Much Ado About Nothing

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The title page from the first quarto edition of Much Adoe About

Nothing, printed in 1600

Written by William Shakespeare

Date premiered 1600

Gielgud as Benedick in a 1959 production

Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have

been written in 1598 and 1599.[1] The play was included in the First Folio, published
in 1623.
The play is set in Messina and centers around two romantic pairings that emerge
when a group of soldiers arrive in the town. The first, between Claudio and Hero, is
nearly altered by the accusations of the villain, Don John. The second romance,
between Claudio's friend Benedick and Hero's cousin Beatrice, takes center stage as
the play goes on, with both characters' wit and banter providing much of the humor.
Through "noting" (sounding like "nothing", and meaning gossip, rumour,
overhearing),[2][3] Benedick and Beatrice are tricked into confessing their love for each
other, and Claudio is tricked into believing that Hero is not a maiden (virgin). The
title's play on words references the secrets and trickery that form the backbone of the
play's comedy, intrigue, and action.

Contents

 1Characters
 2Synopsis
 3Sources
 4Date and text
 5Analysis and criticism
o 5.1Style
o 5.2Setting
o 5.3Themes and motifs
 5.3.1Gender roles
 5.3.2Infidelity
 5.3.3Deception
 5.3.4Masks and mistaken identity
 5.3.5Nothing
 6Performance history
o 6.1Actors, theatres and awards
 7Adaptations
 o 7.1Music
o 7.2Film
o 7.3Television and web series
o 7.4Literature
 8See also
 9References
 10External links

Characters[edit]
 Benedick, a lord and soldier from Padua; companion of Don Pedro
 Beatrice, niece of Leonato
 Don Pedro, Prince of Aragon
 Don John, "the Bastard Prince", brother of Don Pedro
 Claudio, of Florence; a count, companion of Don Pedro, friend to
Benedick
 Leonato, governor of Messina; Hero's father
 Antonio, brother of Leonato
 Balthasar, attendant on Don Pedro, a singer
 Borachio, follower of Don John
 Conrade, follower of Don John
 Innogen, a 'ghost character' in early editions as Leonato's wife
 Hero, daughter of Leonato
 Margaret, waiting-gentlewoman attendant on Hero
 Ursula, waiting-gentlewoman attendant on Hero
 Dogberry, the constable in charge of Messina's night watch
 Verges, the Headborough, Dogberry's partner
 Friar Francis, a priest
 a Sexton, the judge of the trial of Borachio
 a Boy, serving Benedick
 The Watch, watchmen of Messina
 Attendants and Messengers

Synopsis[edit]
A painting of Beatrice by Frank Dicksee, from The Graphic Gallery of Shakespeare's Heroines

In Messina, a messenger brings news that Don Pedro will return that night from a
successful battle, along with Claudio and Benedick. Beatrice asks the messenger
about Benedick, and mocks Benedick's ineptitude as a soldier. Leonato explains that
"There is a kind of merry war betwixt Signor Benedick and her." [4]
On the soldiers' arrival, Leonato invites Don Pedro to stay for a month, and Benedick
and Beatrice resume their "merry war". Pedro's illegitimate brother, Don John, is also
introduced. Claudio's feelings for Hero are rekindled, and he informs Benedick of his
intention to court her. Benedick, who openly despises marriage, tries to dissuade
him. Don Pedro encourages the marriage. Benedick swears that he will never marry.
Don Pedro laughs at him, and tells him that he will when he has found the right
person.
A masquerade ball is planned. Therein a disguised Don Pedro woos Hero on
Claudio's behalf. Don John uses this situation to sow chaos by telling Claudio that
Don Pedro is wooing Hero for himself. Claudio rails against the entrapments of
beauty. But the misunderstanding is later resolved, and Claudio is promised Hero's
hand in marriage.
Meanwhile, Benedick and Beatrice have danced together, trading disparaging
remarks under cover of their masks. Benedick is stung at hearing himself described
as "the prince's jester, a very dull fool",[citation needed] and yearns to be spared the company
of "Lady Tongue".[citation needed] Don Pedro and his men, bored at the prospect of waiting a
week for the wedding, concoct a plan to match-make between Benedick and
Beatrice. They arrange for Benedick to overhear a conversation in which they
declare that Beatrice is madly in love with him but too afraid to tell him. Hero and
Ursula likewise ensure that Beatrice overhears a conversation in which they
themselves discuss Benedick's undying love for her. Both Benedick and Beatrice are
delighted to think that they are the object of unrequited love, and both resolve to
mend their faults and declare their love.
Meanwhile, Don John plots to stop the wedding and embarrass his brother and
wreak misery on Leonato and Claudio. He tells Don Pedro and Claudio that Hero is
"disloyal",[citation needed] and arranges for them to see his associate, Borachio, enter her
bedchamber and engage amorously with her (it is actually Hero's chambermaid).
Claudio and Don Pedro are duped, and Claudio vows to publicly humiliate Hero.

Swooning of Hero in the Church scene by Alfred Elmore

The next day, at the wedding, Claudio denounces Hero before the stunned guests,
and he storms off with Don Pedro. Hero faints. A humiliated Leonato expresses his
wish for her to die. The presiding friar intervenes, believing Hero innocent. He
suggests that the family fake Hero's death to inspire Claudio with remorse. Prompted
by the day's stressful events, Benedick and Beatrice confess their love for each
other. Beatrice then asks Benedick to kill Claudio as proof of his devotion. Benedick
hesitates but is swayed. Leonato and Antonio blame Claudio for Hero's supposed
death and threaten him, to little effect. Benedick arrives and challenges him to a
duel.
"Much Ado About Nothing", Act IV, Scene 2, the Examination of Conrade and Borachio (from the Boydell
series), Robert Smirke (n.d.)

On the night of Don John's treachery, the local Watch overheard Borachio and
Conrade discussing their "treason"[citation needed] and "most dangerous piece of lechery that
ever was known in the commonwealth",[citation needed] and arrested them therefore. Despite
their ineptness (headed by constable Dogberry), they obtain a confession and inform
Leonato of Hero's innocence. Don John has fled, but a force is sent to capture him.
Claudio, remorseful and thinking Hero dead, agrees to her father's demand that he
marry Antonio's daughter, "almost the copy of my child that's dead". [4]
After Claudio swears to marry this other bride, this bride is revealed to be Hero.
Claudio is overjoyed. Beatrice and Benedick publicly confess their love for each
other. Don Pedro taunts "Benedick the married man", [citation needed] and Benedick counters
that he finds the Prince sad, advising him: "Get thee a wife". [citation needed] As the play
draws to a close, a messenger arrives with news of Don John's capture, but
Benedick proposes to postpone deciding Don John's punishment until tomorrow, so
the couples can enjoy their newfound happiness. The couples dance and celebrate
as the play ends.
Hero, John William Wright (c.1849)

Sources[edit]
In the sixteenth century, stories of lovers deceived into believing each other false
were common currency in northern Italy. [citation needed] Shakespeare's immediate source
may have been one of the Novelle ("Tales") by Matteo Bandello of Mantua (possibly
the translation into French by François de Belleforest),[5] which dealt with the
tribulations of Sir Timbreo and his betrothed Fenicia Lionata, in Messina, after King
Piero's defeat of Charles of Anjou.[citation needed] Another version, featuring lovers Ariodante
and Ginevra, with the servant Dalinda impersonating Ginevra on the balcony,
appears in Book V of Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto (published in an English
translation in 1591).[6] The character of Benedick has a counterpart in a commentary
on marriage in Orlando Furioso.[7] But the witty wooing of Beatrice and Benedick is
apparently original, and very unusual in style and syncopation. [5] One version of the
Claudio–Hero plot is told by Edmund Spenser in The Faerie Queene (Book II, Canto
iv).[8]

Date and text[edit]

The earliest printed text states that Much Ado About Nothing was "sundry times
publicly acted" prior to 1600. It is likely that the play made its debut in the autumn or
winter of 1598–1599.[1] The earliest recorded performances are two at Court in the
winter of 1612–1613, during festivities preceding the marriage of
Princess Elizabeth with Frederick V, Elector Palatine (14 February 1613).[citation needed] The
play was published in quarto in 1600 by the stationers Andrew Wise and William
Aspley.[citation needed] This was the only edition prior to the First Folio in 1623.[citation needed]

Analysis and criticism[edit]

Style[edit]
The play is predominantly written in prose.[9] The substantial verse sections achieve a
sense of decorum.[10]
Setting[edit]
Much Ado About Nothing is set in Messina, a port on the island of Sicily, when Sicily
is ruled by Aragon.[11] The action of the play takes place mainly at the home and
grounds of Leonato's Estate.
Themes and motifs[edit]
Gender roles[edit]

Drawing of Herbert Beerbohm Tree as Benedick and Winifred Emery as Beatrice in a 1905 production. Act
II, Scene v: "Kill Claudio".

Benedick and Beatrice quickly became the main interest of the play. They are
considered the leading roles even though their relationship is given equal or lesser
weight in the script than Claudio and Hero's situation. [citation needed] Charles II wrote
'Benedick and Beatrice' beside the title of the play in his copy of the Second Folio.
[12]
 The provocative treatment of gender is central and should be considered in
its Renaissance context.[citation needed] This was reflected and emphasized in certain [clarification
needed]
 plays of the period, but was also challenged. [clarification needed][13] Amussen[14] notes that the
undoing of traditional gender clichés seems to have inflamed anxieties about the
erosion of social order. It seems that comic drama could be a means of calming such
anxieties.[citation needed] Ironically, the play's popularity suggests that this only increased
interest in such behavior.[clarification needed][citation needed] Benedick wittily gives voice to male
anxieties about women's "sharp tongues and proneness to sexual lightness". [13] In the
patriarchal society of the play, the men's loyalties were governed by conventional
codes of honour, camaraderie, and a sense of superiority over women.
[13]
 Assumptions that women are by nature prone to inconstancy are shown in the
repeated jokes about cuckoldry, and partly explain Claudio's readiness to believe the
slander against Hero.[citation needed] This stereotype is turned on its head in Balthazar's song
"Sigh No More", which presents men as the deceitful and inconstant sex that women
must suffer.[citation needed]
Infidelity[edit]
Several characters seem to be obsessed with the idea that a man has no way to
know if his wife is faithful and that women can take full advantage of this. [citation needed] Don
John plays upon Claudio's pride and his fear of cuckoldry, which leads to the
disastrous first wedding. Many of the males easily believe that Hero is impure, and
even her father readily condemns her with very little proof. This motif runs through
the play, often referring to horns (a symbol of cuckoldry).
In contrast, Balthasar's song "Sigh No More" tells women to accept men's infidelity
and continue to live joyfully. Some interpretations say that Balthasar sings poorly,
undercutting the message.[citation needed] This is supported by Benedick's cynical comments
about the song where he compares it to a howling dog. In the 1993 Branagh film,
Balthasar sings it beautifully: it is given a prominent role in the opening and finale,
and the message seems to be embraced by the women. [15]
Deception[edit]

Beatrice, Hero and Ursula, John Jones, after Henry Fuseli (c. 1771)

There are many examples of deception and self-deception in the play. The games
and tricks played on people often have the best intentions: to make people fall in
love, or to help someone get what they want, or to lead someone to realize their
mistake. But not all are well-meant: Don John convinces Claudio that Don Pedro
wants Hero for himself, and Borachio meets 'Hero' (who is actually Margaret) in
Hero's bedroom window. These modes of deceit play into a complementary theme of
emotional manipulation, the ease with which the characters' sentiments are
redirected and their propensities exploited as a means to an end. [citation needed] The
characters' feelings for each other are played as vehicles to reach an ultimate goal of
engagement rather than seen as an end in themselves. [citation needed]
Masks and mistaken identity[edit]
Characters are constantly pretending to be others or are otherwise mistaken for
others. Margaret is mistaken for Hero, leading to Hero's disgrace. During a masked
ball (in which everyone must wear a mask), Beatrice rants about Benedick to a
masked man who is actually Benedick, but she acts unaware of this. During the
same celebration, Don Pedro pretends to be Claudio and courts Hero for him. After
Hero is proclaimed dead, Leonato orders Claudio to marry his "niece" who is actually
Hero.
Nothing[edit]
A watercolor by John Sutcliffe: Beatrice overhears Hero and Ursula.

Another motif is the play on the words nothing and noting. These were near-

homophones in Shakespeare's day.[16] Taken literally, the title implies that a great
fuss ("much ado") is made of something which is insignificant ("nothing"), such as the
unfounded claims of Hero's infidelity, and that Benedick and Beatrice are in love with
each other. Nothing is also a double entendre: "an O-thing" (or "n othing" or "no
thing") was Elizabethan slang for "vagina", derived from women having "nothing"
between their legs.[5][17][18] The title could also be understood as Much Ado About
Noting: much of the action centers around interest in others and critique of others,
written messages, spying, and eavesdropping. This attention is mentioned directly
several times, particularly concerning "seeming", "fashion", and outward
impressions.
Examples of noting as noticing occur in the following instances: (1.1.131–132)
Claudio: Benedick, didst thou note the daughter of Signor Leonato?
Benedick: I noted her not, but I looked on her.
and (4.1.154–157).
Friar: Hear me a little,
For I have only been silent so long
And given way unto this course of fortune
By noting of the lady.
At (3.3.102–104), Borachio indicates that a man's clothing doesn't indicate his
character:
Borachio: Thou knowest that the fashion of a doublet, or a hat, or a cloak is nothing
to a man.
A triple play on words in which noting signifies noticing, musical notes, and nothing,
occurs at (2.3.47–52):
Don Pedro: Nay pray thee, come;
Or if thou wilt hold longer argument,
Do it in notes.
Balthasar: Note this before my notes:
There's not a note of mine that's worth the noting.
Don Pedro: Why, these are very crotchets that he speaks –
Note notes, forsooth, and nothing!
Don Pedro's last line can be understood to mean: "Pay attention to your music and
nothing else!" The complex layers of meaning include a pun on "crotchets," which
can mean both "quarter notes" (in music), and whimsical notions.
The following are puns on notes as messages: (2.1.174–176),
Claudio: I pray you leave me.
Benedick: Ho, now you strike like the blind man – 'twas the boy that stole your meat,
and you'll beat the post.
in which Benedick plays on the word post as a pole and as mail delivery in a joke
reminiscent of Shakespeare's earlier advice "Don't shoot the messenger"; and
(2.3.138–142)
Claudio: Now you talk of a sheet of paper, I remember a pretty jest your daughter
told us of.
Leonato: O, when she had writ it and was reading it over, she found Benedick and
Beatrice between the sheet?
in which Leonato makes a sexual innuendo, concerning sheet as a sheet of paper
(on which Beatrice's love note to Benedick is to have been written), and a bedsheet.