35-674: Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599. The play was included in the First Folio , published in 1623. The play is set in Messina and revolves around two romantic pairings that emerge when a group of soldiers arrive in the town. The first, between Claudio and Hero , is nearly scuppered by the accusations of the villain, Don John. The second, between Claudio's friend Benedick and Hero's cousin Beatrice , takes centre stage as
70-439: A complementary theme of emotional manipulation, the ease with which the characters' sentiments are redirected and their propensities exploited as a means to an end. The characters' feelings for each other are played as vehicles to reach the goal of engagement rather than as an end in themselves. Characters are constantly pretending to be others or mistaken for others. Margaret is mistaken for Hero, leading to Hero's disgrace. During
105-625: A fourth category, romance , to describe the specific types of comedy that appear in Shakespeare's later works. This alphabetical list includes everything listed as a comedy in the First Folio of 1623, in addition to the two quarto plays ( The Two Noble Kinsmen and Pericles, Prince of Tyre ) which are not included in the Folio but generally recognised to be Shakespeare's own. Plays marked with an asterisk (*) are now commonly referred to as
140-574: A little, For I have only been silent so long And given way unto this course of fortune By noting of the lady. At (3.3.102–104), Borachio indicates that a man's clothing doesn't reveal his character: Borachio: Thou knowest that the fashion of a doublet, or a hat, or a cloak is nothing to a man. A triple play on words in which noting signifies noticing, musical notes, and nothing, occurs at (2.3.47–52): Don Pedro: Nay pray thee, come; Or if thou wilt hold longer argument, Do it in notes. Balthasar: Note this before my notes: There's not
175-471: A masked ball (in which everyone must wear a mask), Beatrice rants about Benedick to a masked man who is actually Benedick, but she acts unaware of this. During the same celebration, Don Pedro pretends to be Claudio and courts Hero for him. After Hero is proclaimed dead, Leonato orders Claudio to marry his 'niece', who is actually Hero. Another motif is the play on the words nothing and noting . These were near- homophones in Shakespeare's day. Taken literally,
210-427: A month at least, and Benedick and Beatrice resume their "merry war". Pedro's illegitimate brother, Don John, is also introduced. Claudio's feelings for Hero are rekindled, and he informs Benedick of his intention to court her. Benedick, who openly despises marriage, tries to dissuade him. Don Pedro encourages the marriage. Benedick swears that he will never marry. Don Pedro laughs at him and tells him he will when he finds
245-504: A note of mine that's worth the noting. Don Pedro: Why, these are very crotchets that he speaks – Note notes, forsooth, and nothing! Don Pedro's last line can be understood to mean 'Pay attention to your music and nothing else!' The complex layers of meaning include a pun on 'crotchets', which can mean both ' quarter notes ' (in music) and whimsical notions. The following are puns on notes as messages: (2.1.174–176), Claudio: I pray you leave me. Benedick: Ho, now you strike like
280-1014: Is A. J. Antoon 's 1972 staging, starring Sam Waterston , Kathleen Widdoes , and Barnard Hughes . Derek Jacobi won a Tony Award for playing Benedick in 1984. Jacobi had also played Benedick in the Royal Shakespeare Company 's highly praised 1982 production, with Sinéad Cusack playing Beatrice. Director Terry Hands produced the play on a stage-length mirror against an unchanging backdrop of painted trees. In 2013, Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones (then in their seventies and eighties, respectively) played Beatrice and Benedick onstage at The Old Vic , London. The operas Montano et Stéphanie (1799) by Jean-Élie Bédéno Dejaure and Henri-Montan Berton , Béatrice et Bénédict (1862) by Hector Berlioz , Beaucoup de bruit pour rien (pub. 1898) by Paul Puget , Viel Lärm um Nichts (1896) by Árpád Doppler , and Much Ado About Nothing by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1901) are based upon
315-489: Is "disloyal", and arranges for them to see his associate, Borachio, enter her bedchamber and engage amorously with her (it is actually Hero's chambermaid). Claudio and Don Pedro are duped, and Claudio vows to humiliate Hero publicly. The next day, at the wedding, Claudio denounces Hero before the stunned guests and storms off with Don Pedro. Hero faints. A humiliated Leonato expresses his wish for her to die. The presiding friar intervenes, believing Hero innocent. He suggests that
350-564: Is central and should be considered in its Renaissance context. This was reflected and emphasized in certain plays of the period but was also challenged. Amussen notes that the undoing of traditional gender clichés seems to have inflamed anxieties about the erosion of social order. It seems that comic drama could be a means of calming such anxieties. Ironically, the play's popularity suggests that this only increased interest in such behavior. Benedick wittily gives voice to male anxieties about women's "sharp tongues and proneness to sexual lightness". In
385-586: Is given a prominent role in the opening and finale, and the women seem to embrace its message. The play has many examples of deception and self-deception. The games and tricks played on people often have the best intentions: to make people fall in love, to help someone get what they want, or to lead someone to realize their mistake. But not all are well-meant: Don John convinces Claudio that Don Pedro wants Hero for himself, and Borachio meets 'Hero' (actually Margaret) in Hero's bedroom window. These modes of deceit play into
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#1732780048645420-492: Is madly in love with him but too afraid to tell him. Hero and Ursula likewise ensure that Beatrice overhears a conversation in which they discuss Benedick's undying love for her. Both Benedick and Beatrice are delighted to think that they are the object of unrequited love , and both resolve to mend their faults and declare their love. Meanwhile, Don John plots to stop the wedding, embarrass his brother, and wreak misery on Leonato and Claudio. He tells Don Pedro and Claudio that Hero
455-577: The Claudio–Hero plot in The Faerie Queene (Book II, Canto iv). According to the earliest printed text, Much Ado About Nothing was "sundry times publicly acted" before 1600. The play likely debuted in the autumn or winter of 1598–99. The earliest recorded performances are two at Court in the winter of 1612–13, during festivities preceding the Wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Frederick V of
490-507: The Palatinate (14 February 1613). In 1600, the stationers Andrew Wise and William Aspley published the play in quarto . This was the only edition prior to the First Folio in 1623. The play is predominantly written in prose. The substantial verse sections achieve a sense of decorum. Much Ado About Nothing is set in Messina , a port city on the island of Sicily , when Sicily is ruled by Aragon . Its action takes place mainly at
525-521: The Second World War. The title track of the 2009 Mumford & Sons album Sigh No More uses quotes from this play in the song. The title of the album is also a quotation from Act 2 Scene 3 of the play. A 2015 rock opera adaptation of the play, These Paper Bullets , was written by Rolin Jones with music by Billie Joe Armstrong . Opera McGill commissioned an operatic adaptation of
560-475: The action centres on interest in others and critique of others, written messages, spying, and eavesdropping. This attention is mentioned several times directly, particularly concerning 'seeming', 'fashion', and outward impressions. Examples of noting as noticing occur in the following instances: (1.1.131–132) Claudio: Benedick, didst thou note the daughter of Signor Leonato? Benedick: I noted her not, but I looked on her. and (4.1.154–157). Friar: Hear me
595-457: The blind man – 'twas the boy that stole your meat, and you'll beat the post. in which Benedick plays on the word post as a pole and as mail delivery in a joke reminiscent of Shakespeare's earlier advice ' Don't shoot the messenger '; and (2.3.138–142) 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
630-554: The copy of my child that's dead". After Claudio swears to marry this other bride, she is revealed to be Hero. Claudio is overjoyed. Beatrice and Benedick publicly confess their love for each other. Don Pedro taunts "Benedick the married man", and Benedick counters that he finds the Prince sad, advising him: "Get thee a wife". As the play draws to a close, a messenger arrives with news of Don John's capture, but Benedick proposes to postpone deciding Don John's punishment until tomorrow so that
665-544: The couples can enjoy their newfound happiness. The couples dance and celebrate as the play ends. Shakespeare's immediate source may have been one of Matteo Bandello of Mantua 's Novelle ("Tales"), possibly the translation into French by François de Belleforest , which dealt with the tribulations of Sir Timbreo and his betrothed Fenicia Lionata, in Messina, after Peter III of Aragon 's defeat of Charles of Anjou . Another version, featuring lovers Ariodante and Ginevra, with
700-399: The cover of their masks. Benedick is stung at hearing himself described as "the prince's jester, a very dull fool", and yearns to be spared the company of "Lady Tongue". Don Pedro and his men, bored at the prospect of waiting a week for the wedding, concoct a plan to match-make between Benedick and Beatrice. They arrange for Benedick to overhear a conversation in which they declare that Beatrice
735-437: The deceitful and inconstant sex that women must abide. Several characters seem obsessed with the idea that a man cannot know whether his wife is faithful and that women can take full advantage of this. Don John plays upon Claudio's pride and fear of cuckoldry, leading to the disastrous first wedding. Many of the men readily believe that Hero is impure; even her father condemns her with very little evidence. This motif runs through
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#1732780048645770-401: The family fake Hero's death to fill Claudio with remorse. Prompted by the stressful events, Benedick and Beatrice confess their love for each other. Beatrice then asks Benedick to kill Claudio as proof of his devotion. Benedick hesitates but is swayed. Leonato and Antonio blame Claudio for Hero's supposed death and threaten him, to little effect. Benedick arrives and challenges him to a duel. On
805-466: The home and grounds of Leonato's Estate. Benedick and Beatrice quickly became the main interest of the play. They are considered the leading roles even though their relationship is given equal or lesser weight in the script than Claudio's and Hero's situation. Charles I wrote, 'Benedick and Beatrice' beside the title of the play in his copy of the Second Folio . The provocative treatment of gender
840-510: The night of Don John's treachery, the local Watch overheard Borachio and Conrade discussing their "treason" and "most dangerous piece of lechery that ever was known in the commonwealth", and arrested them therefore. Despite their ineptitude (headed by constable Dogberry ), they obtain a confession and inform Leonato of Hero's innocence. Don John has fled, but a force is sent to capture him. Remorseful and thinking Hero dead, Claudio agrees to her father's demand that he marry Antonio's daughter, "almost
875-411: The play continues, with both characters' wit and banter providing much of the humour. Through "noting" (sounding like "nothing" and meaning gossip, rumour, overhearing), Benedick and Beatrice are tricked into confessing their love for each other, and Claudio is tricked into believing that Hero is not a maiden (virgin). The title's play on words references the secrets and trickery that form the backbone of
910-548: The play with music by James Garner and libretto adapted by Patrick Hansen, to premiere in Montréal in the 2023/24 season. The first cinematic version in English may have been the 1913 silent film directed by Phillips Smalley . Shakespearean comedy In the First Folio , the plays of William Shakespeare were grouped into three categories: comedies , histories , and tragedies ; and modern scholars recognise
945-422: The play's comedy, intrigue, and action. In Messina , a messenger brings news that Don Pedro will return that night from a successful battle, along with Claudio and Benedick. Beatrice asks the messenger about Benedick and mocks Benedick's ineptitude as a soldier. Leonato explains, "There is a kind of merry war betwixt Signor Benedick and her." On the soldiers' arrival, Don Pedro tells Leonato that they will stay
980-542: The play's patriarchal society, the men's loyalties are governed by conventional codes of honour, camaraderie, and a sense of superiority over women. Assumptions that women are by nature prone to inconstancy are shown in the repeated jokes about cuckoldry , and partly explain Claudio's readiness to believe the slander against Hero. This stereotype is turned on its head in Balthasar's song "Sigh No More", which presents men as
1015-423: The play, often referring to horns (a symbol of cuckoldry). In contrast, Balthasar's song "Sigh No More" tells women to accept men's infidelity and continue to live joyfully. Some interpretations say that Balthasar sings poorly, undercutting the message. This is supported by Benedick's cynical comments about the song, comparing it to a howling dog. In Kenneth Branagh 's 1993 film , Balthasar sings it beautifully: it
1050-684: The play. The composer Edward MacDowell said he was inspired by Ellen Terry 's portrayal of Beatrice in this play for the scherzo of his Piano Concerto No. 2 . Erich Wolfgang Korngold composed music for a 1917 production at the Vienna Burgtheater by Max Reinhardt . In 2006 the American Music Theatre Project produced The Boys Are Coming Home , a musical adaptation by Berni Stapleton and Leslie Arden that sets Much Ado About Nothing in America during
1085-451: The right person. A masquerade ball is planned. Therein a disguised Don Pedro woos Hero on Claudio's behalf. Don John uses this situation to sow chaos by telling Claudio that Don Pedro is wooing Hero for himself. Claudio rails against the entrapments of beauty. But the misunderstanding is later resolved, and Claudio is promised Hero's hand in marriage. Meanwhile, Benedick and Beatrice have danced together, trading disparaging remarks under
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1120-523: The servant Dalinda impersonating Ginevra on the balcony, appears in Book V Ludovico Ariosto 's Orlando Furioso (published in an English translation in 1591). The character of Benedick has a counterpart in a commentary on marriage in Orlando Furioso . But the witty wooing of Beatrice and Benedick is apparently original and very unusual in style and syncopation. Edmund Spenser tells one version of
1155-629: The sheet? in which Leonato makes a sexual innuendo, concerning sheet as a sheet of paper (on which Beatrice's love note to Benedick is to have been written), and a bedsheet. William Davenant staged The Law Against Lovers (1662), which inserted Beatrice and Benedick into an adaptation of Measure for Measure . Another adaptation, The Universal Passion , combined Much Ado with a play by Molière (1737). John Rich had revived Shakespeare's text at Lincoln's Inn Fields (1721). David Garrick first played Benedick in 1748 and continued to play him until 1776. In 1836, Helena Faucit played Beatrice at
1190-451: The title implies that a great fuss ('much ado') is made of something insignificant ('nothing'), such as the unfounded claims of Hero's infidelity and that Benedick and Beatrice are in love with each other. Nothing is also a double entendre : 'an O-thing' (or 'n othing' or 'no thing') was Elizabethan slang for " vagina ", derived from women having 'nothing' between their legs. The title can also be understood as Much Ado About Noting : much of
1225-440: The very beginning of her career at Covent Garden , opposite Charles Kemble as Benedick in his farewell performances. The great 19th-century stage team Henry Irving and Ellen Terry counted Benedick and Beatrice as their greatest triumph. John Gielgud made Benedick one of his signature roles between 1931 and 1959, playing opposite Diana Wynyard , Peggy Ashcroft , and Margaret Leighton . The longest-running Broadway production
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