Much Ado About Nothing

1
Much Ado About Nothing
2
Dramatis Personae

• Don Pedro Solider, Prince
• Don John Pedros brother
• Benedick Solider, Pedros friend
• Claudio Solider, Pedros friend
• Leonato Governor of the town
• Beatrice Leonatos neice
• Hero Leonatos daughter
• Antonio Leonatos brother
• Dogberry Leader of the watch (clown)
• Conrade, Borachio Followers of Don John
• Margaret Servant to Hero
• Ursula Servant to Hero

3
Act I Quiz

• Who received honors for valor in the recent
  battles?
• Who asks about Benedick?
• How long does Don Pedro say that they will stay
  at Leonatos house?
• Who tells Benedick that he loves Hero?
• Who is completely against love and marriage?
• Who agrees to play match maker and what is his
  plan to woo Hero?
• How do Leonato and Antonio (Heros father and
  uncle) mess up the plan?
• What is Don Johns reaction to the news of Don
  Pedros plan?

4
Act I Scene 1

• A messenger arrives in Messina and informs
  Leonato, the governor, that Don Pedro will be
  coming to the town with his army.
• Leonato asks how the war campaign went and learns
  that no men of high rank lost their lives, and
  that a man named Claudio received many honors for
  his valor in battle.
• Beatrice, the niece of Leonato, asks the
  messenger if Benedick of Padua has returned from
  the wars as well.
• The messenger informs her that he is with Don
  Pedro's army and has befriended Claudio.
• Beatrice sarcastically compares Benedick to a
  disease that men catch and says a great deal of
  negative things about Benedick.

5
Act I Scene 1

• Don Pedro arrives accompanied by Claudio,
  Benedick, Balthasar, and Don John (his bastard
  brother).
• Beatrice is caustic and tells Benedick it is a
  good thing that he does not love any of the
  ladies
• Benedick is unable to compete with her wit and
  they finally break off conversation.
• Don Pedro announces to his men that Leonato has
  generously allowed them to stay for a month.
• Leonato turns to Don John and tells him he is
  glad that Don John and Don Pedro are reconciled.

6
Act I Scene 1

• Read I.1.128-129
• Claudio tells Benedick that he loves Hero
• Benedick makes fun of Hero's complexion and
  height after Claudio tells him that he loves her.
  
• Claudio tells him he is serious about her and
  wants to know what Benedick really thinks.
• Don Pedro enters and asks Benedick to tell him
  what is going on and Benedick reveals that
  Claudio is in love with Hero.
• Watch movie scene

7
Act I Scene 1

• Read I.1.129
• Don Pedro agrees that Hero would be a good match
  for Claudio.
• Benedick tells both men that he wishes to remain
  a bachelor for the rest of his life and that he
  will never flush with love for a woman.
• Don Pedro tells him that he will see Benedick in
  love before he dies.

8
Act I Scene 1

• Read I.1.129-130
• Claudio learns that Hero alone is her fathers
  heir.
• Don Pedro promises to speak with Leonato about
  arranging a match between them
• Claudio is afraid to speak to Hero and tell her
  he loves her.
• Don Pedro informs him that there will be a masked
  ball that night and that he will pretend to be
  Claudio and woo Hero in Claudio's name.
• Watch movie scene

9
Act I Scene 2

• Leonato and Antonio, his elder brother, meet and
  discuss Leonato's guests.
• Antonio informs Leonato that a servant of his
  overheard Don Pedro and Claudio speaking together
  in his peach orchard and that Don Pedro told
  Claudio he loved Hero and would acknowledge it
  that night at the dance,
• Leonato is excited by this news, but tells
  Antonio to keep it a secret until Don Pedro
  actually comes to him.
• He only decides to tell Hero so that she may
  prepare an answer.

10
Act I Scene 3

• Read I.3.130
• Conrad approaches Don John and asks him why he is
  so sad looking.
• Don John tells him that there is not reason,
  merely that he prefers to be the way he is.
• When Conrad points out that since Don John only
  recently was reconciled with Don Pedro, he should
  try to seem happy
• Don John exclaims, "I had rather be a canker in a
  hedge than a rose in his grace" (1.3.21-22).

11
Act I Scene 3

• Borachio, another friend of Don John, arrives and
  informs Don John that he has overheard his
  brother and Claudio plotting a marriage with
  Hero.
• He hid behind a wall hanging and listened to them
  discuss how Don Pedro would woo Hero and then
  give her to Claudio.
• Don John tells them to come with him so that he
  can figure out a way to foil Claudio.
• Watch movie scene

12
Analysis Mask of Politeness

• Much Ado About Nothing opens in a "golden world"
  in Messina where the women are already located.
• People fail to take things seriously, causing a
  war of words.
• Benedick and Beatrice are the main examples of
  male/female rivalry that converts into
  belligerent wordplay.
• The first act portrays all the characters as
  being very careful to observe social norms
• especially those of civilian obligations to the
  military
• This creates a mask of politeness that slowly
  dissipates throughout the play until by the end
  there is nothing but directness of speech left.

13
Analysis The Title

• Much Ado About Nothing is primarily a play about
  gossip.
• The title means a big fuss about a trifle, and by
  the end this is exactly what happens.
• All of Claudio's accusations will come to
  nothing, causing the play to end the same way as
  if they never occurred at all.
• Shakespeare brilliantly plays on the meanings of
  nothing throughout this play.
• The word "nothing" would actually have been
  pronounced "noting" in his time.
• It can mean worthless, a person of little worth,
  or also mean everything, in the sense that much
  ado is made about everything.

14
Analysis The Title

• The pronunciation of "nothing" plays on "noting"
  as well.
• To note is to observe or mark carefully,
  something everyone in the play fails to do.
• It can also mean to stigmatize or point out.
• Indeed, Claudio's first comment about Hero is
  whether anyone else noted her,
• "didst thou note the daughter of Signor Leonato?"
  (1.1.130-131).
• Benedick tells him, "I noted her not, but I
  looked on her" (1.1.132),
• Benedick jokes about her complexion and height,
  thereby "noting" Hero in his own way.

15
Analysis Silence and Saddness

• Silence is something that Shakespeare always
  views with suspicion, and this play is no
  different.
• Silence is actually worse than talking because it
  leads to plotting.
• Don John says, "I am not a man of many words"
  (1.1.127)
• A man who instead will plot against the others.
• The danger of silence also affects the
  relationship between Hero and Claudio.
• Since they fail to talk with one another, they
  never resolve questions relating to the other's
  motives.
• A crucial first mistake for Claudio is when he
  allows Don Pedro to speak to Hero for him

16
Analysis Silence and Saddness

• Don John plays the role of a schemer, a
  discontent and a machiavel.
• the excluded character
• Don John thus rebels against the compulsory set
  of social rules.
• Don John represents the sadness that is a
  recurring theme in Shakespeare's comedies.
• Shylock and Antonio in Merchant of Venice are
  other characters who are melancholy.
• There is no reason for this sadness, and it
  breeds on itself.

17
Act II Scene 1

• Leonato has noticed that Don John did not attend
  the dinner, but Hero tells them he is
  melancholic.
• Beatrice says that a combination between Don John
  and Benedick would create the perfect man, one
  who spoke just enough.
• Leonato tells Beatrice she will never get a
  husband if she continues to make such "shrewd"
  remarks and Beatrice acknowledges that she is
  happy without a husband and plans to die a
  spinster.
• Antonio turns to Hero and tells her he hopes she
  will obey her father
• Leonato orders Hero to accept the Prince's offer
  if he comes to her.
• Beatrice gives Hero some advice about how to
  accept, telling her how to make the Prince wait
  for an answer and comparing wooing, wedding and
  repenting to various dances.

18
Act II Scene 1

• Read II.1.131-132
• Don Pedro and the others arrive wearing masks.
• He immediately goes over to Hero and asks her to
  dance a with him.
• She agrees, but tells him she hopes the face
  underneath the mask is far better looking than
  the mask itself.
• Balthasar has approached Margaret, a
  serving-gentlewoman to Hero, and they flirt
  briefly.
• Benedick meets up with Beatrice and refuses to
  reveal who he is.
• She starts to talk about Benedick, calling him
• The Prince's jester, a very dull fool"
• Don John and Borachio figure out who Claudio is
• Don John approaches him and asks him if he is
  Benedick, and Claudio plays along, claiming he
  is.
• Don John tells Claudio that he should separate
  Don Pedro and Hero because she is not equal to
  his brother's birth.
• Borachio chimes in as well, telling Claudio that
  he heard Don Pedro swear his affection for Hero
  and plan to marry her that very night.

19
Act II Scene 1

• Once Claudio is alone he comments that it must be
  true since friendship is constant in all things
  except for love.
• Benedick arrives and invites Claudio to go with
  him, telling him the Prince
• "that got your Hero" (2.1.169).
• Claudio, depressed by the thought that Don Pedro
  has stolen Hero from him, leaves.
• Don Pedro himself arrives and Benedick accuses
  him of betraying his friendship to Claudio by
  stealing Hero.
• Don Pedro denies the charge and says that he was
  merely doing what he could for the couple.

20
Act II Scene 1

• Read II.1.132-134
• Benedick has been stung by what Beatrice said
  about him while they danced, and the he tries to
  tell Don Pedro what she said that hurt him.
• He is mostly upset because she called him the
  "Prince's jester", yet he ironically confirms
  this accusation by comically reenacting the scene
  for Don Pedro.
• Don Pedro chastises Beatrice for having been so
  harsh to Benedick, but she replies that Benedick
  once won her heart and toyed with her.
• He then turns to Claudio, who is still jealous of
  him, and informs Claudio that he wooed Hero
  successfully and spoke with Leonato who consented
  to the marriage.
• Neither Claudio nor Hero are able to speak to one
  another
• Beatrice remarks that everyone is getting married
  and leaving home except she herself.
• Don Pedro gallantly offers to marry her but she
  refuses
• Claudio and Leonato agree to hold the wedding in
  one week, and in the meantime Don Pedro tells
  them they will contrive to get Benedick and
  Beatrice to fall in love.
• Claudio and Hero agree to participate in the
  plot.
• Watch entire dance scene

21
Act II Scene 2

• Don John is furious over the fact that Claudio is
  marrying Hero.
• Borachio, his friend, offers to destroy the
  marriage.
• He tells Don John that he is a good friend of
  Hero's servant-gentlewoman Margaret and can get
  into Heros room.
• Borachio proposes that Don John get Don Pedro and
  Claudio to watch the chamber window at an
  appointed time, and he will then meet Margaret in
  the room, thereby making them think that Hero has
  another lover.
• Don John promises Borachio a thousand ducats if
  the plan succeeds.

22
Act II Scene 3

• Read II.3.134-137
• Benedick is walking in Leonato's garden
  contemplating the change in Claudio since he fell
  in love with Hero.
• He decides that he will never fall in love the
  way Claudio did.
• He sees Claudio and Don Pedro coming and hides so
  he can listen to them.
• Don Pedro asks them if they saw where Benedick
  hid, and Claudio tells him they will give
  Benedick more than he bargained for.
• Don Pedro asks Leonato if it is true that
  Beatrice is in love with Benedick.
• Leonato plays along with the lie, saying that he
  would never have suspected it given the way she
  treats Benedick in public.
• Don Pedro continues asking questions about
  Beatrice's love for Benedick while Benedick
  listens in the background, slowly becoming
  convinced that what Leonato is saying must be
  true.
• The men leave, with Don Pedro hinting in an aside
  that the same net must be spread for Beatrice by
  Hero and Ursula.

23
Act II Scene 3

• Benedick comes out of hiding and remarks that he
  cannot sit idly by and be censured for not
  returning Beatrice's love.
• Beatrice comes out and bids him come to dinner,
  unaware that Benedick thinks she loves him.
• Beatrice is as unflattering as ever, making
  Benedick's attempts to be polite even more
  comical.
• Watch movie scene

24
Analysis View of Marriage

• Beatrice is one of the most pleasant characters
  because of her wit and sharp tongue.
• There is therefore a great deal of ambiguity over
  whether she will marry or not.
• Beatrice woefully comments on Hero's engagement
• "Thus goes everyone in the world but I, and I am
  sunburnt" (2.1.278-279).
• In spite of her railings against marriage,
  Beatrice realizes that marriage is a way out of
  the house and that it represents the only way to
  escape from Leonato's protection.
• Beatrice is also more than aware that marriage
  brings many risks with it.
• Marriage for a woman is to risk her integrity by
  submitting to a man.

25
Analysis View of Marriage

• A similar fate is seen by Benedick, who views
  marriage as risk to mens' honor
• He commonly refers to bulls' horns and cuckoldry
  in the first act.
• Both Benedick and Beatrice hold a mature
  awareness of what marriage entails, causing them
  to shun it.
• It is Beatrice and Benedick alone who pay the
  most attention to social customs.
• Ironically they do this while arguing with each
  other, thereby breaking with social norms.
• They put on a facade of disregard for social
  norms, but actually note what is happening around
  them far more than other people.

26
Analysis The Ball

• The masked ball is one of the more interesting
  scenes because of the fact that nearly everyone
  is unmasked before it starts
• Leonato and Hero know that Don Pedro will
  approach her
• Beatrice and Benedick could arguably be quite
  aware of with whom they are speaking
• The other characters all recognize each other as
  well.
• Only the two unmasked people at the ball, namely
  Borachio and Don John, are actually wearing masks
  because they pretend not to know Claudio and
  cause him to think Don Pedro is wooing Hero for
  himself.
• Benedick appears to be quite distraught over what
  Beatrice calls him at the ball, a Prince's
  jester.
• In speaking with Don Pedro he gives a wonderful
  performance in which his mind is wonderfully
  captured, a piling up of anger and fury but also
  to render the situation comical in order to
  entertain Don Pedro.
• This attempt at comedy in spite of his anger
  ironically confirms Beatrice's charge that he is
  the Prince's jester

27
Analysis Pressure of Society

• The quarreling between Benedick and Beatrice has
  often been marveled at, both within the play
  itself and by the audience.
• Many readers of the play try to imagine that they
  are in fact deeply in love in spite of their
  quarrels, and Beatrice does indicate that she
  previously loved Benedick
• However, their own words later on belie any sort
  of deeper love between them.
• Yet the conspiracy to make them marry is a form
  of social pressure that they cannot overcome.
• Benedick, having overheard Leonato say Beatrice
  loves him, is afraid of being censured
• "I hear how I am censured" (2.3.199-200).
• He later admits that
• "The world must be peopled" (2.3.214).
• Their constant fight against the pressures of
  society fail in the end, and we are left thinking
  that marriage is itself a conspiracy.

28
Analysis Silence

• The concept of silence crops up again between
  Claudio and Hero.
• The silence between them will become more
  dangerous later when Claudio thinks Hero has
  committed infidelity.
• In this act he surprisingly cannot speak even
  once he realizes that she will marry him
• "Silence is the perfectest herald of joy"
  (2.1.267).
• The irony of course is that silence is no herald
  (celebratory) at all, but rather implies complete
  lack of emotion from either Hero or Claudio
  towards the other person.

29
Analysis Language

• Language is a significant part of the play and
  the plot.
• Much Ado About Nothing has more prose than almost
  any other Shakespearian play
• It is significant to see how Shakespeare uses
  this prose.
• Benedick remarks on the change in Claudio by
  noting his change in language
• "He was wont to speak plain and to the purpose,
  like an honest man and a soldier, and now is he
  turned orthography" (2.3.17-18).
• This shows the transition from uncluttered
  military language to stylistic prose, and it is
  indicative of some of the confusion in the play,
  specifically, people do not speak plainly.

30
Analysis Gardens

• A common theme throughout Shakespearian drama is
  the role of gardens.
• Gardens are dangerous places to be because they
  harbor serpents trying to seduce the senses.
• Much Ado About Nothing has many garden scenes,
  all of which are involved in plotting against or
  confusing other characters
• Don Pedro spread his rumors about Beatrice loving
  Benedick in the garden where Benedick is hiding.
• Claudio and Don Pedro are overheard in the
  garden, causing Leonato to think Don Pedro wants
  to wed Hero.
• Beatrice will likewise overhear Hero and Ursula
  in the garden, causing her to think Benedick
  loves her.

31
Analysis Play on Words

• Shakespeare was acutely aware of the similarity
  between the words note, noting, and nothing
• Don Pedro 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
  whimsies that he speaks - Note notes, forsooth,
  and nothing!" (2.3.48-52)
• The song that Balthasar sings is a song about
  infidelity.
• The men listening all fail to note this song.
• The song actually foreshadows what will be
  mis-noted in the near future when Hero is accused
  of infidelity.

32
Analysis Fashion

• The use of the word fashion is deftly invoked by
  Shakespeare both as a noun and a verb.
• It represents the social system that all the
  characters are involved in, and is used to draw a
  parallel between the evil plots of Don John and
  the more mild ones of Don Pedro.
• "I would fain have it a match, and I doubt not
  but to fashion it" (2.1.319-320).
• This comment by Don Pedro is immediately followed
  by Don John who allows Borachio to fashion his
  plot as well
• "I will so fashion the matter that Hero shall be
  absent" (2.2.38).
• The parallel between the two brothers makes their
  plots actually seem identical in a sense they
  both corrupt the social system to achieve their
  own ends.
• The fact that society will condemn Don John but
  not Don Pedro is merely because we as a society
  think that marriage is not a crime whereas
  infidelity is.
• In many ways, the audience becomes guilty of Don
  Pedro's corruption of the truth while
  hypocritically condemning Don John's.

33
Act III Scene 1

• Read III.1.137-138
• Hero tells Margaret to tell Beatrice that she
  overheard Hero and Ursula gossiping about her in
  the orchard.
• Hero then orders Ursula to talk about Benedick as
  if he were madly in love with Beatrice.
• They wait until they see Beatrice hide herself in
  the orchard before walking towards the hiding
  spot.
• They arrive where Beatrice is hiding and Hero
  informs Ursula that Benedick is madly in love
  with Beatrice, but that she will never tell
  Beatrice because she is afraid her cousin would
  only ridicule Benedick.

34
Act III Scene 1

• Ursula agrees, and Hero then mentions that
  Beatrice is so sharp tongued that she often finds
  faults in men that are not really there.
• Ursula praises Benedick as a man, saying he is
  one of the best men in Italy and would be an
  excellent match for Beatrice.
• After they leave, Beatrice steps forward and
  comments that rather then be condemned for her
  pride and scorn she will requite Benedick's love
  and marry him.
• Watch movie scene

35
Act III Scene 2

• Claudio, Don Pedro and Leonato find Benedick to
  be acting sadder than usual, and make fun of him
  as if he is in love.
• He does not deny their charge, but finally asks
  Leonato if he could have a word with him in
  private.
• Don Pedro tells Claudio that Benedick must want
  to discuss Beatrice with Leonato.
• Don John arrives and informs Claudio and Don
  Pedro that Hero is unfaithful.
• He offers to prove it to them, telling them to go
  with him that night and look into Hero's chamber
  window.
• Claudio states that if he sees any reason not to
  wed Hero that night, he will shame her in the
  church before the wedding ceremony the next day.
• Don Pedro supports him and they promise to meet
  Don John that night.

36
Act III Scene 3

• Read III.3.138-139
• Dogberry and Verges, both clowns in charge of the
  watchmen, get one of their men for the watch that
  night.
• He agrees, but asks what he should do if he
  orders a man to stop and the man refuses.
• Dogberry tells him to ignore the man because they
  can only stop loyal subjects of the Prince.
• Verges then orders the man to keep silence
  throughout the town.
• They leave the man and Dogberry orders him to
  wake him up only if something important comes up.

37
Act III Scene 3

• Borachio and Conrad arrive and accidentally stand
  within hearing distance of the watchman whom
  Dogberry.
• Borachio tells Conrad that he earned a thousand
  ducats from Don John that night because he wooed
  Margaret in Hero's room and called her Hero.
• Don John had brought Don Pedro and Claudio to the
  orchard where they watched this whole scene and
  became convinced that Hero was committing
  infidelity.
• One of the night watchmen, having overheard this
  story, arrests Borachio and Conrad for villainy.
• Watch infidelity scene

38
Act III Scene 4

• Hero is getting dressed by Margaret for her
  wedding that day.
• She sends Ursula to fetch Beatrice, who arrives
  but has lost her wittiness and has also caught a
  cold.
• Margaret makes mention to Beatrice that Benedick
  is now in love.
• Margaret then implies that perhaps Beatrice will
  someday decide to fall in love much the way
  Benedick has.
• Ursula interrupts her and informs Hero that the
  men are all gathered to take her to the church.

39
Act III Scene 5

• Dogberry has gone to Leonato to inform him that
  two suspicious men were arrested the night
  before.
• He asks Leonato to examine the men, but since the
  wedding is that day, Leonato refuses and orders
  Dogberry to conduct the examination himself.
• Dogberry orders Verges to bring one of his men
  who knows how to write so that they can write
  down the entire examination and bring it to
  Leonato.
• Watch Dogberrys visit to Leonato

40
Analysis Noting

• The issue of noting, or making much ado about
  nothing, comes up when Claudio and Don Pedro, led
  by Don John, look at window and think they see
  Hero.
• They fail to note that it is not Hero, but
  instead Margaret.
• This is fabrication through substitution, and it
  leads Don John to stand condemned at the end of
  the play.
• This scene also plays on men's fears of female
  infidelity. Claudio tells us
• "If I see anything tonight why I should not marry
  her, tomorrow in the congregation where I should
  wed, there will I shame her" (3.2.103-107).
• This fear is so strong that Benedick declared
  himself a bachelor as a result, he is terrified
  of wearing bull's horns, a sign of the cuckold.

41
Analysis Gardens

• Gardens are again dangerous places to be.
• Hero and Ursula are talking in the orchard.
• This is not merely a plot against Beatrice, but
  also against female virginity.
• In fact, gardens can be seen as representing the
  female sexuality, and they are dangerous places
  because they are where virginity is compromised.
• This can be seen when Claudio convinces Don Pedro
  to win him Hero's heart, a scene that takes place
  in a garden.
• Beatrice will be tricked into loving Benedick by
  what she overhears in an orchard.

42
Analysis Gardens

• Hero's reputation, and also Claudio's perception
  of her virginity, is lost when Claudio and Don
  Pedro stand in the orchard and watch Borachio woo
  Margaret.
• The only way to clear up the confusion inherent
  in the play is to write everything down.
• Writing becomes a way of clarifying and clearing
  up the mistakes. Dogberry says,
• "get the learned writer to set down our
  excommunication a joke, he means examination"
  (3.5.55-56).
• This is the first point in the play where writing
  appears. It will later be used by Benedick and
  Beatrice, the Sexton, and Claudio who will write
  the epitaph to Hero.

43
Act IV Scene 1

• The people are all gathered in the church to
  witness the wedding between Hero and Claudio.
• The Friar asks Claudio if he has come to marry
  Hero, to which Claudio replies, "No" (4.1.6).
• Leonato ignores the answer by playing with words
  to give it a different meaning, but Claudio
  interjects when asked if anyone knows why they
  should not be married.
• He tells Leonato, "Give not this rotten orange to
  your friend" (4.1.30) and accuses Hero of
  infidelity.
• Don Pedro also refuses to defend Hero's honor,
  telling Leonato that he watched with his own eyes
  as Hero embraced another man the night before.
• Claudio cries out, "O Hero! What a Hero hadst
  thou been" (4.1.98) before once again saying
  farewell to her forever. "But fare thee well,
  most foul, most fair, farewell" (4.1.101).

44
Act IV Scene 1

• Read IV.1.143-145
• Hero faints and falls to the ground. Don John,
  Don Pedro and Claudio all leave the church.
• Beatrice runs up and tries to help her cousin,
  but Leonato tells her that, "Death is the fairest
  cover for her shame" (4.1.113).
• Leonato then tells them that he is ashamed to
  have had such a daughter and that he wishes she
  had never been born.
• Benedick says, "Sir, sir, be patient. / For my
  part, I am so attired in wonder /I know not what
  to say" (4.1.142-144).
• The Friar tells them that by noting her
  complexion and the way she reacted, he has become
  convinced that she is actually guiltless.

45
Act IV Scene 1

• Hero awakes and tells them that she has know idea
  what man Claudio thinks he saw her with.
• Friar Francis tells Leonato to pretend that Hero
  has died of shame. He tells Leonato that if Hero
  pretends to be dead, instead of remembering her
  dishonor people will pity her and even Claudio
  will regret his words.
• Everyone agrees to the plan and leaves. Only
  Benedick and Beatrice remain behind.
• They both declare their love for each other and
  Benedick asks her to make him do anything to
  affirm how much he loves her.
• Beatrice famously replies, "Kill Claudio"
  (4.1.287).
• Benedick at first says he will never do such a
  thing, and Beatrice tells him he does not really
  love her then.
• She tries to leave, but Benedick repents his
  answer and stops her. He tells her that he will
  challenge Claudio for her.
• Watch the wedding scene and Benedick and Beatrice

46
Act IV Scene 2

• Read IV.2.145-146
• Dogberry has brought Borachio and Conrad before
  the Town Clerk and is interrogating them.
• Everything is carefully written down to avoid any
  mistakes.
• Dogberry is completely incompetent as an
  examiner, but the clerk takes charge and orders
  the watchman who arrested them to step forward.
• He relates that he overheard them discussing the
  plot against Hero's reputation.
• The sexton informs the men that they cannot deny
  the charge since Don John secretly stole away
  that morning.
• He further tells them that Hero was accused by
  Claudio in the church and died from humiliation.
• The men are bound and ordered to be taken to
  Leonato.
• Watch Dogberrys interrogation scene

47
Analysis

• The fear of the men that they will be cuckolds is
  inherent in the scene where Claudio accuses Hero
  in the church.
• Leonato falsely thinks he has noted that she is
  guilty.
• Hero's fainting is taken as sign of her guilt,
  leading Leonato to tell Beatrice that, "Death is
  the fairest cover for her shame" (4.1.113).
• This is part of the social norms, it is Leonato's
  way of avoiding humiliation. Leonato chooses
  Hero's death in order to protect his reputation
  and avoid embarrassment.
• Claudio now mimics the first time he thinks he
  has lost Hero. "But fare thee well, most foul,
  most fair, farewell" (4.1.101).
• The audience by this point can tell that Claudio
  is a bad reader after all, he makes the same
  mistake twice!
• He is also the most unfriendly lover in
  Shakespeare.
• Claudio dotes on Hero in his mind but prefers to
  choose male bonding over marriage.
• This becomes even more apparent in the next act
  when Claudio and Don Pedro mock Benedick
  together Claudio shows no remorse for Hero's
  death and appears positively triumphant in having
  killed her.

48
Analysis Noting

• It is interesting to note that Benedick becomes
  speechless when Hero is accused.
• Benedick says, "Sir, sir, be patient. / For my
  part, I am so attired in wonder / I know not what
  to say" (4.1.142-144).
• This marks the first time that he is unable to
  comment on the proceedings around him.
• For Benedick, it also moves him away from his
  male companions and Beatrice, with whom he is
  more serious and less verbal.
• Of all the men and women present at the wedding,
  only Friar Francis actually "notes" Hero.
• He says, "By noting of the lady...trust not my
  age...If this sweet lady lie not guiltless here"
  (4.1.157,166,168).
• The Friar is correct as we all know, and his
  choice of words, "by noting of the lady" is
  significant.

49
Analysis Noting

• It is the first time that anyone points out to
  the characters what we all know to be true they
  fail to note what is happing around them.
• Friar Francis is similar to Friar Laurence in
  Romeo and Juliet.
• He tries to save Hero by making her seem dead.
  "Come, lady, die to live" (4.1.253).
• This parallels the death of Juliet.
• The later marriage between Hero and Claudio will
  serve as a resurrection moment. Thus Friar
  Francis plays God with Hero's life and later
  resurrects her in a shroud of death.

50
Analysis Sense and Nonsense

• One of the most significant lines is when
  Beatrice tells Benedick to "Kill Claudio"
  (4.1.287).
• She asks this as a way for Benedick to prove his
  love for her.
• Her demand essentially forces Benedick to choose
  between the brotherly love of men and the loyalty
  of a man to his wife.
• Beatrice knows that she must destroy Benedick's
  former male bonding. Her order is therefore a
  command for Benedick to support her against
  Claudio, and represents the only way for them to
  have a mature relationship.

51
Analysis Sense and Nonsense

• Much Ado About Nothing is the only comedy in
  which no woman dresses as a man to influence the
  plot.
• Beatrice comes closest to this function, saying,
  "O God that I were a man! I would eat his heart
  in the market place" (4.1.303-304). She cannot
  take revenge on Claudio herself, so she falls
  back on her wit to get Benedick to challenge
  Claudio.
• For the first time sense is made out of the
  nonsense of the plot.
• This is done by the Sexton who cuts through
  Dogberry's nonsense. It is a crucial turning
  point in the play, akin to when Friar Francis
  notes Hero's innocence, because someone finally
  notes what is wrong and forces it to be
  clarified.

52
Act V Scene 1

• Antonio is trying to comfort Leonato who is still
  grief-sticken over what happened in the church.
• Antonio tells Leonato to make the men suffer that
  have caused him pain. He says he will.
• Don Pedro and Claudio enter.
• Leonato challenges Claudio to a duel on the
  grounds that he killed Hero through his
  accusation and wrongly harmed Leonato's
  reputation.
• Antonio steps forward and supports Leonato by
  challenging Claudio as well.
• Leonato tries to stop him, but Antonio continues
  hurling insults at Claudio and Don Pedro for the
  way they treated Hero.
• Don Pedro refuses to accept the challenge,
  telling them that Hero, "was charged with nothing
  / But what was true and very full of proof"
  (5.1.106-107).
• Antonio and Leonato leave in a rage, furious with
  the condescending way Don Pedro is treating them.

53
Act V Scene 1

• Read V.1.147-148
• Benedick arrives and is greeted warmly by both
  Don Pedro and Claudio.
• Benedick challenges Claudio, but he thinks it is
  a joke. Both men make fun of Benedick for looking
  so angry and for seemingly having lost his
  ability to wittily reply to their jests. He then
  turns to Claudio and tells him they will meet
  soon in order to fight.
• Don Pedro remarks that Benedick is serious about
  his challenge. Claudio caustically replies that
  it must be for the love of Beatrice.
• Dogberry and Verges enter with Conrad and
  Borachio as their prisoners. Only then does Don
  Pedro realize that Benedick told him Don John had
  fled.
• He approaches the prisoners and demands to know
  why they have been arrested. Borachio tells him
  the entire story

54
Act V Scene 1

• Leonato arrives with the Sexton, who has informed
  him of what happened. Furiously Leonato accuses
  Borachio, Don Pedro and Claudio of killing his
  daughter.
• Claudio and Don Pedro plead their innocence but,
  realizing they are guilty of mistakenly accusing
  Hero, promise to inform the city that she was
  innocent.
• Claudio further promises to marry Leonato's
  niece, whom he tells Claudio is his sole heir.
• Leonato then turns back to Borachio and demands
  to know Margaret's role in the scheme. He tells
  Leonato that Margaret is innocent and did not
  know what she was doing.
• Watch Pedro, Benedick, and Claudio scene

55
Act V Scene 2

• Read V.2.149-150
• Benedick has written a sonnet to Beatrice that
  Margaret is helping him with.
• He then sends her to fetch Beatrice for him.
• She enters the room and plays word games with
  Benedick.
• He finally states, "Thou and I are too wise to
  woo peaceably" (5.2.61), indicating that they are
  too aware of what love and marriage entails to be
  overemotional about it.
• Ursula arrives and tells them to quickly come
  since they proved that Hero has been falsely
  accused.
• Watch movie scene of Benedicks sonnet writing
  and interaction with Beatrice

56
Act V Scene 3

• Claudio, Don Pedro and several other men visit
  Hero's gravesite and perform a short memorial
  service.
• Claudio has written an epitaph for Hero, after
  which he sings a song and then promises to
  perform the same ritual every year.
• Don Pedro bids the other men good night and takes
  Claudio with him to Leonato's house.

57
Act V Scene 4

• Read V.4.150-151
• Leonato sends the woman into their chambers and
  orders them to come out masked when they are
  called for.
• Antonio has promised to pretend that Hero is his
  daughter so Claudio will believe he is marrying
  Hero's cousin.
• Benedick then asks Leonato for permission to
  marry Beatrice at the same wedding ceremony.
  Leonato agrees to the marriage.
• Claudio and Don Pedro arrive and are greeted. The
  women then come out wearing masks to hide their
  identities.
• Claudio asks which lady he shall marry, and
  Antonio gives him Hero. She unmasks herself.

58
Act V Scene 4

• At the wedding Benedick calls for Beatrice to
  reveal herself. She does, and he asks her if she
  loves him.
• Beatrice gives the surprisingly cold answer, "Why
  no, no more than reason" (5.4.74).
• Benedick admits the same thing, and they both
  realize that they were set up by their friends.
• Watching this extraordinary exchange, Claudio and
  Hero pull out sonnets that Benedick and Beatrice
  wrote to each other and show them as proof that
  they really do love each other.
• Benedick states, "A miracle! Here's our own hands
  against our hearts" (5.4.91).
• Benedick and Claudio reconcile their friendship
  and tell Don Pedro to find himself a wife so he
  is not alone.
• A messenger arrives at the very end and informs
  them that Don John has been captured and brought
  back to Messina.
• Benedick tells them, "Think not on him till
  tomorrow, I'll devise thee brave punishments for
  him. Strike up, pipers" (5.4.121-122).
• Watch the entire wedding scene

59
Analysis Truth in Writing

• The fact that there is truth through writing,
  first seen when Dogberry demands that everything
  be recorded, is made abundantly clear in this
  act.
• Beatrice and Benedick write sonnets to each
  other, and the sonnets are taken to be more
  meaningful than even their words.
• When they are at the point of nullifying their
  declared love for one another, Claudio and Hero
  produce the sonnets, thereby "proving" that they
  are lying to each other.
• Claudio earlier in the act writes his epitaph to
  Hero, a way of declaring his love for her.

60
Analysis Truth in Writing

• Dogberry also has the written statement of his
  watchman, thus securing Hero's innocence.
• An interesting line is that of Don Pedro "But on
  my honour she was charged with nothing / But what
  was true and very full of proof" (5.1.106-107).
• This is a challenge to the audience to "note" the
  words of the actors.
• The second line reverses the meaning of the first
  line, turning Hero's initial innocence to guilt.

61
Analysis True Love?

• A fundamental question Do Benedick and Beatrice
  really love each other?
• Many audiences have simply assumed that they
  harbor a deep-seated love that neither will
  admit.
• If we take them at their word then the likely
  answer is no.
• They are mature lovers who have been pushed
  together by a social conspiracy to make them
  marry.
• Benedick "Thou and I are too wise to woo
  peaceably" (5.2.61).
• Later they both realize that their friends were
  plotting against them.
• "Do not you love me?"
• "Why no, no more than reason" (5.4.73-74).
• We expect tender words at this point but we get
  the opposite.

62
Analysis True Love?

• The fact that we still think love wins out is
  because we willingly join the conspiracy against
  both couples.
• The audience roots for them to fall in love and
  get married the actual feelings of the two
  characters are irrelevant at the end.
• Discrepant Awareness
• Each character knows something that the other
  characters do not
• Don John I know not that when he knows what I
  know
• Window scene in movie is not in play
• Put in to show Claudio is not such a dope?
• Irony
• True love happens as the wedding is destroyed
• Beatrice pledges to eat Claudios heart in a
  church
• If we eat the body of Christ in communion, are we
  cannibals to?

63
Analysis A Successful Friar

• Friar Francis, unlike his Romeo and Juliet
  counterpart, succeeds in his resurrection of
  Hero.
• She comes out masked and reveals herself to
  Claudio.
• He cries out, "Another Hero!"
• She replies, "Nothing certainer" (5.4.62-63).
• If we take her pronunciation literally, "noting
  certainer", we can see that this is really the
  first time that Claudio has noted her as a
  person.
• Only through a feigned death could she force
  Claudio to really pay attention to her and
  "notice" who he was marrying.

64
Analysis Marriage a Hoax?

• The question of whether there is any love between
  Hero and Claudio is almost certainly answered
  with a resounding no.
• Hero is mostly a young girl who obeys her father
  regardless of his demands.
• Beatrice mocks this expected obedience in the
  opening act, causing Leonato to hush her.
• Hero willingly switches from Don Pedro to Claudio
  as if it makes no difference who her husband is.
• Later we see the same ability in Claudio, who
  readily agrees to marry Hero's "cousin" without
  ever having seen he girl.
• This lack of dedication compromises their
  credibility as a pair of lovers.

65
Analysis Marriage a Hoax?

• An interesting question is why does it takes so
  long for Claudio to learn Hero is alive?
• The answer is that Claudio must learn something
  first. Initially he and Don Pedro stick to their
  beliefs and refuse to see the truth. Claudio must
  have a penance for his sins against Hero
• Hero has become a nothing by this point in the
  play, her very existence wiped out.
• Claudio is marrying someone he has never seen,
  and it is his trust will be what brings Hero back
  to life in the end.

66
Analysis The Problem of the Ending

• As in many Shakespearian comedies, we are left
  with a sense that everything is not perfect at
  the end.
• In Much Ado About Nothing the ending is tarnished
  by the return of Don John.
• He is returned to Messina in chains and Benedick
  promises to punish him the next day.
• This casts a shadow hangs over an otherwise
  mostly happy ending.

67
Analysis Brannaugh Film

• According to Harold Bloom
• The Brannaugh film was too imaginative
• The scenery was too powerful
• It was able to usurp the actual speaking lines
• The only good element was Thompsons Beatrice
  with her tone, independent elements and facial
  expressions

68
Analysis Characterization Benedick

• It is obvious that Benedick and Beatrice were
  once together and he messed it up
• Read II.1.257-264

69
Analysis Characterization Margaret

• She could have explained the whole thing at the
  wedding, yet she walks away
• Why?

70
Analysis Characterization of Beatrice

• Her wit defends against the meaninglessness that
  consumes the other characters
• She makes much ado about nothing because she
  knows that nothing will come of nothing
• She will always win because she is the wittier
  character
• She has conquered Benedick even before we meet
  him
• Beatrice is frequently on the edge of bitterness
• Read II.2.63-73
• Read II.1.189-195
• Beatrice makes her opinion into the general
  judgement of the world, this is her largest flaw
• Read II.1.38-52
• Another of her strongest characteristics is that
  she is an orphan with no one to answer to

71
Analysis Characterization of Beatrice

• Read II.1.299-311
• Read I.1.221-228
• We can see that Benedicks view of being single
  is less powerful and sublime that Beatrices
• Going to the world is her metaphor for marriage
• She intends to pick Benedick while honestly
  reluctant to accept anyone, even the wittiest
  around

72
Analysis Characterization of Beatrice

• Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand
• She does not plan to accept domestication
• Her wildness captures the audience
• Read V.4.91-97
• Protesting even while kissing
• Will not speak again
• She and the audience were at one

73
Analysis Temper

• Dr. Galen said
• Humans are fluid
• They are made up of Fluid Humors
• Air, water, fire, earth
• If one person has too much of one, you will get a
  certain type of person
• Men HOT
• Women COLD
• Therefore, Claudio, Benedick, Beatrice, Don John,
  and Dogberry are out of temper or have lost
  their temper

74
Analysis Benedick and Beatrice

• They dominate the play because of their higher
  cognitive power
• No disillusioned views of marriage
• No unnecessary flattering
• Neither trusts the other yet the wit in each
  character desires the wit in the other
• Beatrice is a brilliant character that none of
  the others can keep up with, only Benedick comes
  close winning the audiences sympathy along with
  Hero
• Were already together before

75
Analysis Benedick and Beatrice

• Read IV.1.266-288
• Beatrice plays Benedick very well here
• Beatrices will causes Benedick to submit and
  eventually challenge Claudio
• Her ambivalent will is the plays greatest
  strength
• They are, however, a perfect match because each
  is powered by self-love
• Read V.4.72-83
• This exchange goes beyond joking and becomes an
  exchange of tactics, phrasing, and climax

76
Analysis Villains

• Primogeniture has him down
• Embittered and wronged in the womb!
• If true love were served right away, there would
  be no play
• We need Don John who vows to disturb the marriage
  of Hero and Claudio
• Don Johns plot, Harold Bloom feels, could have
  been more elaborate and involved

77
Analysis Title

• Appropriate title
• Benedick and Beatrice are Nihilists
• The setting is Sicily, yet everyone is English
• Regional dialect would not be perfected until
  Mark Twain comes along later
• Wit
• It is more important to be witty and conscious of
  the world because love is superficial
• Definition of love in the play?
• Love is much ado about nothing
• Mutual knowledge of benign nihilism
• Marriage of mutual advantage (Claudio and Hero)
  is questionable