William Shakespeare 's Much Ado About Nothing

William Shakespeare’s play Much Ado about Nothing traverses the complex social, and emotional trials and triumphs of romantic relationships; Shakespeare’s perspective on the subject is both very similar to ours today, and different. Although filled with sexual innuendos, and humorous trickery and shenanigans, Much Ado about Nothing also dives into the complexities of social anxieties, defense mechanisms to cope with the social pressures, and the emotions involved.

‘’Beatrice and Benedick display a kind of agility which is a condition of true life, and compared with them most other characters appear wooden and immobile’’. How far would you agree with this view in terms of the presentation of Benedick and Beatrice in this dramatic comedy?

Many people experience love in their life whether it’s with family, friends, or with a partner. WIlliam Shakespeare’s book, Much Ado About Nothing, contains many different forms of love such as the love between daughter and father, friends, and lovers. Some of those relationships, however, are questionable like the relationship between Hero and Claudio. Throughout the book Hero and Claudio are faced with many obstacles that help the reader conclude that they aren’t truly in love with each other.

In the play Much Ado About Nothing, the theme of scandalous accusations, dishonesty, and its effects take a major role throughout the entirety of the play. However, the effects on a person’s honor vary hugely depending on the sex of the person. For a male, a jab at his honor is an insult, and most likely will result in an all out defense of his integrity in an effort to regain it. A woman, however, suffers far greater consequences. Her honor is based increasingly on her innocence (celibacy) and her interactions with other males in her family and the community, and a false portrayal of her actions in this respect could result in being shamed permanently, and thus viewed differently for the rest of her life. This is clearly evident in Much Ado About Nothing, as Hero is slandered by Claudio, causing a metaphorical “death”, and almost resulting in the actual loss of her own life. However the causes and effects change from character to character throughout the play, and it is evident that a gender gap is present in regards to honor.

Power is often a theme of Shakespeare’s plays. It is what separates the nobility from the commoners, and it often what the various characters seek. Yet when it comes to power in Shakespeare’s plays, it is often associated with male characters that are seeking it, such as King Richard of Richard III and Macbeth of Macbeth. There is little discussion of power concerning women because unlike their male counterparts, women of Shakespeare’s (and even modern) time are often overshadowed by the men in their lives. Women are expected to be gentle, soft-spoken and often hesitant to go against the grain. As a result, this type of characters often lacks any sort of power. However, the more characteristics associated with males that a female character adopts, the more power she gains. This phenomenon can be witnessed in both Much Ado About Nothing and As You Like It.

The Comedy of Nothing Rylee Ertle Shakespeare & Poetry 9/18/17 What is a comedy? A comedy is funny and has a happy ending, right? Well, that͛s only half correct. Comedy goes all the way back to Ancient Greece and the very first plays. The Greeks had two genres, comedy and tragedy. That was it. Thankfully, a lot has changed since then. Over the years, talented playwrights have come up with a lot more genres than tragedy and comedy. Equally prolific critics have also come up with guidelines to categorize these new plays. Lots of guidelines. In the end, though, it doesn't have to be too complicated. To be a comedy, you need three important things: 1)A comic hero or heroine 2)An ordinary world 3)And a happy ending 1You don't even have to have jokes! Believe it or not, they, along with a lot of other minor elements are optional. Much Ado About Nothing is generally considered one of Shakespeare͛s best comedies, because it combines elements of robust hilarity with more serious meditations on honor, shame, and court politics. It was probably written in 1598 and 1599, as Shakespeare was approaching the middle of his career. Much Ado About Nothing, though interspersed with darker concerns, is a joyful comedy that ends with multiple marriages and no deaths. Although the young lovers Hero and Claudio provide the main impetus for the plot, the courtship between the older, wiser lovers Benedick and Beatrice is what makes Much Ado About Nothing so memorable. Benedick and Beatrice argue with delightful wit, and Shakespeare develops their journey from antagonism to sincere love and affection with a rich sense of humor and compassion. Since Beatrice and Benedick have a history behind them that adds weight to their relationship, they are older and more mature than the typical lovers in Shakespeare͛s comedies, though their unhealthy competitiveness reveals them to be childish novices when it comes to love.

The presence and display of love in Much Ado About Nothing is very different depending on which character or relationship one focuses on. Benedick and Beatrice show their love for each other like a school boy, who picks on his crush to show he likes her. In contrast, Hero and Claudio’s relationship is much more innocent and simple. Shakespeare shows the themes of love, the difference between appearance and reality, and deception, through Hero, Claudio, Beatrice, and Benedick and their relationships with each other.

William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in England. He died in 1616 at the age of 52 from a fever. Shakespeare was born to a poor family, and was the third of eight children. Not much is known of his early life, but what is known is that Shakespeare married at 18 and had three children with Anne Hathaway. In these “lost years” it is also assumed that he started to act on stage, and writing play. In 1594, Shakespeare was a partner in a theater company, that owned the Globe, were he would both acted and wrote many of the company’s plays. By 1597, William Shakespeare had published 15 plays consisting of a mixture of comedy and drama. Much Ado About Nothing is just like Shakespeare’s normal plays by there being a drama with comical relief. In the Globe, Shakespeare’s plays became famous causing him to be known as one of the best English writers in history.

Love, who can truly define this word? Many people have attempted to define it throughout the years. The reason it is so difficult is because there are so many different types of love and each type would have a different way of being described. The play A Mid Summer’s Night Dream by William Shakespeare has love displayed in many different ways throughout. Hermia and Demetrius are great examples of forced love while Hermia and Lysander are an example of forbidden love, and Oberon uses manipulative love with Titania during this play. Forced love, forbidden love, and manipulative love are all different, but they eventually lead back to the same idea and that is love.

BEATRICE: You had musty victual, and he hath holp to eat it, he is a

Around the world, Shakespeare's works are read and analysed. His plays are sorted into four categories: Comedies, Histories, Tragedies and Romances. “Much Ado About Nothing”, by William Shakespeare, demonstrates the characteristics recurrent in elizabethan tragedies, despite being considered a comedy. These significant elements include: a villain, death, and a tragic love story.

Shakespeare explores different types of love such as family love, romantic love, love at first sight, friendship love and forced love. The dictionary defines love as having an intense feeling of deep affection for someone. Love has many examples like Romeo’s affection of early love for Rosaline, a “puppy” love or the otherworldly love, the generosity that common between Juliet with the nurse or Romeo with Mercutio as friends. This story predominantly concentrates on the youthful, romantic, passionately love, particularly between two young lovers named Romeo and Juliet.

Analysis of Shakespeare’s powerful female characters in the play “Much Ado about Nothing” and “King Lear"

evil. The evil is in the mind of Don John who is seen plotting evil

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