loaned to Kit Palmer 10.19.09

I've just finished Much Ado About Nothing and again name Shakespeare the master. The wickedness of Don John; the nobility of Benedick; the purity of Hero; the redemption of Claudio. It is all too marvellous.

"How much better is it to weep at joy than to joy at weeping!"

Claudio, a young soldier just returned victorious from battle, falls in love with the virtuous Hero. His friend, Prince Don Pedro, woos her for him behind a mask at a ball, winning her hand but also giving the Prince's jealous and villainous brother, Don John, an opportunity to cause mischief. Meanwhile, Claudio's other devoted friend, Benedick, who has sworn off marriage and brags of his fortitude in avoiding the wiles of the fairer sex, is to be the butt of a joke; he is to be fooled into thinking Hero's cousin, Beatrice, a woman set against marriage as much as he, is secretly in love with him. Likewise, Beatrice is to believe that Benedick pines away for her. But while this young love is blossoming, there is a much more sinister scene being hatched.

This is most certainly a comedy but it also has some very dramatic moments. I must critique honestly, I was left a little dizzy from the abrupt switches from humour to drama and back to humour again. I loved it all but sometimes the jokes seemed out of place when hearts are being broken and death has intruded. It seems inappropriate to laugh at such times. But then one has to remember that this is a play, meant to be performed. There are pauses in between lines. There are intermissions here and there. It is not as abrupt as it is in written form.

"When I said I would die a bachelor, I did not think I should live till I were married."

My favorite character was Benedick. He is so confident in his views, even as they contradict from one moment to the next, but he recognises innocence despite the appearance of contrary evidence presented by questionable characters. And the idiotic Dogberry made me laugh out loud. "Oh that I had been writ down an ass!" Too funny. ( )

This is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays! The worthy Claudio falls for the beautiful Hero, but will his love hold up when he thinks her unvirtuous? To me the real scene grabber is the word play between the quick witted Beatrice and the glory hound Benedick. Both swear they will never love; Benedick a sworn bachelor and Beatrice finds men, in particular Benedick, a 'stuffed man' equal to 'pestilence'. This book is fun and clever! Don't be afraid of Shakespeare's words- a must read! ( )

FFYAA

Is your reading life devoid of spice? I have found a new solution for this age-old problem: read some Shakespeare!

Recently I had been trying to mix some drama in with my regular diet of fiction, but found my efforts disappointing, until I finally made it around to Much Ado About Nothing. I have loved this play ever since I went to see it at age six; shortly thereafter I purchased a copy and attempted to read it, but it was too much for me at the time. I'm so glad I finally came back to it, because it is one of the most hilarious and beautiful plays I have ever seen or read!

As others have pointed out, Beatrice and Benedick are some of Shakespeare's wittiest and most lovable characters; indeed, I would rank them among the great romantic couples of literature, though they probably would resent such an appellation. I especially love their first run-in, ending with her remark "You always end with a jade's trick. I know you of old." These two share a past, which is unique in the Bard's gallery of lovers, and the sadness lurking under some of Beatrice's lines only serves to make her comic bickering with "the Benedick" all the riper.

While these two do in the end "make" the play, much of its effectiveness would be lost without the skillful interweaving comic and tragic elements—a friend mentioned that the play could easily have ended similarly to Romeo & Juliet, and a glance at Claudio and Hero's wedding scene reveals that this is indeed a dramatic possibility. This is a disaster of almost operatic proportions, and it turns even our favorite characters' world totally upside-down, leading to the tragicomic (but mostly tragic) scene in which Beatrice demands for Benedick to prove her love by accomplishing one simple task: "kill Claudio." But what makes the ending truly beautiful is Shakespeare's use of an ancient motif, dying to live. In the end all hope is reborn; the troubles everyone went through happened in a different world and time. As Hero says in the final scene, "And when I lived, I was your other wife / And when you loved, you were my other husband."

Highly recommended. ( )