Much Ado About Nothing (Folger Shakespeare Library) | William Shakespeare

Much Ado About Nothing (Folger Shakespeare Library) | William Shakespeare | Much to praise about "Much Ado About Nothing"

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Much Ado About Not...

	Much Ado About Nothing (Folger Shakespeare Library) William Shakespeare Washington Square Press, 2004 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 36 reviews view larger image
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Essay by Gail Kern Paster

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs.

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A wild romp of a book

This play focuses on two love affairs. Shakespeare plays on misconceptions, and nothing is at it seems. There are a lot of double entendres throughout the play, and the audience's perception of what is going on, is totally the opposite of what the characters are feeling. This is another good play to see performed.

Much to praise about "Much Ado About Nothing"

Set in Messina, Sicily, "Much Ado About Nothing" is one of William Shakespeare's romantic comedies that depicts the love story and follies typical of any Shakespearean play. While the play follows the typical Shakespearean plot of boy-meets-girl, boy-falls-in-love-with-girl, and quickly tips over a conflict, it does resolve to a happy ending at the end. The follies committed by the characters invite the audience to laugh with them, instead of at them. The dilemma in the story is reminiscent of those from a handful from Shakespeares' other plays: the false gossip from Othello, the separated lovers and the fake death from Romeo and Juliet, just to name a few. Even the characters themselves are similar, with the blocking character, the lovers, the friar, the parents, etc. It is Shakespeare's clever manipulation of the same plot and characters that gives new insight into each of the plays, however similar they might be.
Unlike other Shakespeare plays, Much Ado About Nothing is a much lighter burden to read; it is not written in blank verse, and is easily understood by modern readers of all ages. It is a delightful read, departing from his historical or tragic works (i.e. Antony and Cleopatra) and drawing it towards the genre of romantic comedies (i.e. A Midsummer's Night Dream). Both its comedic elements and advancement of events come from the motif of deception. Although the action of eavesdropping leads to multiple misunderstandings, some of which contribute to the conflict between Claudio and Hero, it does some good in uniting Benedick and Beatrice. The witty repartee between those characters also adds to the overall comedic feel of the play.
The play is definitely a page-turner for those seeking for a lighter read.

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Classic Shakespeare

Cute romantic comedy by Shakespeare which is short and entertaining. I am not a huge fan of the Bard, but I enjoyed this play despite the less than spectacular translation. Other plays like Hamlet, Julius Caesar and Othello are good reads as well.

Much ado about not much

Good but not great. Although considered a comedy, this one lacks the sparkle of "Merry Wives of Windsor", "Loves' Labour Lost", or some of the others. It was a long slow wind-up of misunderstandings and heated emotions that resolves itself in the last scene. "Merry Wives" had some real laugh out loud moments, even reading the script. These were conspicuous by their absence. I suspect there were current events at the time of the first stage production of "Much Ado" that were hinted at in the play, providing the true comedy that is not obvious to the modern reader. It comes across as protracted and deliberate misunderstandings, and has too much of a ring of truth to be hilarious. There were, however, many quiet smirks as I read, from having seen similar behavior only 400 years removed from the penning of this manuscript.

Still, it's better than ninety-nine percent of the dreck written in the past decade.

E.M. Van Court

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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