Much Ado about Nothing
1598 • 18 pages
Ratings86
Average rating4.3
15
Ratings86
Average rating4.3
Shakespeare's comedy play Much Ado About Nothing pivots around the impediments to love for young betrothed Hero and Claudio when Hero is falsely accused of infidelity and the "lover's trap" set for the arrogant and assured Benedick who has sworn of marriage and his gentle adversary Beatrice. The merry war between Benedick and Beatrice with the promptings of their friends soon dissolves into farcical love, while Hero's supposed infidelity is shown to be little more than "much ado about nothing".
Reviews with the most likes.
Absolutely wonderful and adorable. This isn't my favourite Shakespearean comedy, but there's plenty of wit and banter present, and a lot of laughs.
(Confession: I think I've seen a staging of this before, but it was my first time reading, and yes, it was in anticipation of the Whedon adaptation).
Much Ado About Nothing is certainly top 5 Shakespeare ever, even if I haven't read enough of them to have a true ability to rank them. I love it nearly as much as I love Hamlet, if for completely different reasons. I will say, though, that this play is very much advantaged by performance; I don't know that I would like it near so much if I had read it without seeing it first. Being a comedy, the parts that are supposed to be funny can come off worse without the comedic sensibilities of whoever performs them. To read it is amusing, but to see it is hilarious. Even still, I love Much Ado.
