Much Ado About Nothing

Guide Note

Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy play by William Shakespeare. Published in 1600, the play is considered by many to the prototype for contemporary romantic-comedies. Set in Messina, a costal town on the island of Sicily, the play concerns two pairs of lovers - the romantic leads Claudio and Hero and their bickering, comedic counterparts Benedick and Beatrice.

The play has been adapted for film twice - as a 1913 silent film directed by Phillips Smalley and, in 1993, by actor and director Kenneth Branagh, who starred as Benedick opposite his then-wife Emma Thompson as Beatrice.

Fast Facts

  1. Written in 1598
  2. Set in Messina, a city on the island of Sicily
  3. Main Characters:
    1. Benedick
    2. Beatrice
    3. Don Pedro
    4. Claudio
    5. Hero
    6. Don John
  4. Famous Speeches:
    1. O, she misused me past the endurance of a block.
    2. They say the lady is fair, 'tis a truth, I can bear them witness; and virtuous, 'tis so, I cannot reprove it; and wise, but for loving me -
  5. Famous Quotes:
    1. I would my horse had the speed of your tongue
    2. Everyone can master a grief but he that has it
    3. Friendship is constant in all other things save in the office and affairs of love
    4. I shall see thee, ere I die, look pale with love.
    5. Get thee to heaven, Beatrice, get thee to heaven. Hell's no place for maids
    6. O God, that I were a man! I would eat his heart in the market-place.
    7. I cannot be a man with wishing, therefore I will die a woman with grieving

The Mahalo Top 7

  1. Wikipedia: Much Ado About Nothing
  2. SparkNotes: Much Ado About Nothing Study Guide
  3. Internet Shakespeare Edition: Much Ado About Nothing
  4. Cummings Study Guides: Much Ado About Nothing
  5. Folger Shakespeare Library: Much Ado About Nothing
  6. The Literature Network: Much Ado About Nothing  WARNING: Pop-ups
  7. Project Gutenberg: Much Ado About Nothing Downloadable Full Text

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