Elizabethan women, who were absolutely controlled by the family

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1860 Words | 8 Pages

From the start of Much Ado about Nothing, directed by Josie Rourke, starring David Tennant as Benedick and Catherine Tate as Beatrice you notice the modernized aspect of the play. The first scene you have Hero dancing to her Walkman as Beatrice enters. Just by looking at this scene here, you have complete casual dress. You have shorts, t-shirts and flip flops, completely from what Shakespeare’s modern dress was when the play was being written. After that scene you have the introduction of Pedro, Benedick, and Claudio.

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274 Words | 2 Pages

We don't esteem the things and adoration we have until we lose them. After getting the news of Hero’s death, Claudio was torn apart inside in his heart. He was wondering that Hero just sacrifice her life for the sake of their love. The image of sacrifice brought the twist in the drama. Claudio has composed a tribute, watching Hero's innocence and lamenting the defamation that he trusts prompted her death.

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548 Words | 3 Pages

William Shakespeare ‘Much Ado about Nothing’ ‘Much Ado about Nothing’ is among the major comedies that William Shakespeare wrote in the middle of his career. Majority of the text is in prose. This stylistic device enables the playwright to achieve courteous decorum as well as impulsive energies (Shakespeare, 1920). The play has a setting in Messenia that is a port island in Sicily. Main characters include Benedick and Beatrice.

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683 Words | 3 Pages

This past Saturday, October 17, I had the opportunity to watch San Joaquin Delta College’s fall production of Much Ado about Nothing, and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. I really liked the way the set was laid out and used to create visual interest as well as the subtle use of scarfs to create multiple costume changes for each character and also the portrayal of the characters by the actors. Overall I very much enjoyed the show, I have always thought that Much Ado was one of William Shakespeare’s more entertaining plays (a close second to Midsummer Night’s Dream). I thought the characters were very entertaining and enjoyable to watch, the lead actors Yessenia and William did a good job of embodying Beatrice and Benedick and

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