Comedy play by William Shakespeare
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 revolves around two romantic pairings that emerge when a group of soldiers arrive in the town. The first, between Claudio and Hero, is nearly scuppered by the accusations of the villain, Don John. The second, between Claudio's friend Benedick and Hero's cousin Beatrice, takes centre stage as the play continues, with both characters' wit and banter providing much of the humour.
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.
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
]
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, "There is a kind of merry war betwixt Signor Benedick and her."
[4]
On the soldiers' arrival, Don Pedro tells Leonato that they will stay a month at least, 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 he will when he finds 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 the cover of their masks. Benedick is stung at hearing himself described as "the prince's jester, a very dull fool",
[5]
and yearns to be spared the company of "Lady Tongue".
[5]
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 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, embarrass his brother, and wreak misery on Leonato and Claudio. He tells Don Pedro and Claudio that Hero is "disloyal",
[5]
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 humiliate Hero publicly.
The next day, at the wedding, Claudio denounces Hero before the stunned guests and 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 fill Claudio with remorse. Prompted by the 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.
On the night of Don John's treachery, the local Watch overheard Borachio and Conrade discussing their "treason"
[5]
and "most dangerous piece of lechery that ever was known in the commonwealth",
[5]
and arrested them therefore. Despite their ineptitude (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. Remorseful and thinking Hero dead, Claudio 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, she 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",
[5]
and Benedick counters that he finds the Prince sad, advising him: "Get thee a wife".
[5]
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 that the couples can enjoy their newfound happiness. The couples dance and celebrate as the play ends.
Sources
[
edit
]
Shakespeare's immediate source may have been one of
Matteo Bandello
of
Mantua
's
Novelle
("Tales"), possibly the translation into French by
Francois de Belleforest
,
[6]
which dealt with the tribulations of Sir Timbreo and his betrothed Fenicia Lionata, in Messina, after
Peter III of Aragon
's defeat of
Charles of Anjou
.
[7]
[8]
Another version, featuring lovers Ariodante and Ginevra, with the servant Dalinda impersonating Ginevra on the balcony, appears in Book V
Ludovico Ariosto
's
Orlando Furioso
(published in an English translation in 1591).
[9]
The character of Benedick has a counterpart in a commentary on marriage in
Orlando Furioso
.
[10]
But the witty wooing of Beatrice and Benedick is apparently original and very unusual in style and syncopation.
[6]
Edmund Spenser
tells one version of the Claudio?Hero plot in
The Faerie Queene
(Book II, Canto iv).
[11]
Date and text
[
edit
]
According to the earliest printed text,
Much Ado About Nothing
was "sundry times publicly acted" before 1600. The play likely debuted in the autumn or winter of 1598?99.
[1]
The earliest recorded performances are two at Court in the winter of 1612?13, during festivities preceding the
Wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Frederick V of the Palatinate
(14 February 1613).
[12]
In 1600, the stationers
Andrew Wise
and
William Aspley
published the play in
quarto
.
[13]
This was the only edition prior to the
First Folio
in 1623.
[14]
Analysis and criticism
[
edit
]
Style
[
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]
The play is predominantly written in prose.
[15]
The substantial verse sections achieve a sense of decorum.
[16]
Setting
[
edit
]
Much Ado About Nothing
is set in
Messina
, a port city on the island of
Sicily
, when Sicily is
ruled by Aragon
.
[17]
Its action takes place mainly at the home and grounds of Leonato's Estate.
Themes and motifs
[
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]
Gender roles
[
edit
]
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's and Hero's situation.
[18]
Charles I
wrote, 'Benedick and Beatrice' beside the title of the play in his copy of the
Second Folio
.
[19]
The provocative treatment of gender is central and should be considered in its
Renaissance
context.
[20]
This was reflected and emphasized in certain plays of the period but was also challenged.
[21]
Amussen
[22]
notes that the undoing of traditional gender cliches 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".
[21]
In the play's patriarchal society, the men's loyalties are governed by conventional codes of honour, camaraderie, and a sense of superiority over women.
[21]
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 Balthasar's song "Sigh No More", which presents men as the deceitful and inconstant sex that women must abide.
[
citation needed
]
Infidelity
[
edit
]
Several characters seem obsessed with the idea that a man cannot know whether his wife is faithful and that women can take full advantage of this.
[
citation needed
]
Don John plays upon Claudio's pride and fear of cuckoldry, leading to the disastrous first wedding. Many of the men readily believe that Hero is impure; even her father condemns her with very little evidence. 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, comparing it to a howling dog. In
Kenneth Branagh
's
1993 film
, Balthasar sings it beautifully: it is given a prominent role in the opening and finale, and the women seem to embrace its message.
[23]
Deception
[
edit
]
The play has many examples of deception and self-deception. The games and tricks played on people often have the best intentions: to make people fall in love, 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' (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 the goal of engagement rather than as an end in themselves.
[
citation needed
]
Masks and mistaken identity
[
edit
]
Characters are constantly pretending to be others or 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
]
Another motif is the play on the words
nothing
and
noting
. These were near-
homophones
in Shakespeare's day.
[24]
Taken literally, the title implies that a great fuss ('much ado') is made of something 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.
[6]
[25]
[26]
The title can also be understood as
Much Ado About Noting
: much of the action centres on interest in others and critique of others, written messages, spying, and eavesdropping. This attention is mentioned several times directly, 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 reveal 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.
William Davenant
staged
The Law Against Lovers
(1662), which inserted Beatrice and Benedick into an adaptation of
Measure for Measure
.
[27]
Another adaptation,
The Universal Passion
, combined
Much Ado
with a play by
Moliere
(1737).
[27]
John Rich
had revived Shakespeare's text at
Lincoln's Inn Fields
(1721).
[27]
David Garrick
first played Benedick in 1748 and continued to play him until 1776.
[28]
In 1836,
Helena Faucit
played Beatrice at the very beginning of her career at
Covent Garden
, opposite
Charles Kemble
as Benedick in his farewell performances.
[29]
The great 19th-century stage team
Henry Irving
and
Ellen Terry
counted Benedick and Beatrice as their greatest triumph.
[
citation needed
]
John Gielgud
made Benedick one of his signature roles between 1931 and 1959, playing opposite
Diana Wynyard
,
Peggy Ashcroft
, and
Margaret Leighton
.
[27]
The longest-running Broadway production is
A. J. Antoon
's 1972 staging, starring
Sam Waterston
,
Kathleen Widdoes
, and
Barnard Hughes
.
[
citation needed
]
Derek Jacobi
won a
Tony Award
for playing Benedick in 1984.
[30]
Jacobi had also played Benedick in the
Royal Shakespeare Company
's highly praised 1982 production, with
Sinead Cusack
playing Beatrice.
[27]
Director
Terry Hands
produced the play on a stage-length mirror against an unchanging backdrop of painted trees.
[
citation needed
]
In 2013,
Vanessa Redgrave
and
James Earl Jones
(then in their seventies and eighties, respectively) played Beatrice and Benedick onstage at
The Old Vic
, London.
[27]
Actors, theatres, and awards
[
edit
]
- c.
1598
: In the original production by the
Lord Chamberlain's Men
,
William Kempe
played Dogberry and
Richard Cowley
played Verges.
[
citation needed
]
- 1613:
Wedding festivities of Princess Elizabeth and Frederick V of the Palatinate
.
[27]
- 1748:
David Garrick
played Benedick for the first time.
[27]
- 1836:
Helena Faucit
and
Charles Kemble
as Beatrice and Benedick,
Covent Garden
.
[29]
- 1882:
Henry Irving
and
Ellen Terry
played Benedick and Beatrice at the
Lyceum Theatre
.
[31]
- 1931:
John Gielgud
played Benedick for the first time at the
Old Vic
Theatre, and it stayed in his repertory until 1959.
[27]
- 1960: A
Tony Award Nomination for "Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play"
went to
Margaret Leighton
for her role played in
Much Ado
.
[
citation needed
]
- 1965: A
National Theatre
production directed by
Franco Zeffirelli
with
Maggie Smith
,
Robert Stephens
,
Ian McKellen
,
Lynn Redgrave
,
Albert Finney
,
Michael York
and
Derek Jacobi
among others
- 1965: A
Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word or Drama Recording
nomination went to a recording of a
National Theatre
production with
Maggie Smith
and
Robert Stephens
- 1973: A
Tony Award Nomination for "Best Featured Actor in a Play"
went to
Barnard Hughes
as Dogberry in the
New York Shakespeare Festival
production.
[
citation needed
]
- 1973: A Tony Award Nomination for "Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play" went to
Kathleen Widdoes
.
[
citation needed
]
- 1980:
Sinead Cusack
and
Derek Jacobi
in a Royal Shakespeare Company production directed by
Terry Hands
.
[27]
- 1983: The
Evening Standard Award
for the "Best Actor" went to
Derek Jacobi
.
[
citation needed
]
- 1985: A Tony Award Nomination for "Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play" was received by
Sinead Cusack
.
[
citation needed
]
- 1985: The
Tony Award for "Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play"
went to
Derek Jacobi
as Benedick.
[
citation needed
]
- 1987: Tandy Cronyn as Beatrice and
Richard Monette
as Benedick in a production at the
Stratford Festival
directed by Peter Moss
[32]
- 1989: The Evening Standard Award for "Best Actress" went to
Felicity Kendal
as Beatrice in
Elijah Moshinsky
's production at the
Strand Theatre
.
[
citation needed
]
- 1994: The
Laurence Olivier Award
for "Best Actor" went to
Mark Rylance
as Benedick in
Matthew Warchus
' production at the
Queen's Theatre
.
[
citation needed
]
- 2006: The Laurence Olivier Award for "Best Actress" was received by
Tamsin Greig
as Beatrice in the
Royal Shakespeare Company
's production in the
Royal Shakespeare Theatre
, directed by Marianne Elliott.
[
citation needed
]
- 2007:
Zoe Wanamaker
appeared as Beatrice and
Simon Russell Beale
as Benedick in a
National Theatre
production directed by
Nicholas Hytner
.
[33]
- 2011:
Eve Best
appeared as Beatrice and
Charles Edwards
as Benedick at
Shakespeare's Globe
, directed by
Jeremy Herrin
.
[34]
- 2011:
David Tennant
as Benedick alongside
Catherine Tate
as Beatrice in a production of the play at the
Wyndham's Theatre
, directed by
Josie Rourke
.
[35]
An authorized recording of this production is available to download and watch from
Digital Theatre
.
- 2012:
Meera Syal
as Beatrice and
Paul Bhattacharjee
as Benedick in an Indian setting, directed by
Iqbal Khan
for the
Royal Shakespeare Company
, part of the
World Shakespeare Festival
.
[27]
- 2013:
Vanessa Redgrave
as Beatrice and
James Earl Jones
as Benedick in a production at
The Old Vic
directed by
Mark Rylance
.
[27]
- 2013: A German-language production (
Viel Larm um Nichts
), translated and directed by
Marius von Mayenburg
at the
Schaubuhne am Lehniner Platz
, Berlin.
[27]
- 2017: Beatriz Romilly as Beatrice and
Matthew Needham
as Benedick in a Mexican setting, at
Shakespeare's Globe
, directed by Matthew Dunster.
- 2018:
Mel Giedroyc
as Beatrice and
John Hopkins
as Benedick in a modern Sicilian setting, at the
Rose Theatre, Kingston
, directed by Simon Dormandy.
[36]
- 2019:
Danielle Brooks
as Beatrice and
Grantham Coleman
as Benedick with an all-Black cast set in contemporary Georgia, at
The Public Theater
, directed by
Kenny Leon
. This version was broadcast on PBS
Great Performances
on 22 November 2019.
[37]
- 2022:
Jennifer Paredes
as Hero and Gerrard James as Claudio at
Denver Center for the Performing Arts
.
[38]
- 2023: Maev Beaty as Beatrice and
Graham Abbey
as Benedick in a production at the
Stratford Festival
directed by
Chris Abraham
.
[39]
Adaptations
[
edit
]
Music
[
edit
]
The operas
Montano et Stephanie
(1799) by
Jean-Elie Bedeno Dejaure
and
Henri-Montan Berton
,
Beatrice et Benedict
(1862) by
Hector Berlioz
,
Beaucoup de bruit pour rien
(pub. 1898) by
Paul Puget
,
Viel Larm um Nichts
(1896) by
Arpad Doppler
, and
Much Ado About Nothing
by Sir
Charles Villiers Stanford
(1901) are based upon the play.
[40]
The composer
Edward MacDowell
said he was inspired by
Ellen Terry
's portrayal of Beatrice in this play for the
scherzo
of his
Piano Concerto No. 2
.
[41]
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
composed music for a 1917 production at the Vienna Burgtheater by
Max Reinhardt
.
[
citation needed
]
In 2006 the
American Music Theatre Project
produced
The Boys Are Coming Home
,
[42]
a musical adaptation by Berni Stapleton and
Leslie Arden
that sets
Much Ado About Nothing
in America during the Second World War.
The title track of the 2009
Mumford & Sons
album
Sigh No More
uses quotes from this play in the song. The title of the album is also a quotation from the play.
[
citation needed
]
In 2015,
Billie Joe Armstrong
wrote the music for a
rock opera
adaptation of the play,
These Paper Bullets
, which was written by
Rolin Jones
.
[43]
Opera McGill
commissioned an operatic adaptation of the play with music by James Garner and libretto adapted by Patrick Hansen, to premiere in
Montreal
in the 2023/24 season.
[44]
[45]
Film
[
edit
]
The first cinematic version in English may have been the 1913
silent film
directed by
Phillips Smalley
.
[
citation needed
]
Martin Hellberg
's 1964 East German film
Viel Larm um nichts
was based on the play.
[
citation needed
]
In 1973 a
Soviet film adaptation
was directed by
Samson Samsonov
, starring
Galina Jovovich
and
Konstantin Raikin
.
[
citation needed
]
The first sound version in English released to cinemas was the highly acclaimed
1993 film
by
Kenneth Branagh
.
[46]
It starred Branagh as Benedick, Branagh's then-wife
Emma Thompson
as Beatrice,
Denzel Washington
as Don Pedro,
Keanu Reeves
as Don John,
Richard Briers
as Leonato,
Michael Keaton
as Dogberry,
Robert Sean Leonard
as Claudio,
Imelda Staunton
as Margaret, and
Kate Beckinsale
in her film debut as Hero.
The 2001
Hindi
film
Dil Chahta Hai
is a loose adaptation of the play.
[47]
In 2011,
Joss Whedon
completed filming
an adaptation
,
[48]
released in June 2013. The cast includes
Amy Acker
as Beatrice,
Alexis Denisof
as Benedick,
Nathan Fillion
as Dogberry,
Clark Gregg
as Leonato,
Reed Diamond
as Don Pedro,
Fran Kranz
as Claudio,
Jillian Morgese
as Hero,
Sean Maher
as Don John,
Spencer Treat Clark
as Borachio,
Riki Lindhome
as Conrade,
Ashley Johnson
as Margaret,
Tom Lenk
as Verges, and
Romy Rosemont
as the sexton. Whedon's adaptation is a contemporary revision with an Italian-mafia theme.
In 2012 a filmed version of the live 2011 performance at The Globe was released to cinemas and on DVD.
[
citation needed
]
The same year, a filmed version of the 2011 performance at Wyndham's Theatre was made available for download or streaming on the Digital Theatre website.
[
citation needed
]
In 2015, Owen Drake created a modern movie version of the play,
Messina High
, starring Faye Reagan.
[49]
The 2023 romantic comedy
Anyone But You
directed by
Will Gluck
and co-written by Ilana Wolpert,
[50]
[51]
and starring
Sydney Sweeney
and
Glen Powell
as analogues of Beatrice and Benedick, is a loose adaptation principally set in contemporary Australia.
Television and web series
[
edit
]
There have been several screen adaptations of
Much Ado About Nothing,
almost all of them made for television.
[
citation needed
]
An adaptation is the 1973 New York Shakespeare Festival production by
Joseph Papp
, shot on videotape and released on VHS and DVD, that includes more of the text than Branagh's version.
[
citation needed
]
It is directed by A. J. Antoon. The
Papp production
stars
Sam Waterston
, Kathleen Widdoes, and Barnard Hughes.
The
1984 BBC Television version
stars
Lee Montague
as Leonato,
Cherie Lunghi
as Beatrice,
Katharine Levy
as Hero,
Jon Finch
as Don Pedro,
Robert Lindsay
as Benedick,
Robert Reynolds
as Claudio, Gordon Whiting as Antonio and
Vernon Dobtcheff
as Don John.
[
citation needed
]
An earlier BBC television version with
Maggie Smith
and
Robert Stephens
, adapted from
Franco Zeffirelli
's stage production for the
National Theatre Company
's London stage production, was broadcast in February 1967.
[52]
In 2005, the
BBC
adapted the story by setting it in the modern-day studios of Wessex Tonight, a fictional regional news programme, as part of the
ShakespeaRe-Told
season, with
Damian Lewis
,
Sarah Parish
, and
Billie Piper
.
[53]
The 2014
YouTube
web series
Nothing Much to Do
is a modern retelling of the play, set in
New Zealand
.
[54]
In 2019, PBS recorded a live production of the
Public Theater
's 2019
Shakespeare in the Park
production at the
Delacorte Theater
in New York City’s Central Park for
Great Performances
. The all-Black cast features
Danielle Brooks
and
Grantham Coleman
as Beatrice and Benedick, directed by
Kenny Leon
, with choreography by
Camille A. Brown
.
[55]
The cast also includes Jamar Brathwaite (Ensemble),
Chuck Cooper
(Leonato), Javen K. Crosby (Ensemble), Denzel DeAngelo Fields (Ensemble), Jeremie Harris (Claudio), Tayler Harris (Ensemble), Erik Laray Harvey (Antonio/Verges), Kai Heath (Messenger), Daniel Croix Henderson (Balthasar), Tyrone Mitchell Henderson (Friar Francis/Sexton), Tiffany Denise Hobbs (Ursula), Lateefah Holder (Dogberry), LaWanda Hopkins (Dancer), Billy Eugene Jones (Don Pedro), Margaret Odette (Hero), Hubert Point-Du Jour (Don John), William Roberson (Ensemble), Jaime Lincoln Smith (Borachio), Jazmine Stewart (Ensemble), Khiry Walker (Conrade/Ensemble), Olivia Washington (Margaret) and Latra A. Wilson (Dancer).
Literature
[
edit
]
In 2016,
Lily Anderson
released the young adult novel
The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You
, a modern adaptation of
Much Ado About Nothing
whose main characters, Trixie Watson and Ben West, attend a "school for geniuses".
[56]
In 2017, Mckelle George released a
YA
adaptation,
Speak Easy, Speak Love
, in which the play's events take place in the 1920s, focused around a failing speakeasy.
[57]
In 2018, Molly Booth released a summer
YA
novel adaptation,
Nothing Happened
, in which Claudio and Hero are a queer couple, Claudia and Hana.
[58]
In 2019, Laura Wood released
Under a Dancing Star
, a
YA
modernized version set in
Florence
.
[59]
In 2022, Chloe Liese released
Two Wrongs Make a Right
, a contemporary romance reimagining of the tale.
[60]
Citations
[
edit
]
In his text on
Jonathan Swift
from 1940,
Johannes V. Jensen
cited Don John's line
I am trusted with a muzzle and enfranchised with a clog; therefore I have decreed not to sing in my cage. If I had my mouth, I would bite; if I had my liberty, I would do my liking: in the meantime let me be that I am and seek not to alter me.
Jensen later explained that this was a reference to the censorship imposed after the
German invasion of Denmark
in 1940.
[61]
See also
[
edit
]
- Margaret (moon)
, a moon of Uranus, named after the character from
Much Ado About Nothing
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
See textual notes to
Much Ado About Nothing
in
The Norton Shakespeare
(
W. W. Norton & Company
, 1997
ISBN
0-393-97087-6
) p. 1387
- ^
McEachern, Claire, ed. (2016). "Introduction".
Much Ado About Nothing
.
The Arden Shakespeare
, Third Series (2nd revised ed.).
Bloomsbury Publishing
. p. 2.
ISBN
978-1-903436-83-7
.
- ^
Zitner, Sheldon P., ed. (2008).
Much Ado About Nothing
.
Oxford World's Classics
. Oxford:
Oxford University Press
. pp. 131?132.
ISBN
978-0-19-953611-5
.
- ^
a
b
"Much Ado About Nothing: Act 1, Scene 1"
.
shakespeare-navigators.com
. Retrieved
6 August
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
"Much Ado About Nothing: Entire Play"
.
shakespeare.mit.edu
. Retrieved
31 July
2021
.
- ^
a
b
c
Rasmussen, Eric;
Bate, Jonathan
(2007). "Much Ado About Nothing".
The RSC Shakespeare: the complete works
. New York: Macmillan. p. 257.
ISBN
978-0-230-00350-7
.
- ^
Gordon, D. J. (1942).
"
"Much Ado about Nothing": A Possible Source for the Hero-Claudio Plot"
.
Studies in Philology
.
39
(2): 279?290.
ISSN
0039-3738
.
JSTOR
4172572
– via JSTOR.
- ^
Gaw, Allison (1935).
"Is Shakespeare's Much Ado a Revised Earlier Play?"
.
PMLA
.
50
(3): 715?738.
doi
:
10.2307/458213
.
ISSN
0030-8129
.
JSTOR
458213
.
S2CID
163471928
– via JSTOR.
- ^
Evans, G. Blakemore
(1997). "Much Ado about Nothing".
The Riverside Shakespeare
. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. p. 361.
ISBN
0-395-85822-4
.
- ^
Dusinberre, Juliet (1998). "Much Ado About Lying". In Marrapodi, Michele (ed.).
The Italian world of English Renaissance drama: cultural exchange and intertextuality
. Newark: University of Delaware Press. p. 244.
ISBN
0-87413-638-5
.
- ^
Harrison, GB, ed. (1968).
"Much Ado About Nothing introduction"
.
Shakespeare: the Complete Works
. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc. p.
697
.
ISBN
0-15-580530-4
.
- ^
David M. Bergeron,
The Duke of Lennox, 1574?1624: A Jacobean Courtier's Life
(Edinburgh, 2022), pp. 108?9.
- ^
"Much Ado About Nothing, first edition"
.
Shakespeare Documented
. Retrieved
25 February
2023
.
- ^
Goff, Moira.
"Much Ado About Nothing ? Shakespeare in quarto"
.
www.bl.uk
. Retrieved
25 February
2023
.
- ^
"Much Ado About Nothing: Entire Play"
. Shakespeare.mit.edu
. Retrieved
12 November
2012
.
- ^
A. R. Humphreys, ed. (1981).
Much Ado About Nothing
. Arden Edition.
- ^
Bate, Jonathan
(2008).
Soul of the Age: the Life, Mind and World of William Shakespeare
. London: Viking. p. 305.
ISBN
978-0-670-91482-1
.
- ^
"British Library"
.
www.bl.uk
. Retrieved
25 February
2023
.
- ^
G. Blakemore Evans,
The Riverside Shakespeare
, Houghton Mifflin, 1974; p. 327.
- ^
"The Spectre of Marriage: Gender Discomfort in Much Ado About Nothing"
.
- ^
a
b
c
McEachern,
Much Ado About Nothing
, Arden; 3rd edition, 2005.
- ^
Amussen,
Ordered Society
, Columbia University Press (15 April 1994).
- ^
Deleyto, Celestino (1997). "Men in Leather: Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado about Nothing and Romantic Comedy".
Cinema Journal
.
36
(3). University of Texas Press: 91?105.
doi
:
10.2307/1225677
.
JSTOR
1225677
.
- ^
See Stephen Greenblatt's introduction to
Much Ado about Nothing
in
The Norton Shakespeare
(
W. W. Norton & Company
, 1997
ISBN
0-393-97087-6
), p. 1383.
- ^
See Gordon Williams
A Glossary of Shakespeare's Sexual Language
(Athlone Press, 1997
ISBN
0-485-12130-1
) at p. 219: "As Shakespeare's title ironically acknowledges, vagina and virginity are a nothing causing Much Ado."
- ^
Dexter, Gary (13 February 2011).
"Title Deed: How the Book Got its Name"
.
The Daily Telegraph
. London.
Archived
from the original on 11 January 2022.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
Kathryn Prince, "Performance History", in
Much Ado About Nothing: A Critical Reader
, edited by Deborah Cartmell and Peter J. Smith (Bloomsbury, 2018).
- ^
F. E. Halliday
,
A Shakespeare Companion 1564?1964.
Baltimore, Penguin, 1964, pp. 326 f.
- ^
a
b
Gertrude Carr-Davison, "Beatrice and Hero",
The Theatre
(1 December 1881), p. 331.
- ^
Genzlinger, Neil (10 February 2020).
"Terry Hands, Director Known for Hits and 'Carrie,' Dies at 79"
.
New York Times
. Retrieved
24 July
2022
.
- ^
"Much Ado About Nothing",
The Theatre
(1 November 1882), p. 294.
- ^
Somerset, Alan (3 January 2019).
"Much Ado About Nothing (1987, Stratford Festival of Canada)"
.
Internet Shakespeare Editions
. University of Victoria
. Retrieved
18 January
2020
.
- ^
"Theatre review: Much Ado About Nothing / Olivier, London"
.
The Guardian
. 19 December 2007
. Retrieved
26 January
2023
.
- ^
Spencer, Charles (30 May 2011).
"Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare's Globe, review"
.
The Daily Telegraph
. London.
Archived
from the original on 11 January 2022.
- ^
Cavendish, Dominic (10 May 2011).
"David Tennant and Catherine Tate interview for 'Much Ado About Nothing'
"
.
The Daily Telegraph
. London.
Archived
from the original on 11 January 2022
. Retrieved
28 May
2011
.
- ^
"Much Ado About Nothing review ? Mel Giedroyc blazes through Great Sicilian Bake Off"
.
The Guardian
. 19 April 2018
. Retrieved
26 January
2023
.
- ^
Mackenzie Nichols (11 June 2019).
"Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing' Gets a 21st Century Makeover"
.
Variety
.
- ^
Thomas, Dillon (14 September 2022).
"
'Much Ado About Nothing' gets a modern take at DCPA"
.
KCNC-TV
. Retrieved
20 April
2023
.
- ^
Nestruk, J. Kelly (17 June 2023).
"Stratford Festival: Much Ado About Nothing is really something else with a little Shields added to the Shakespeare"
.
The Globe and Mail
. Retrieved
19 June
2023
.
- ^
Daly, Karina,
Tom Walsh's Opera
: A history of the Wexford Festival, 1951?2004
, Four Courts, 2004.
ISBN
1-85182-878-8
; the
Workpage for Puget's opera
at
IMSLP
.
- ^
^Jeremy Nicholas. Booklet notes to Hyperion CDA67165
- ^
Simonson, Robert
.
"Cast Set for Gary Griffin-Directed
The Boys Are Coming Home
, at Northwestern's American Music Theatre Project"
Archived
5 June 2011 at the
Wayback Machine
. 28 May 2008.
- ^
"These Paper Bullets!/Nov 20, 2015 ? Jan 10, 2016"
. Atlantic Theater Company. Archived from
the original
on 16 January 2016
. Retrieved
30 April
2016
.
- ^
"Much Ado Opera Workshop | Repercussion Theatre"
.
- ^
"Much Ado! ? 2019 ? Festival ? Opera NUOVA ? Opera Training & Events in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada"
.
- ^
"Much Ado About Nothing"
.
IMDb
.
- ^
Ramesh, Randeep (29 July 2006).
"A matter of caste as Bollywood embraces the Bard"
.
Guardian
. London
. Retrieved
5 April
2011
.
- ^
"Much Ado About Nothing"
. Retrieved
23 October
2011
.
- ^
"Messina High"
. 17 August 2015 – via IMDb.
- ^
"Glen Powell on X"
. 16 November 2023.
- ^
Gates, Marya E.
"Anyone But You movie review & film summary (2023) | Roger Ebert"
.
www.rogerebert.com
. Retrieved
22 December
2023
.
- ^
"Dame Again. Early 'lost' Maggie Smith appearance painstakingly restored"
. BBC. September 2016
. Retrieved
30 September
2016
.
- ^
"BBC updates Shakespeare"
.
The Guardian
. 15 March 2005
. Retrieved
26 January
2023
.
- ^
"Nothing Much to Do (TV Series 2014) ? IMDB"
.
IMDB
. Retrieved
1 December
2021
.
- ^
"All-black 'Much Ado About Nothing' brings Shakespeare into 21st century on PBS"
.
Boston Herald
. 17 November 2019
. Retrieved
22 June
2020
.
- ^
"The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You"
.
Kirkus Reviews
. 16 March 2016
. Retrieved
23 February
2020
.
- ^
"Speak Easy, Speak Love"
.
Harper Collins
. Retrieved
15 April
2021
.
- ^
"Nothing Happened Molly's second book is out now from Disney Hyperion!"
.
Molly Horton Booth
. Retrieved
15 April
2021
.
- ^
"Under a Dancing Star"
.
Goodreads
. Retrieved
3 June
2023
.
- ^
"Two Wrongs Make a Right by Chloe Liese: 9780593441503 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books"
.
PenguinRandomhouse.com
. Retrieved
26 February
2024
.
- ^
Johannes V. Jensen
(1950),
Swift og Oehlenschlager
(in Danish), Copenhagen:
Gyldendal
, p. 7,
Wikidata
Q108935398
External links
[
edit
]
Wikisource
has original text related to this article:
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