Critical appreciation of Much ado about Nothing
"Much ado about nothing" is Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation of William Shakespeare's better-known comedies. The film is centered on the romance of Hero and Claudio and also the romance of Benedick and Beatrice. Hero and Claudio, undergo the conventional "love at first sight". From their first glance of each other at the beginning of the play, there is instant attraction, without having knowing much of each other. Beatrice and Benedick, however, have known each other for quite some time and though at first their squabbles can be easily mistaken for hate towards each other, it becomes very clear to the viewer the hidden attraction between the two. It doesn't take much effort to set the two up; they are in love with each after one simple trick that was carefully planned by Don Pedro, who plays cupid in the play. Kenneth Branagh's, the director of the play, is very learned in Shakespeare and this wealth of knowledge and wisdom, is greatly displayed in the film. "There is no one today who can do Shakespeare like Brangah," comments Steve Rhodes in his 1995 review of the film. The play is interpreted into something ore comprehensive and clearer, so that persons who are not accustomed to enjoying Shakespeare would find it quite easy to be intrigued and able to catch up with the plot of the play at all times. It is not the lines that create laughter, but the physical actions of
Discuss in detail Shakespeare's presentation of women in Much Ado About Nothing
Discuss in detail Shakespeare's presentation of women in Much Ado About Nothing The role of women in the 1600's was to be submissive, passive, to obey men and to be seen rather than heard; as is depicted in the female characters in many of Shakespeare's plays such as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Queen Gertrude in Hamlet. However, the characters in Shakespeare's plays are predominantly male, they include very few female characters and Much Ado About Nothing is no exception. Each of the female characters in this play represents a different role of a 16th century woman. The reason for the relatively small number of female character's in Shakespeare's plays is for both practicality, as all female roles in Shakespeare's plays were performed by men, but can also be seen as a reference to women's relatively insignificant status in society. A woman's virginity and chastity were what her reputation was solely based on. Her status was gained by marriage and women in this time were raised to believe they were inferior to men, this status is reflected in the character of Hero. Shakespeare seems to portray the conventional role of a Shakespearean woman through Hero. Her silent and submissive nature is what shows her weakness to being controlled by other characters. This is predominantly men; however, Beatrice also speaks over Hero, challenging the male chauvinistic stereotype by
Shakespeare's presentation of Beatrice in Much ado about nothing
Shakespeare's presentation of the character of Beatrice in 'Much ado about nothing' Shakespeare presents the character of Beatrice in a wide variety of ways, these ways through different aspects of the text, comprise of the Language, structure and form. Beatrice's character development is defined throughout the incidents and actions which occur in the play. Certain views of Beatrice may contain the fact that in a way she has gone from shrewdness to ladylike calmness in terms of her behaviour and actions. In my opinion Shakespeare's presentation of Beatrice was and still is an eye opener to the way women were generally perceived and how they didn't how to conform to traditional values, as shown by the character of Beatrice. Shakespeare presents Beatrice through Language used in the play. Beatrice's tone and language use at the start of the play enables the audience to decipher various emotions in the character speech. Shakespeare brilliantly evolves Beatrice's speech and Language in during the chronological progression of the play in order for the reader or audience to actively acknowledge or see the development in her character. Another important aspect of this technique is so that the audience can appreciate the character even more when he or she is viewed in a different light. ''I wonder that you might still be talking signor Benedick; nobody marks you'' The above
Analyse Act IV Scene I (Lines 148-247) of Much Ado About Nothing
Act IV Scene I - Lines 148-247 This extract depicts the immediate aftermath of Claudio's public shaming of Hero. A battle of egos ensues between Friar Francis and Leonato, who both think that their course of action is the best - Leonato through coarse, passionate revenge and Friar Francis through rational, logical planning. Shakespeare presents to us the balance of turn-taking between Francis and Leonato as a battle for dominance. Neither seems to make any ground over the other, until Friar Francis has an extended turn, after which Leonato's turns shorten. This illustrates Leonato's resignation and acceptance that the Friar's plan is the more worthy. In addition, Shakespeare uses shared lines, for example where Friar Francis suggests "Pause awhile" to show interruption in an attempt to gain power. Both the characters do this, but Friar Francis then manages to foil Leonato in his extended turn by talking in extremely long compound sentences - giving Leonato no chance to interrupt. The sentences used by both these pivotal characters tend to be declarative, as Shakespeare illustrates how they both give out a lot of information and make statements in order to quell the other. The series of declaratives suggests that neither will be moved in their beliefs. In addition, Shakespeare uses a series of imperatives such as "Call me a fool" to show an aggressive move by the Friar to
Beatrice says of herself that she was born to speak all mirth and no matter. To what extent do you consider this to be a fair summary of the way Shakespeare presents her character in Much Ado About Nothing?
Beatrice says of herself that she was "born to speak all mirth and no matter." To what extent do you consider this to be a fair summary of the way Shakespeare presents her character in Much Ado About Nothing? Many would believe this to be a understated summary of the way Shakespeare presents her character in Much Ado About Nothing because Beatrice is not just a humorous character but a strong role model for both Shakespeare's time and for a modern audience defying social expectations and being equal to her male counter parts, she is the heroin of the play and even though speaking "all mirth" which would probably be expected from a lead Shakespeare role, however she is much more that that. Beatrice has the most depth to her character in comparison to other characters than simply humour. Thus the statement not doing Beatrice justice as she has the most positive influence over the other characters. To an Elizabethan audience the story line of Hero and Claudio would be familiar because of the traditional views held by their characters, and so the audience would have expected Hero to be the romantic lead of the play. However, Beatrice's 'emotional gravity,'¹ eventually leads the importance of her role to go beyond that of Hero's, whilst still maintaining the humorous aspect essential to her character. It would seem definite that Shakespeare is making a criticism of the
How is Benedick presented in the scenes leading up to this point?
How does Shakespeare present Benedick at these points in the play? (Act II Scene III - 7-28, 181-213; and scenes leading up to this point) In these two extracts, Shakespeare provides two very different presentations of Benedick. The first: misogynistic, marriage-fearing Benedick which he projects to his audience. Second: the warm-hearted, love-sick Benedick who, despite his fiery demeanour, is very much in love with Beatrice. In the first part, Benedick soliloquises about the man who "dedicates his behaviours to love" is a fool, and the irony of becoming the "argument of his own scorn." This pre-empts the drastic change in Benedick's behaviour later in the scene. Already we see a confident flurry of long, complex declaratives, signalling a kind of gusto to Benedick's emotions: he clearly feels strongly about this issue. However, the fact that he must say these things to himself may serve to highlight his insecurity with himself. It is quite obvious from earlier points in the play that Benedick is wholly uncomfortable with his feelings towards Beatrice and tries (unsuccessfully) to hide these feelings. In the next few lines, Benedick contrasts battle imagery such as "good armour" with softer, more romantic objects, such as a "new doublet." This serves to illustrate his contempt for Claudio's utter turnaround. His tripling in this section further emphasises both Benedick's
What do we learn about the Society of Messina in "Much ado about Nothing"?
GCSE English Literature Coursework: "Much ado about Nothing" What do we learn about the Society of Messina in "Much ado about Nothing"? Shakespeare's romantic comedy Much ado about Nothing is set in the seaport town of Messina, in Sicily. The play tells the story of Claudio, a knight of Aragon, Hero whom he falls in love with, her sharp cousin Beatrice and her male counterpart Benedick. The comedy of Much ado about Nothing derives from the characters themselves and the etiquette of the highly mannered society in which they live. The social order of Messina is governed by respectability, convention, fashion and tradition. Artificial gender roles, eavesdropping and fashion are the matter of which Messinan society is constituted, however frivolity, light-heartedness, flirtation and heroism are all also present giving Messina an altogether rather complex and multifaceted culture, and were it not for the deceit, lies and Denigrations of Don Jon, the antagonist of the play, and bastard brother of the regal Don Pedro, then the play would nothing but be a comedy, the plot itself being carried by a series of misunderstandings or 'notings'. These 'notings' are a prominent theme in the play, and provide the foundation for a great deal of the narrative of Much ado about Nothing, that in fact at the time would have been pronounced Much ado about Noting, which may be why the actions of
Note Notes, Forsooth, And Nothing: Themes in Much Ado About Nothing
Note Notes, Forsooth, And Nothing: Themes in Much Ado About Nothing At first glance, the reader is not likely to notice the immediate clue which presents itself in the title of William Shakespeare's comedy, Much Ado About Nothing. If one, however, would follow the example of a Shakespearean player in Elizabethan times and pronounce the word "nothing" as "noting," he would be introduced to a pun that is very significant because the ideas of noting, or observation, and nothing, are important themes in this story. Noting is something which motivates the characters to take actions which greatly affect the plot, and it is an idea which reflects the theme of reality versus appearance, in which reality is nothing and appearance is due to noting. First of all, it is the characters' noting which drives them to take actions which influence the plot. The earliest example of this is when Claudio falls in love with Hero. The relationship between these two characters plays a major role in the story, and it originates with Claudio noticing Hero - "Benedick, didst thou note the daughter of Signor Leonato?" (Act 1:1, l. 158-59) Claudio then asks the Prince to woo her for him. The important chain of events which follows - the pastime of formulating a romance between Beatrice and Benedick, the scheme of Don John, the "death of Hero" - is all on account of Claudio's falling in love with Hero,
Analyse the humour and comedy of Act 1 in Much Ado About Nothing
Analyse Act 1 in regards to comedy With the play, Much Ado About Nothing comedy is generated through numerous ways within its structure, language and form. Conflict and battles of wit between characters in the play create humorous scenes, which are typically intelligently crafted in order to create hilarity. In addition, the utilisation of over exaggerated language and sarcastic remarks, with metaphors and puns spawn comedy. The obvious, comical scenes within Act 1 are created with the two protagonists Beatrice and Benedict. The role of women in society in the time period was to be quiet and have little power however; Beatrice goes against society’s unspoken rules and contradicts social conformity by being witty and clever with smart remarks so therefore goes against expectations. Due to her continuous conflict with Benedict, she generates comedy in the form of satirising physical features and aspects of his personality. Beatrice speaks arrogantly and aggressively towards Benedict, which further goes against conformity. This is clearly shown through the way she condemns Benedict, portraying him as a ‘disease’ named the ‘Benedict’ that is easier caught that ‘pestilence’. This implies that Benedict is no more than an infection that is easier to catch than the plague, which will spread if you become to friendly with him. The utilisation of these words is humorous
Explore Shakespeares presentation of Beatrice and Benedick in the play so far. How do they contribute to the comedy?
Denisa Miron Explore Shakespeare’s presentation of Beatrice and Benedick in the play so far. How do they contribute to the comedy? Much Ado about Nothing is particularly admired for the wit and intelligence of Benedick and Beatrice, the warring couple which are comically tricked into falling love. Benedick is a vain, confident bachelor who holds a very typical view of women: no lady is ever good enough for him and to increase his self-esteem, he never misses an opportunity to mock Beatrice. We can see this from their first conversation which takes place in Act 1. Benedick approaches her by saying “What my dear Lady Disdain! Are you yet living?” Through this, Benedick expresses his sarcasm towards Beatrice and his desire for her not to still be alive, mocking her existence in the conversation. Benedick is a character that represents vanity; he tells Beatrice “but it is certain I am loved of all the ladies”. The use of “certain” emphasises the confidence that he has within his character and creates an air of arrogance, as he obviously seems to believe that he is irresistible and that no lady would refuse his charm. However, he is contradicting himself – he is loved by all the ladies, yet, he claims that he will “live a bachelor” because he finds women as not being trustworthy, as he states “I will do myself the right to trust none”. Therefore,