Back to Hero and Claudio… The night before their wedding, Don John makes one of his servants arrange a meeting with one of Hero’s maids by Hero’s bedroom window. The Prince and Claudio see this happening, and get convinced over that Hero is seeing some other man at night. This has consequences on the couples’ special day for Claudio disgraces the girl he is engaged to and does not wish to marry her any more.
The constable and three watchmen put Don John’s servant under arrest, after hearing him bragging about succeeding in ruining Hero and Claudio’s wedding plans.
The Friar has the idea of spreading the tale about Hero being dead blaming her terrible sorrow, but the true story of Don John’s evil plan lets go. The Prince and Claudio regret their mistake, but still think that Hero lies dead. Leonato forgives Claudio on the condition that he will have to marry Beatrice the next day, and become his nephew.
On the wedding day the bride is led up to the front, where it turns out to be Hero herself under the veil! Don John gets the right punishment for what he has done, and they all live in peace and happiness.
Each character has its own appointed personality witch is very exaggerated. It doesn’t go in many directions, but sticks to just one “place”. This is one of the things that clearly make the play a comedy. There are also very many funny scenes in the movie that make you laugh. The story also ends happy.
Here are some of the main characters:
Beatrice: She is a clever woman who isn’t afraid of saying her opinions out loud. She believes that Hero is honest about herself and that she hasn’t cheated on her beloved. Beatrice realizes that she does have feelings for Senior Benedict and marries him at the end.
Hero: This young lady is engaged to Senior Claudio (Senior Benedick’s brother). She tries hard in the beginning to convince people that she’s innocent about the other night and that Claudio must be mistaking.
Claudio: He is in love with Hero, but is easily cheated by Don John about his beloved seeing another man at nighttime. He is also very “simple in nature”. What I mean is that he kind of acts like a child.
Benedick: Like Beatrice, he believes that young Hero has not been cheating in her relationship with Claudio. He visibly shows his love to Beatrice at the end of the movie.
Don Pedro: He his very helpful when it comes to finding ladies for his two good friends Claudio and Benedick, but he never got his own girlfriend in the movie. He is on Claudio’s side by also thinking that Hero secretly has betrayed his friend. At the end he feels very sorry for not believing Hero in the first place.
Don John: Even though he is not seen as often as the other people on the list, in the movie, he still has a very important role. He is Don Pedro’s evil brother. His quiet and unhappy life makes him want to ruin Claudio and Hero’s wedding plans. At the end he is punished for his evil doings.
“Much Ado About Nothing” was a movie I didn’t like so much. It also wasn’t the worst movie I’ve ever seen, but I kind of didn’t feel that enthusiasm when I watched it on the big screen. Some parts were a bit funny, and the story was also ok. I just didn’t get pulled into the scenes when the different characters talked old English in the movie. It would have been fine for me to see it on stage instead. The atmosphere there is more alive than on a plain old screen! The story didn’t get carried straight through the movie because of the peoples’ way of talking.
I also think that there should have been more action and happenings in the movie instead of so many unnecessary conversations! Therefore I give the movie a “C” (3/4). Little children wouldn’t understand the form of language in this play. Many older people like grandparents would enjoy it more than young teenagers, I think….
Katharina Susanna Berning 10b
