Much Ado about Nothing : No Fear Shakespeare Side-By-Side Plain English

Shakespeare, William, SparkNotes

ISBN 10: 1411401018 / ISBN 13: 9781411401013

Published by Barnes & Noble, Incorporated, 2004

About this Item

Ships from the UK. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages.

Seller Inventory # 1319085-6

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Much Ado about Nothing : No Fear Shakespeare Side-By-Side Plain English
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble, Incorporated
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1411401018
• ISBN 13: 9781411401013
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: Trade Paperback Edition.
• Condition: Good

About this title

Synopsis

Read Shakespeare's plays in all their brilliance--and understand what every word means! Don't be intimidated by Shakespeare! These popular guides make the Bard's plays accessible and enjoyable. Each No Fear guide contains: The complete text of the original play A line-by-line translation that puts the words into everyday language A complete list of characters, with descriptions Plenty of helpful commentary

Review

Like Love's Labour's Lost, Much Ado about Nothing shows Shakespeare moving into a more complex and darker terrain through his exploration of an apparently harmless comical romance. The play revolves around the adventures of the two gallants Claudio and Benedick at the court of Sicily. Claudio falls in love with the governor's daughter Hero, and is eager for his more misanthropic friend Benedick to also find love. Benedick is introduced to the fiery, independent Beatrice, and sparks soon fly as they banter with each other in a more wittier version of Kate and Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew. Beatrice has some wonderful ripostes to marriage asking why should a woman marry "a clod of wayward marl", whilst Benedick grumbles that "She speaks poniards and every word stabs". Meanwhile, the jealous Don John convinces Claudio that Hero has in fact been unfaithful to him. When Claudio rejects Hero on their wedding day, she faints and is taken for dead. In the hectic final scenes the play moves towards reconciliation between Claudio and Hero, and the tentative admission of the love between Benedick and Beatrice. Famously filmed by Kenneth Branagh in the Tuscan countryside with a cast that included Keanu Reeves, Much Ado about Nothing remains one of Shakespeare's most successful comedies. --Jerry Brotton.