Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing

The play Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare consists of many themes which grow out of the ‘game of love'. The two main themes consist of perception and deception. Through the plot complications, character development and dramatic techniques these themes can be explored. In the play deception is shown on both good and evil sides, the game of love between Beatrice and Benedick and the Don John plot to split up Hero and Claudio. Perception is a theme used in most of Shakespeare's plays. Perceptive views by the characters help portray the game of love. Hero is perceived as dead which then Claudio is sorry and feels for her. Beatrice and Benedick's loved is clouded by each other's perceptions and arguments.

This shows that not only does Benedick have an unusual attitude towards the opposite sex, but it also insinuates that he may have some hatred towards them, too. However, Benedick does not have much respect for women, as he says ‘‘that a woman conceived me, I thank her; that she brought me up, I likewise give her most humble thanks; but that I will have recheat winded in my forehead, or hang my bugle in a invisible baldrick all women shall pardon me,’’ meaning that he’s thankful and grateful that a woman gave birth to him and raised and took care of him: ‘‘that a woman conceived me… I give her most humble thanks’’. But all the other women will have to forgive him for not being willing to be made a fool of — cheated on by a wife (Sparknotes): ‘‘but that I will have recheat… all women shall pardon me’’. This suggests that he does not want to marry because he doesn’t trust women and thinks they lie and are unfaithful. Benedick is a strong character - he talks openly and mocks other people (BBC GCSE Bitesize). He must have issues trusting women because he’s afraid that if he is cheated on, he will be mocked and humiliated by others; he wants to be respected, afraid it will ruin his reputation if he does marry and get cheated on.

At the beginning of the play, Benedick appears as almost a comic character, acting as if the most important part of his character is his wit. However, by the end of the play it becomes obvious that he is a clear-thinking character who is able to take action and keep his head in a crisis.

Drama text, Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare is a romantic comedy revolved around marriage, dishonesty and love. In 2007, the original play had been interpreted and adapted into a new film text; Much Ado About Nothing Shakespeare Retold. This new film version is an adaption for the modern audience who’s views around love and marriage have changed since Elizabethan times. Brian Percival ‘Retold’ the original play, first published in 1623 by reinterpreting it into his own understanding of modern society with the focus of women’s roles nowadays. Whilst doing this Percival has maintained many of Shakespeare’s intentions.

The movie and the play “Much ado about nothing, despite of having the same name, each has its own characteristics that make them unique. As every theatrical work taken to the cinema many scenes were recreated differently, because it needs to be adapted to the preferences of the time in which the film is created in order to attract more public .Even the movie is based on the play ,they were created in different years so the audiences varies from one time to another. Also other reason is that movies need to adapt the story to a specific duration of time. For those that has seen the film and read the book ,Do the movie and the play reproduce exactly the same content? .Obviously the play and the movie have many similarities as the time in which

?Much Ado About Nothing'' is a postwar love story. Its principal subject is that of romance that may settle over the land after soldiers come home. I noticed that Much Ado is actually two love stories. One concerns sweetly innocent lovers who are driven apart by the plotting of enemies. The other involves very sarcastic lovers who are swept into each other's arms by the benign machinations of friends. I had a lot of trouble understanding the dialect, I grew up a country boy and we didn?t do much of this in my 14 persons graduating class. None the less I didn?t think it was a waste of time either. It was of very good quality as far as a plot is

Benedick is also concerned is his public image. He considers himself a ladies’ man of sorts and does not want to be tied down by any woman and would rather die than be wed because he does not trust women.

Benedick, a melodramatic character of the play, is worthy of receiving Beatrice’s love due to his noble qualities and actions. Although Benedick is first described bitterly by Beatrice and appears to be a light-hearted bachelor, he proves to be honorable, loyal, and loving. During the garden scene

Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing is a visually modern take on classic Shakespeare, using the old English script that Shakespeare wrote. At first, I was very surprised that the language was the original script; I fully expected this to be a complete revision, with modern dialog to fit the present day setting. However, after a few minutes to work back into my Shakespeare tongue I was able to follow the performance smoothly. I thought the choice of a black and white filter for the film was interesting as it made it feel somewhat surreal. If it was not black and white, but shot in color, I feel that the dialog being old English would have felt more out of place in a sense. There were some aspects and scenes that I welcomed in black and white

In Much Ado About Nothing, William Shakespeare depicts both Benedick and Beatrice as characters with one major flaw: both are full of pride. With the use of the masquerade scene, as well as the orchard scenes, Shakespeare allows the characters to realize their awry characteristic. By realizing their erroneous pride, Benedick and Beatrice are able to correct this and not only become better citizens, but fall in love.

He lists the many virtues he would require in a future wife. When the prince, Claudio and Leonato approach Benedick Hides.

 Much Ado About Nothing is one of William Shakespeare’s best comedies and love stories.  What is not to like about a play that is hilarious, romantic, and has a happy ending?  In this play the foremost and most intriguing character is Benedick, a man who is a devout bachelor and who does not believe he will ever find the perfect woman; --because perfect is exactly what he must have.  This may seem to be a harsh and pessimistic outlook on life, but the way Shakespeare brings this character to life portrays Benedick as a funny and caring man who really is not that certain about what he wants for the future.  Benedick’s counterpart in the play is Beatrice who is an independent woman

The two played off each other perfectly. Whenever the two entered a battle of wits, I could hear the layers of anger, hurt, and a sort of playfulness which allowed for their relationship not to seem as strange when the couple finally admitted their feelings for the each other. Acker played the role of Beatrice perfectly. She was able to come off as standoffish and bitter without making Beatrice seem like a completely horrible person which again made her more relatable to the women of today. I feel that Denisof was able to quickly flip the switch between Benedick’s cockiness and self-consciousness really well, and this made Benedick seem like a really big dork and made him seem more lovable as a

Kenneth Branagh included a range of quotes from the play, and the characters showed their personalities and emotion which added to the drama. It had me hooked from beginning to end and having already read Much Ado About Nothing it was interesting to see how much difference it was when to see the words shown through actors. My favorite parts were when the characters were having a conversation using Shakespearean language but with the knowledge of English and the characters facial expressions you could still understand and be memorized by it. I am happy with the film and the only negative thing I have to say about it is the tendency for the characters to go over the top with their expressions especially when Claudio was looking trying to give

Much Ado about Nothing predominately revolves around the endeavours of two couples, the younger of which in more distinction; Claudio and Hero. As many could say that another element of Shakespearean comedies could be love, it would seem a more defined term is the love between two younger people, this young couple in particular then faces hindrances that are thrown their way, eventually working through them. Whereas there is still Beatrice and Benedick who work to overcome their egomaniacal ways and eventually initiate a romance, it would seem Claudio and Hero’s complications seem to have more significance to the storyline of the play. This is also due to the fact that the elements of comedy and key plot points are in relation to their complications, such as being the younger couple and facing the mistaken identity ordeal. Nevertheless, Hero and Claudio, being the young couple, face a string of tribulations in which define them as a couple, the majority of these, come from Don John’s