TITLE: Much Ado About Nothing
AUTHOR: William Shakespeare
- BORN: April 1564
- BIRTH PLACE: Stratford-upon-Avon, England
- DIED: April 1616
PUBLISHED: 1598
SETTING:
- 16th century
- Sicly
- Atmosphere: Excitement, Laughter, friendly
THEME: The major theme of this movie was playing tricks (or decieving)each other, and, of course, love.
PLOT: Claudio and Hero fall in love, but Don John tricks Claudio into thinking Hero has been sleeping with another man. Claudio shames Hero at the wedding, and she then ends up pretending she died. Meanwhile, Don Pedro, Claudio, Hero's dad, and Hero trick Beatrice and Benedick into loving each other.
MAIN CHARACTERS:
PROTAGANISTS:
Hero- in love with Claudio, innocent
Claudio- in love with Hero, serves Don Pedro
Don Pedro- prince, good humored, hooks up both Hero & Claudion and Beatrice & Benedick
Benedick- first hated the idea of marriage, argued with Beatrice a lot
Beatrice- Hero's cousin, also didn't want to get married, "witty", always happy
The guards- discovered that Don John had set up the situation behind Hero's slander and ended up saving Hero's reputation so she could "come back to life" and marry Claudio
ANTAGONIST:
Don John- Don Pedro's brother, dark, silent, wanted people to think Hero was not innocent
SYMBOLS: Hero's faked death was kind of symbolic because she was "killed by the slander" emotionally and socially.
DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS:
The movie showed that deception could be used for both good and bad. The movie still used the Shakespearean language and setting; it also shows how important a woman's virture was during those times--you were pretty much better off dead than having sex before marriage back then.
RESPONSE:
It was a lot better than I thought it would be. I actually understood a lot of the plot, but at some parts they talked way too fast. This play had a much lighter mood than the other Shakepeare plays I've seen-- at least nobody ended up dead (for real) and everyone lived happily ever after. I didn't quite understand why Don John wanted to break up Hero and Claudio. Overall, I thought this was a pretty good love story because the two least likely people ended up together (Beatrice and Benedick) and the perfect couple (Claudio and Hero) ended up overcoming the slander, ect.
