Much Ado About Nothing

~ Learning Plan ~ For ~ Much Ado About Nothing ~

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Characters:

Leonato - An elderly noble at whose home, in Messina, Italy, the action is set.

Hero - The beautiful young daughter of Leonato and the cousin of Beatrice. 

Claudio - A young soldier who has won great acclaim fighting under Don Pedro during the recent wars. Claudio falls in love with Hero.

Don Pedro - An important nobleman from Aragon, sometimes referred to as “Prince.” Don Pedro is a longtime friend of Leonato, Hero’s father, and is also close to the soldiers who have been fighting under him—the younger Benedick and the very young Claudio.

Benedick - Soldier who has recently been fighting under Don Pedro, and a friend of Don Pedro and Claudio. Benedick is very witty, always making jokes and puns.
Beatrice - Leonato’s niece and Hero’s cousin.

Don John - The illegitimate brother of Don Pedro.

Margaret - Hero’s serving woman, who unwittingly helps Borachio and Don John deceive Claudio into thinking that Hero is unfaithful. Margaret is lower class.
Borachio - An associate of Don John. Borachio is the lover of Margaret. He conspires with Don John to trick Claudio and Don Pedro into thinking that Hero is unfaithful to Claudio.
Conrad - One of Don John’s more intimate associates, entirely devoted to Don John.

Dogberry - In charge of the Watch.
Verges - The deputy to Dogberry.
Antonio - Leonato’s elderly brother.
Balthasar - A waiting man in Leonato’s household and a musician.
Ursula - One of Hero’s waiting women.

Synopsis

Summery

Outside Sense of the Play

Renaissance antitheatricality and the politics of gender and rank in Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado is filled with playlets, staged shows, actors, and interior dramatists. Don Pedro and Don John both devise pageants designed to deceive specific audiences; most of Messina pretends to be someone else at a masked ball at the outset of the play; Claudio plays the role of mourner before an empty tomb, then the groom to a woman. Consequently, critics have often thematized the play as being "about" truth, illusion, and how to live in a world of deceptive appearances.

One very interesting reading would be to look at how play, acts, and costumes are used in this work. How Shakespeare runs with the actors and plays within Much Ado. Also to look for lessons given as to what the play could teach about living in a world of deceptive appearances, to analyze how what we are told profoundly influences our perceptions and judgments. One could look at the characters and see how their actions and thoughts change based on what they are told--the power of the report.

Much Ado about Nothing by William Shakespeare.Shakespearean Criticism

Perhaps the most notable feature of Much Ado is the near universal tendency of audiences and critics alike to devote more attention to what is formally a subplot--the battle of the sexes staged between the characters of Beatrice and Benedick.
One very interest reading of the play would be to focus on this aspect...find the battle between the sexes and characterize it, follow it, and flesh it out.

Another great view of the play is the foil of the two couples...Beatrice and Benedick with Hero and Claudio.

Another interesting angle would be to see how Shakespeare works with the deep contrast rooted in this play. We have huge accusations, betrayal and sedition, but we also have romance, love, and comedy. How does Shakespeare blend these in way that allow the audience to feel the passion and gravity of betrayal and sedition, but while being entertained and wooed by the comedy and romance.

Video Productions

Much Ado About Nothing, by William Shakespeare, 

Directed by Stuart Burge, performed by Cherie Lunghi, Katherine Levy & Robert Lindsay, (British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), 1984), 147:24 min. 

Much Ado About Nothing 1993 

Director: Kenneth Branagh

Writers: William Shakespeare (play), Kenneth Branagh(screenplay) 

Stars: Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson and Keanu Reeves

Interests and Questions

I think the one thing that has most caught me eye is this idea of a report. We completely change the way we view a situation or thing based on a report that we are given.

What we are told profoundly influences our perceptions and judgments.

This is interesting to me because i found myself preaching this sermon. It's only awkward if you make it awkward . This situation is what you make it. Attitude is altitude. I have told my mom so many times never to tell me something bad about a situation or person because if i don't know i will go into with the power to make it good--and i will. However, by tainting the glass or tinting the lens somehow that power is almost utterly vanquished and it seems forced to fit the report! As if we are so used to prophecy that we think everything that we hear is. It will be awesome to read this play with this in mind.

Another of my interests is in how metaphor, personification, and conceit are used to add power to the language and word. How do they breath life to the play. How do they draw the reader and audience in and create their own universe to live.