much ado

• 'I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me'

  Beatrice, Act 1 Scene 1


  Beatrice expresses her disdain for love and marriage, establishing her witty, unconventional attitude towards gender norms.
• "Sweet, Hero, now thy image doth appear/ In the rare semblance that I loved it first"

  Claudio, Act 5, Scene 1


  Claudio's shallow love for Hero is revealed as depending solely on her reputation and outward appearance.
•  "Oh God! That I were a man, I would eat his heart in the marketplace"

  Beatrice, Act 4, Scene 1


  Beatrice laments the limitations of her gender, wishing she could openly challenge Claudio's dishonouring of Hero as a man would.
•  "Adam's sons are my brethren, and truly I hold it a sin to match in my kindred"

  Beatrice, Act 2, Scene 1


  Beatrice radically suggests men and women are equal, refusing to marry and be subservient to someone she views as her peer.
• "I cannot hide what I am"

  Don John, Act 1, Scene 3


  Don John, the play's malcontent, admits his villainous nature is due to his illegitimate birth.
• "Give not this rotten orange to your friend. / She's but the sign and semblance of her honour"

  Claudio, Act 4, Scene 1


  Claudio insults Hero using a corrupted metaphor, suggesting a woman's value lies solely in her honour, and worthless once her presumed virtue is lost.
• She died, my lord, but whiles her slander lived"

  Leonato, Act 5, Scene 4


  Hero metaphorically died when her honour was questioned, only able to truly live again once her innocence was proven.
• "There is a kind of merry war betwixt Signor Benedick and her. They never meet but there's a skirmish of wit between them"

  Leonato, Act 1, Scene 1


  Leonato compares Beatrice and Benedick's banter to a military skirmish, setting up their love through an extended metaphor of love as war.
•  "Marry, sir, they have committed false report; moreover, they have spoken untruths; secondarily, they are slanders..."

  Dogberry, Act 5, Scene 1


  Dogberry's confusing misuse of language (in order to appear refined) undermines the honour of his decision to bring the criminals, Borachio and Conrad, to confess.
• Gender Roles

  Elizabethan women were stereotyped as chaste, modest, subservient and wholly dependent on men
• Importance of a woman's virginity in Elizabethan times


  • Women had to maintain virginity until at least engaged
  • Rumours of a woman not being a virgin would harm her reputation, as well as her father's and future husband's
• Cuckold


  A man depicted with animal horns as a shameful sign that their wives had been unfaithful
• The character of Don John is a symbol of infidelity, the very fact that he is illegitimate makes him "evil"
• Freytag's pyramid structure


  • Exposition
  • Rising Action
  • Climax
  • Falling Action
  • Resolution: denouement
• Much Ado About Nothing

  Shakespearean comedy, written c. 1598 - 99
• Act 1: Exposition


  • Provides background information, establishes setting and character relationships
• Machiavellian villains


  Cunning and deceitful characters who present themselves differently in private vs public
• Act 2: Rising Action


  Plot obstacles affecting the protagonists are introduced
• Obstacles in Act 2

  • Don John suggests Claudio that Don Pedro has wooed Hero for himself
  • Don John and Borachio plot to ruin Claudio and Hero's engagement
  • Don Pedro suggests tricking Benedick and Beatrice into falling in love
• Act 3: Climax


  Turning point - for better or worse - in the protagonist's affairs
• Events in Act 3, Scene 1

  • Beatrice vows to requite Benedick's love
  • Don John informs Claudio and Don Pedro of Hero's 'infidelity'
• Act 4: Falling Action


  Building towards resolution of the climax where the protagonist will either 'win' in a comedy or 'lose' in a tragedy
• Events in Act 4

  • Hero is publicly denounced by Claudio
  • Benedick agrees to kill Claudio to prove his love for Beatrice
• Act 5: Resolution/Denouement


  Harmony is restored and any misunderstandings are cleared up. Excluding the villain, characters are reconciled to one another.
• Events in Act 5

  • Claudio learns the truth about Don John's deception and offers to atone
  • Claudio prepares to marry Antonio's 'daughter', revealed to be Hero
  • Benedick and Beatrice publicly confess their love
• BEATRICE: I pray you is Signor Montanto return’d from the wars or no?

  Act 1, Scene 1

  • Beatrice’s first line in the play establishes her as an outspoken and feminist character.
  • “Montanto” is an insulting term, alluding to the fact that Benedick has had several sexual partners.
• BEATRICE: I wonder you still be talking Signor Benedick. Nobody marks you.

  BENEDICK: What, my dear Lady Disdain. Are you yet living?

  Act 1, Scene 1

  • when Benedick arrives with the others, Beatrice refers to him formally, with his title “Signor Benedick” whilst he is able to insult her with the derogatory address term “Lady Disdain.”
  • The rules of society are shown to be different for men and women.
• CLAUDIO: Benedick, didst thou note the the daughter of Signor Leonato?

  BENEDICK: I noted her not, but I looked on her.

  -Act 1, Scene 1


   he does not refer to Hero by her own name, rather she is “the daughter of Signor Leonato”.

  • The possessive language “of” represents how in Shakespearean times, women were seen as the inferior sex.
• CLAUDIO: Can the world buy such a jewel?

  -Act 1, Scene 1

  
  

  Claudio is paying Hero a compliment by comparing her to a jewel:

  • It suggests she is beautiful and her beauty surpasses all others and that she is priceless.
  • However, a feminist interpretation could regard this line as being materialistic and objectifying towards women, Claudio is attracted to Hero because of her physical attraction, nothing more.
• DON JOHN: it must not be denied but I am a plain dealing villain.

  Act 1, Scene 3

  Don John willingly embraces his villainous character, fulfilling the role that would be expected of him due to his illegitimate nature.
• DON JOHN: I had rather be a canker in a hedge than a rose in his grace.

  Act 1, Scene 3


  The use of “canker” illustrates Don John’s villainy.

  • He would rather be a fungus, spreading disease and disharmony rather than love his brother, Don Pedro.
  • Don John does not refer to Don Pedro by his name, perhaps reflecting the bitterness he feels towards him.
• BEATRICE: Not until God make men of some other metal than earth. Would it not grieve a woman to be overmastered with a piece of valiant dust?

  Act 2, Scene 1


  Biblical imagery to question the idea that men are viewed in society as superior to women.

  • The verb “overmastered” highlights Beatrice’s belief in equality between the sexes: one should not outrank the other.
• CLAUDIO: Tis certain so. The Prince woos for himself [...] beauty is a witch.

  Act 2, Scene 1


  His language here is definitive, showing just how easily he can be manipulated by Don John.

  • The use of the metaphor “Beauty is a witch” relates again to the theme of deception and appearances.
• BENEDICK: She speaks poniards, and every word stabs.

  Act 2, Scene 1


  • Shakespeare reveals Benedick’s dismay that at the masked ball, Beatrice did not recognise him before including this metaphor in which Benedick suggests that Beatrice’s insults are like daggers that have wounded him.
  • This more sensitive side to Benedick’s character reflects the change that will soon be brought about through Don Pedro’s trickery.
• BENEDICK: I would not marry her though she were endowed with all that Adam had left him before he transgress’d

  -Act 2, Scene 1


  In a parallel to Beatrice’s earlier language use, Shakespeare uses a hyperbole (literary exaggeration) to express his feelings towards Beatrice.
• DON PEDRO: If we can do this, Cupid is no longer an archer; his glory shall be ours, for we are the only love-gods.

  Act 2, Scene 1


  • Don Pedro’s use of the conditional tense (“if”) suggests that he knows that it will be no easy task to make B+B fall in love.
  • He talks of Cupid’s “glory”, implying he takes a great deal of pride and honour in matching couples.
  • His self-comparison to Cupid could be viewed as arrogant
  • Don Pedro’s over-confidence relates to the concept of downfall (hamartia) in a classical tragedy.
• BENEDICK: “I should think this a gull but that the white-bearded fellow speaks it.”

  Act 2, Scene 3


  • The importance of status is again reflected through the fact that it is Leonato’s word that helps convince Benedick.
  • “White” has connotations of innocence and purity.
  • Just as he believes Hero’s innocence in Act 4, Scene 1, Benedick cannot believe that Leonato would be lying.
• BENEDICK: “The world must be peopled. When I said I would die a bachelor, I did not think I would live till I were married.”

  Act 2, Scene 3


  • The idea of procreation first through marriage then the sexual consummation of this act is alluded to when he states “The world must be peopled.”
• “BENEDICK: By this day she’s a fair lady! I do spy some marks of love in her.”

  Act 2, Scene 3


  The complimentary adjective provides a stark contrast to his previous derogatory and insulting language towards her (“Lady Disdain”, “I wish some scholar would conjure her”, “Harpy” etc).
• HERO: Now, Ursula, when Beatrice doth come, as we do trace this alley up and down, our talk must only be of Benedick.

  Act 3, Scene 1


  • Her use of the imperative statement “our talk must only be of Benedick” is assertive and the use of “must” illustrates to the audience that Hero, too, can be strong and confident in the right company.