Status
Checked out
Due Apr 24, 2024
Local notes
822.33 Sha
Collection
Genres
Publication
Signet Classics (1964), Mass Market Paperback, 192 pages
Description
Drama. Fiction. HTML: Shakespeare's comedy play Much Ado About Nothing pivots around the impediments to love for young betrothed Hero and Claudio when Hero is falsely accused of infidelity and the "lover's trap" set for the arrogant and assured Benedick who has sworn of marriage and his gentle adversary Beatrice. The merry war between Benedick and Beatrice with the promptings of their friends soon dissolves into farcical love, while Hero's supposed infidelity is shown to be little more than "much ado about nothing"..
Subjects
Language
Original publication date
1600 (Quarto)
1598
1623 (Folio)
Physical description
192 p.; 4.24 inches
User reviews
LibraryThing member nwhyte
The play itself is genuinely funny, not quite as funny as A Comedy of Errors, but a better play - the characters are better rounded, and the drama frankly more believable. Beatrice is surely one of the most memorable female roles in Shakespeare (I think only Portia is in the same league). I see
Branagh's version is generally beautiful to watch and listen to. The good points include the general sense of movement on screen; the quite gorgeous Kate Beckinsale, who dropped out of Oxford to make this (and who can dispute that she made the right decision); the brilliance of most of the cast (especially the elders, Richard Briers, Brian Blessed, and, where she is allowed, Phyllida Law); and above all the sparkling chemistry between Branagh himself and Thompson (indeed, they almost seem to like each other too much at the beginning). The most serious misfire is with Keanu Reeves, who doesn't quite seem to understand what he is doing there except being Bad. I didn't object as much to Michael Keaton as Dogberry, perhaps because he kept inflicting senseless violence on Ben Elton, which is never a bad thing. I did, however, feel that the darker passages of Act IV hit the tone unduly; most of Branagh's cuts to the script are from the funny bits earlier in the play, and I think that unbalances Shakespeare's original plot dynamic, and results a darker piece perhaps than was intended perhaps by Branagh and certainly by Shakespeare.
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from IMDB that her role was played by Penelope Keith in the 1978 BBC version, and by Maggie Smith in a 1967 version which also starred Caroline "Liz Shaw" John as Hero. But the overall frame is good too, the contrast between the Claudia/Hero and Beatrice/Benedick romances, neither of which is straightforward, but complicated in different ways. The Dogberry bits are, for once, pretty integral to the plot, though I suspect it is difficult to integrate them with satisfactory unity of style. (If I were staging it, I'd have Dogberry's guards and maybe even Dogberyy himself visible in the background in all the early crowd scenes, so that they don't appear out of nowhere in Act III.)Branagh's version is generally beautiful to watch and listen to. The good points include the general sense of movement on screen; the quite gorgeous Kate Beckinsale, who dropped out of Oxford to make this (and who can dispute that she made the right decision); the brilliance of most of the cast (especially the elders, Richard Briers, Brian Blessed, and, where she is allowed, Phyllida Law); and above all the sparkling chemistry between Branagh himself and Thompson (indeed, they almost seem to like each other too much at the beginning). The most serious misfire is with Keanu Reeves, who doesn't quite seem to understand what he is doing there except being Bad. I didn't object as much to Michael Keaton as Dogberry, perhaps because he kept inflicting senseless violence on Ben Elton, which is never a bad thing. I did, however, feel that the darker passages of Act IV hit the tone unduly; most of Branagh's cuts to the script are from the funny bits earlier in the play, and I think that unbalances Shakespeare's original plot dynamic, and results a darker piece perhaps than was intended perhaps by Branagh and certainly by Shakespeare.
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LibraryThing member crazyjerseygirl
Ok, so don't read this just before you get married. Things run just a bit too smoothly in this play for it to seem real. There are points which are so serious that one wonders if it is a comedy.
LibraryThing member aulsmith
This isn't one of my favorites. I find the plot convoluted and the word play between Benedick and Beatrice tiresome.
LibraryThing member Coach_of_Alva
I am not surprised that a tragedy could affect people, no matter how old it was, but I am very surprised that so old a comedy could work so well. I was as moved by this play as I have been by his tragedies. How I regret that it took me so long to read this.
LibraryThing member bell7
In this Shakespeare comedy, we have two pairs to keep track of: Hero and Claudio, and Beatrice and Bernadick. Hero and Claudio seem well on their way to matrimony until Don John, the bastard brother of the prince Don Pedro, decides to make trouble and break them up. Meanwhile, Beatrice and
While this play doesn't have many recognizable one liners that are constantly quoted even once we've forgotten they're Shakespeare, I found myself wondering why Much Ado wasn't one of the plays I studied in high school or college. Because for just pure fun, and funny moments, and witticisms galore, this has suddenly become one of my favorite plays. Plus, it's fairly accessible - I truly barely needed the notes, and it's been a few years since I've read Shakespeare. It's worth reading just for the (very minor) characters of Verges and Dogberry, the witless malapropists. Why haven't I read this before now?
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Bernadick seem more interested in trading barbs than anything else, but their friends decide to set them up and make them fall in love.While this play doesn't have many recognizable one liners that are constantly quoted even once we've forgotten they're Shakespeare, I found myself wondering why Much Ado wasn't one of the plays I studied in high school or college. Because for just pure fun, and funny moments, and witticisms galore, this has suddenly become one of my favorite plays. Plus, it's fairly accessible - I truly barely needed the notes, and it's been a few years since I've read Shakespeare. It's worth reading just for the (very minor) characters of Verges and Dogberry, the witless malapropists. Why haven't I read this before now?
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LibraryThing member MrsLee
I watched the movie with Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson before I read the play. I'm glad I did, because it brought a depth of imagery which enhanced the reading. I enjoy this story very much, so clever, although, my modern sensibilities are quite wounded that Hero would consent so easily to
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marry Claudio after his great lack of faith in her and his horrible treatment of her. The working of Beatrice and Benedick is a joy to behold. Show Less
LibraryThing member N.T.Embe
There are some people that absolutely worship Shakespeare as an absolute genius of his time, and therefore find him immortalized for all of time. Personally, I love his work, and at the time time, I don't. I think I adore his tragedies, but find it hard for myself to truly fall in love with any of
That was the case with the famous Much Ado About Nothing, which makes the title quite ironic, don't you think? It was a pleasant read. And as one of Shakespeare's comedies, it did have quite the few entertaining parts. I think it's especially the kind of play you'd want to read if you're looking to sit back, relax, and enjoy some nonsense and chaos that winds up in some expected romance.
To be perfectly honest, while mildly entertaining, as a whole the play only had one or two parts that absolutely had me cracking grins and laughing. And those were scenes not involving any of the main characters, but rather a bumbling side character that ironically ends up being the only capable one in the entire play filled with supposed royals and super intelligent, conniving people! His name is even weird! Dogberry! And yet he's so gung-ho about everything that he does, and he's so passionate, he constantly says the wrong thing even though we all know what he meant, that you can't help but have a good time watching him somehow manage to work his way through all this "serious" crap going on around him!
Ah, but besides him, I can't quite find anyone else worth laughing for. Sure there's our main couple that supposedly hate each other but who we all know are gonna end up together at the end. They're kinda entertaining, especially since as usual Shakespeare's words are loaded with wit and bite. *Chuckles*
Either way, I say this is one to try out. Shakespeare isn't everyone's cup of tea. So don't go off buying it just 'cause a ton of people obsess over the author. Try it out first. If you like it, copies are cheap enough to find. Hope you enjoy!
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his other pieces. Are they enjoyable? Yes, yes they very much are. But they just don't wow me like I expect them to.That was the case with the famous Much Ado About Nothing, which makes the title quite ironic, don't you think? It was a pleasant read. And as one of Shakespeare's comedies, it did have quite the few entertaining parts. I think it's especially the kind of play you'd want to read if you're looking to sit back, relax, and enjoy some nonsense and chaos that winds up in some expected romance.
To be perfectly honest, while mildly entertaining, as a whole the play only had one or two parts that absolutely had me cracking grins and laughing. And those were scenes not involving any of the main characters, but rather a bumbling side character that ironically ends up being the only capable one in the entire play filled with supposed royals and super intelligent, conniving people! His name is even weird! Dogberry! And yet he's so gung-ho about everything that he does, and he's so passionate, he constantly says the wrong thing even though we all know what he meant, that you can't help but have a good time watching him somehow manage to work his way through all this "serious" crap going on around him!
Ah, but besides him, I can't quite find anyone else worth laughing for. Sure there's our main couple that supposedly hate each other but who we all know are gonna end up together at the end. They're kinda entertaining, especially since as usual Shakespeare's words are loaded with wit and bite. *Chuckles*
Either way, I say this is one to try out. Shakespeare isn't everyone's cup of tea. So don't go off buying it just 'cause a ton of people obsess over the author. Try it out first. If you like it, copies are cheap enough to find. Hope you enjoy!
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LibraryThing member choco12kitty
For the first time I can actually say that I liked a Shakespeare play! This translation helped me get through the text with it's side and end notes. Much Ado About Nothing was a book that I enjoyed reading.It had all the components I like: drama and romance, yet wasn't focused on just one area. The
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only thing I didn't like was the ending, I thought Benedick and Beatrice had actually changed, but really hadn't. This book deserves it's stars. Show Less
LibraryThing member Mendoza
My favourite Shakespeare. i am amazed that a comedy written 500 years ago is still relevant today - as in I still get the sly remarks and subtle humor.
Branaughs production was extremely enjoyable.
Branaughs production was extremely enjoyable.
LibraryThing member multifaceted
Had this been written today, I can say it'd probably be one of those dime-a-dozen romance novels you can barely give away, or one of the run-of-the-mill romantic comedy movies.
The basic plot of the play is ok (think of any romantic comedy, and you'll most likely think of something with an element
Maybe I just look for more action and less lovey-dovey stuff in my reading...
The basic plot of the play is ok (think of any romantic comedy, and you'll most likely think of something with an element
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similar to this), and it does have its entertaining bits, but really, only Shakespeare's wording and humor save it. Don't get me wrong--Shakespeare is very humorous, and I was laughing at some of his writing ever since I was a kid--but something about combining the humor with a love story just doesn't entertain me.Maybe I just look for more action and less lovey-dovey stuff in my reading...
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LibraryThing member cinesnail88
Since I was a pretty young child, this has been my favorite Shakespeare play, and because of that I chose it for my Shakespeare research project. I am really looking forward to having a lot of fun with it, since I know it ridiculously well.
LibraryThing member subbobmail
Three books in five days! Off to a rip-snortin' start, I am.
A friend of mine just got cast in a production of Much Ado About Nothing, and so I decided to read it yet again. It's always fun to drop in on Beatrice and Benedick, the original sparring lovers, trading barbs and insults but clearly in
I still find Dogberry dull, but one can't expect puns to remain uproarious 400 years after the fact. And I hope my pal can make Hero the virgin a bit more interesting than she is in the script. Virgins, it goes without saying, are dull. All the Bard can say about them is, hey, they're virgins! Which is to say, they still have value to us! Thank God I can be the first to defile them!
I'd not noticed before how little flowery verse Shakespeare put into this play. (Contrast it with Midsummer Night's Dream, for instance.) It's really quite a lean play by his standards. Lots of plot, lots of zingy dialogue, and BOOM it's over. No wonder this show is so often staged around here.
A friend of mine just got cast in a production of Much Ado About Nothing, and so I decided to read it yet again. It's always fun to drop in on Beatrice and Benedick, the original sparring lovers, trading barbs and insults but clearly in
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love with each other. Here's where screwball comedy banter got its start.I still find Dogberry dull, but one can't expect puns to remain uproarious 400 years after the fact. And I hope my pal can make Hero the virgin a bit more interesting than she is in the script. Virgins, it goes without saying, are dull. All the Bard can say about them is, hey, they're virgins! Which is to say, they still have value to us! Thank God I can be the first to defile them!
I'd not noticed before how little flowery verse Shakespeare put into this play. (Contrast it with Midsummer Night's Dream, for instance.) It's really quite a lean play by his standards. Lots of plot, lots of zingy dialogue, and BOOM it's over. No wonder this show is so often staged around here.
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LibraryThing member briony
I loved this play so much that I wrote my thesis on it (partially). If I had known of this play in high school I would not have hated Shakespeare as much as I did.
LibraryThing member the_awesome_opossum
Much Ado About Nothing is simply a fun play to read. Plenty of banter, wordplay, and just ridiculous situations - and it all reads in a very modern way, not dated or irrelevant at all. There are some more sobering bits about female sexuality and how the society treasures virginity with Hero's
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storyline, but really, the relationship between Beatrice and Benedick is what keeps this play afloat Show Less
LibraryThing member 391
Much Ado is definitely my favorite of Shakespeare's comedies. It's good on its own, and a good performance just makes it incredible.
LibraryThing member hailelib
Earlier this week we watched our copy of Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado about Nothing. Watching the movie reminded me that I had been meaning to read the play for some time to see how his adaptation compared to the full play. As I read it was easy to see why certain lines were dropped as they were not
Out of several versions we own, I choose to read the copy that belonged to my grandfather. This is a small book containing the play and some introductory material and notes (at the bottom of each page) that was apparently used in school courses in the early 20th century.
The play begins at the house of Leonato where we find him with his daughter, Hero; his brother; and his niece, Beatrice. In the first scene a messenger brings news that Don Pedro of Aragon will be arriving shortly and brings with him Claudio and Benedick as well as his brother John. On their arrival, Claudio and Hero are immediately infatuated with one another and we find that Beatrice and benedick are old acquaintances who have become rivals in witty badinage. Soon Hero and Claudio are engaged and Don John hatches a plan with his man, Borachio, to put a stop to the wedding. Don Pedro is busy about his own plan to bring Beatrice and Benedick into a realization that they love one anther.
We always enjoy watching the movie and I found that reading the play was fun too. It is one of the plays of Shakespeare's middle period and shows his appreciation of a good story and his deep understanding of people. Especially interesting is the contrast of the young, rather immature lovers and the older and wiser lovers, Beatrice and Benedick. And don't forget the broad humor of the scenes featuring the constable Dogberry and his partner Verges.
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necessary for today's audiences. There was only one scene that was entirely missing and I didn't find it added much, if anything, to my understanding. (It was about Hero dressing for the wedding.)Out of several versions we own, I choose to read the copy that belonged to my grandfather. This is a small book containing the play and some introductory material and notes (at the bottom of each page) that was apparently used in school courses in the early 20th century.
The play begins at the house of Leonato where we find him with his daughter, Hero; his brother; and his niece, Beatrice. In the first scene a messenger brings news that Don Pedro of Aragon will be arriving shortly and brings with him Claudio and Benedick as well as his brother John. On their arrival, Claudio and Hero are immediately infatuated with one another and we find that Beatrice and benedick are old acquaintances who have become rivals in witty badinage. Soon Hero and Claudio are engaged and Don John hatches a plan with his man, Borachio, to put a stop to the wedding. Don Pedro is busy about his own plan to bring Beatrice and Benedick into a realization that they love one anther.
We always enjoy watching the movie and I found that reading the play was fun too. It is one of the plays of Shakespeare's middle period and shows his appreciation of a good story and his deep understanding of people. Especially interesting is the contrast of the young, rather immature lovers and the older and wiser lovers, Beatrice and Benedick. And don't forget the broad humor of the scenes featuring the constable Dogberry and his partner Verges.
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LibraryThing member rachelellen
How do you rate Shakespeare? You just don't. Either you restate the obvious or you look like someone who's trying to be different simply for the sake of noncomformity. So no number rating for this one. I will say that I actually really anjoyed reading it, and not just from the standpoint of being a
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person in love with language and its use. I was interested; I wanted to know what happened next. I didn't even know the story, so this was lots of FUN to read. Show Less
LibraryThing member sarah.cline
A Shakespearian comedy at its best. While there’s no cross-dressing in this one (feel free to check out Twelfth Night for that) there are verbal sparring matches galore, a masquerade, a troupe of idiots (reminiscent of A Midsummer Night’s Dream), a faked death, and a wedding to tie it all
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together in the end. If the puppy love of Hero and Claudio doesn’t do it for you, look no further than Benedick and Beatrice for the perfect combination of sarcastic comebacks and insults that barely mask the true feelings they have for one another. And seriously, who can resist the absolute absurdity of Dogberry, Verges, and the night watch? Show Less
LibraryThing member yonitdm
A fun comedy with love, intrigue, deceit for good and deceit for bad. As a mouthy broad, I love Beatrice and could relate to the hesitation to drop the tough act and be vulnerable.
LibraryThing member Shuffy2
This is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays! The worthy Claudio falls for the beautiful Hero, but will his love hold up when he thinks her unvirtuous? To me the real scene grabber is the word play between the quick witted Beatrice and the glory hound Benedick. Both swear they will never love;
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Benedick a sworn bachelor and Beatrice finds men, in particular Benedick, a 'stuffed man' equal to 'pestilence'. This book is fun and clever! Don't be afraid of Shakespeare's words- a must read! Show Less
LibraryThing member cargocontainer
I have long held that plays were meant to be performed, not read. This holds true for this play, which is quite a good one. I've seen performance versions before, which significantly helped me follow the play as it was written, but found that without the deliveries of actors, the result largely
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falls flat compared to the spoken, performed versions. I enjoyed it far more than I would have had I not been familiar with the story through performance. Show Less
LibraryThing member howe3488
My favourite Shakespeare! I love the interactions between the characters in this book, very witty. Much emphasis placed on how things can become misconstrued when eavesdropping occurs - lots to take into your own life, whilst being very entertaining. Obviously being Shakespeare though not an "easy
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read". Show Less
LibraryThing member Ron_Peters
A delight; we all need love and comedy. The prototype for every book, play or movie since about lovers, initially repulsed by mutual antagonism and distrust, then drawn together by the sheer force of their fast and witty repartee. "Bene. O God, sir, here's a dish I love not! I cannot endure my Lady
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Tongue." Harold Bloom isn't wild about it; much the worse for Harry. Show Less
LibraryThing member renrav
I primarily wanted to read this for the upcoming Joss Whedon movie. I am terrible at understanding Shakespeare by myself. I think I did okay understanding it, and I enjoyed what I understood. But I'll probably have to reread this before the movie with a different edition. Mine was on the kindle and
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I kept having to go back and forth on the footnotes. Show Less
LibraryThing member aoibhealfae
Like Neil Gaiman, Shakespeare's drama is best seen and heard rather than read. There were a realm of dramatic wonders and non-verbal interpretations that didn't exist in the text form. Considering the last time I read anything by Shakespeare was high school, its been long overdue for me. Granted, I
Much Ado About Nothing revolve around the relationship between Hero and Claudio, the characters and family, reputations, lies and trickery that would make Puck proud. Its also consisted of a love story between Benedick and Beatrice who was sworn enemy but was tricked by their relatives and eventually they fall in love with each other and mostly used as a comic humor throughout the scenes. But a large part of the story involve the machination by Don John who are determine to wreck the happiness of the characters in the book.
But it was there were serious terrible overtones of public slut-shaming that made the story painful to be seen without trying to murder somebody. Hated hated words. Apparently these things can be solved by fake deaths and all the dramas and forgiveness and groveling. Pfff. This is also the reason why most production focus on the dynamics between Benedick and Beatrice rather than the actual couple of the story. However, if anyone doing a local production of this story, just ping me up. I want to watch it live.
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have a decent cause to fear older plays. Woman in older literature aren't as well-received nor well-written as the male counterpart. Romeo and Juliet -which I read for SPM- never really give me those warm feeling due to the fact that the two children were barely pre-teen and they're willing to die for each other within days after meeting. So, Shakespeare wasn't my kind of love story.Much Ado About Nothing revolve around the relationship between Hero and Claudio, the characters and family, reputations, lies and trickery that would make Puck proud. Its also consisted of a love story between Benedick and Beatrice who was sworn enemy but was tricked by their relatives and eventually they fall in love with each other and mostly used as a comic humor throughout the scenes. But a large part of the story involve the machination by Don John who are determine to wreck the happiness of the characters in the book.
But it was there were serious terrible overtones of public slut-shaming that made the story painful to be seen without trying to murder somebody. Hated hated words. Apparently these things can be solved by fake deaths and all the dramas and forgiveness and groveling. Pfff. This is also the reason why most production focus on the dynamics between Benedick and Beatrice rather than the actual couple of the story. However, if anyone doing a local production of this story, just ping me up. I want to watch it live.
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Pages
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