Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Much Ado About Nothing: An Intro


Much Ado About Nothing is the only one of the ten plays that I’ve already read, so I’m starting with this one. I first read it in tenth grade (2011-2012) and immediately fell in love with the characters and their story. The play revolves around two pairs of people: Hero and Claudio, a sweet, romantic couple hoping soon to be married, and Beatrice and Benedick, two witty, intelligent young adults who are locked in an antagonistic battle of words. 

Normally, I would say why this play caught my attention, but I've already read it, so I'll tell you a little bit why I love it so much.


The number one reason I'm obsessed with this play is Beatrice and Benedick. I'll go into more detail as we read, but I will tell you that I love that these are two independent characters who don't ever need to change who they are in order to be liked by anyone. They are unconventional and headstrong and their friends love them for it.


Dogberry (the head of the police force in Messina, Italy where the story is set) and his ridiculous antics are genuinely funny, and what's funnier still is when other characters (like Don Pedro, Claudio and Benedick's friend and fellow soldier) mess with him.


It's a really interesting commentary on true love. I won't give too much away, but I'll say that the rules of convention are thrown out the window when you see which couple has a happy ending (technically, all couples involved have a happy ending, but one definitely more so than the other).


Thus begins our study of Much Ado About Nothing. Tomorrow we'll do a look into the background of the play.

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