1. Much Ado About Nothing William Shakespeare (1598)
“He was not of an age, but for all time!” (Ben Jonson)

2. William Shakespeare Birth: April 23, 1564 in Stratford
Death: April 23, 1616
Attended grammar school until age 15 and married at age 18
Wrote plays from , most of which were performed at The Globe
37 plays
154 sonnets
5 major poems

3. The True Author
Anti-Stratfordians, people who deny Shakespeare’s authorship, charge that a middle-class author from a small town could not have imagined the lives of kings and nobles.
They propose that the real author is someone who came from a higher social class and a more prestigious education.
Since Shakespeare was quite well-known in his own time, there would need to have been an extraordinary conspiracy to conceal the identity of the real playwright.

4. A Tragicomedy
A play that encompasses elements from both tragedy and comedy. The plot typically begins with tragic implications that are happily avoided at the drama’s end.
Tragedy: a serious and often somber drama that typically ends in disaster and that focuses on a character who undergoes unexpected personal reversals. It represents the experiences of noble characters.
Comedy: an amusing and entertaining drama that ends happily and presents the “lighter side” of life. It represents the experiences of ordinary people.
Much Ado is a play of love, villainy, friendship, parent-child relationships, society and customs

5. Characters
Leonato – Governor of Messina and father of Hero, conventional and grief-stricken
Hero – Leonato’s daughter, chaste and docile
Beatrice – Leonato’s niece, spirited and witty
Benedick – Young lord of Padua, brave and quick-witted misogynist (dislikes and mistrusts women)
Claudio – Young lord of Florence, easily swayed by outer appearances
Don Pedro – Prince of Aragon, courtly and conventional
Balthasar – singer attending Don Pedro, whose out-of-key love song sets the tone of the play
Don John – Don Pedro’s illegitimate brother, envious and mischief-maker

6. Summary Main plot: Obstacles in the union of young Claudio and Hero
Conventional
“The villainous luring of Claudio into the mistaken belief that Hero is unchaste”
Subplot: Battle of the sexes between older and wiser Beatrice and Benedick
Intellectual, witty, and humorous
“The benevolent luring of Beatrice and Benedick into mutual declarations of love”

7. Summ More
Beatrice and Benedick are self-conscious makes them indifferent to conventional niceties. If they do not declare their love, it is because they are too defensive or too wise to play society’s conventional game.
Don John is a radically antisocial human being who refuses to observe the appropriate code of manners.

8. Language
Pun: a play on words that capitalizes on a similarity of spelling and/or pronunciation between words that have different meanings.
Innuendo: an indirect or subtle and usually derogatory implication in expression; an insinuation.
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.
The word “sheet” is used to refer to a piece of paper and used to refer to a  bed sheet, with an innuendo placed in between about Beatrice and Benedick.

9. Language
Clever word play: verbal wit based on the meanings and ambiguities of words.
Benedick: What, my dear Lady Disdain! Are you yet living?
Beatrice: Is it possible Disdain should die while she hath such meet (suitable) food to feed it as Signior Benedick? Courtesy itself must convert to Disdain if you come in her presence.
The word “disdain” is used as a name for Beatrice and as a description of her attitude toward Benedick.

10. Themes The nature of attraction between man and woman
The role of marriage in society
Gender roles
The nature of truth
Reality versus appearance

11. Modern Connections The innocent being wrongfully accused.
The romance: Friends serve as “go-betweens”, or in some way help potential lovers come together.
The public’s disdain for illegitimate children.

12. What do you think?
Men and women should marry persons of a similar social and economic status as themselves.
People choose with whom they fall in love.
It is better not to marry than to marry and risk being cheated on by your spouse.
Most people can be trusted to be faithful in marriage.
Men are attracted to women who are assertive and bold.