Preview

Much Ado About Nothing Play Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
673 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Much Ado About Nothing Play Analysis
Shakespeare is a name commonly recognised by young and old, throughout households all around Australia. His story lines and concepts on love and deceit surround our society, in ways than most are oblivious to. The love in Shakespeare's comedy ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ has been enlaced into our novels, films, and personal experience’s since written in 1598.
I experienced this theatrical performance in the first summer in senior school, and quickly fell in love much like Beatrice and Benedick. Since finishing what I read as a novel, I have marvelled at how many civilians haven’t experienced this poignant struggle with love, violence, schemes, and corruption within a classic play. Shakespeare couldn’t have possibly imagined that 417 years after he placed ink onto paper that I'd be directing his Much Ado About Nothing.
I pondered on Much Ado, and questioned its
…show more content…
A part of pop culture in the 21st century is independence, and equal rights between the sexes. Shakespeare was able to interpret this concept 415 years prior; this specific play was written aligned with today’s society, as women are still battling against the stereotype. Hero was the ‘perfect’ woman, as she was whimsically gentle, quiet, and well mannered, whereas Beatrice was loud, boisterous, and spoke her mind. I became so passionate about the contrast between ultimately, the perfect (Hero), and the reality (Beatrice). I directed this play because I postulate the urgency for women to realise their equality has been fought since the 15th century and we still haven’t achieved our goal.

I have always adored the country: the vineyards, the men in steel cap boots, the abundance of food, and the livestock. I so desperately craved my much ado amongst the stars. Whilst at dinner with my partner (summer love) I had the wish of the theatrical performance amongst the life I’ve so craved. Perhaps the scenery reminded me of a younger me, a younger

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    twelfth night

    • 953 Words
    • 4 Pages

    While many will agree that Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is critically acclaimed to be one of the most entertaining and well-liked pieces that he has written, there tends to be a discrepancy over how the characters in the play are portrayed when it comes to the importance of gender roles. After reading James C Bulman’s article over the Globe’s more recent performance of Twelfth Night and Shakespeare’s original written version, I realized that there are many ways that this famous piece has been portrayed and each has its own pros and cons.…

    • 953 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “You can tell an artist is excellent when he denies his own perfection.” (Shakespeare 78 -79) Based on the characters Beatrice and Benedick the conflict between the two is that they have trouble expressing their love for each other, throughout the book the foil insult each other until they realize they love one another. In Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, Benedick serves as the foil character of Beatrice by which Beatrice’s reasonable taste are illuminated through Benedick’s bearing thoughts; thus, compound the twist and conflict to the plot.…

    • 606 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 'Much Ado About Nothing,' William Shakespeare presents two very similar characters: Benedick of Padua and Beatrice of Messina in a variety of ways, from rancorous 'harpy' to machiavellian 'jester' after their suggested punitive break up to strong lovers who ens the play harmoniously engaged, with plenty of witticisms along the way. The play charts the major change in both of them and their relationship in their most comedic and romantic moments and their relationship is affectionately brought to life in Kenneth Branagh's 1993 version of the play.…

    • 1600 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Much Ado about Nothing: Beatrice and Hero vs the Typical Woman of the Elizabethan Era…

    • 1916 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    From the mastermind of this tragic comedy, these once brothered bachelor's, wed to their mistress, slowly uncovering their differences. William Shakespeare’s play, Much Ado About Nothing, showcases characters, Claudio and Benedick, to further elaborate each other’s and the play’s features. The story follows townspeople of Messina, and their troubles which Don John places upon them. Claudio and Benedick foil each other in order to show the mishaps’ results and how it had affected the overall resolution from harmless gossip, which could have been avoided in the grand scheme of things, for a change of events.…

    • 489 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the beginning of the play, Beatrice is presented as a strong minded, determined and independent character. A quote to suggest this, “Not till God make men of some other metal than earth: will it not grieve woman to be overmastered with a piece of valiant dust?” This quote implies that she has strong opinions on traditional marriage, what's more shows that she is an independent woman as she is implying that she chooses not to get married and does not want someone controlling her life. In this quote Shakespeare, uses the technique of a metaphor through a rhetorical question making his work much more engaging to the audience. At this position, the audience judge Beatrice as an outspoken, ignorant and stubborn character since women in 15th Century would comply with their father’s words. Moreover, she has undeniably lost her own parents and is the care of a very kind-hearted Leonato who acts as a father and from her uncertain position in the home; it makes her outspoken remarks more impulsive and impractical. However, in the present world the audience would judge Beatrice as a woman, who is independent strong, stands up and hates the whole system dominated by men.…

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In many cultures, such as European in society, women are perceived as the primary caretaker of the home among other oppressive notions that pertain to them. They were in charge of organizing social events, maintaining the family’s reputation, cooking, and cleaning occasionally with assistance from their children. They were considered to be of less value than their male counterparts and, thus, were not permitted the opportunity to have a role in politics, religion, and society. Since the time of Shakespeare, the majority of gender inequities in society have been abolished, and a new era of complete equality is on the horizon. However, there are barriers of ignorance, whose sole purpose is to hinder progression, that people have yet to break. Women have made efforts to gain equality in society since the 1800’s as seen by the writer and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft who wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, the first great feminist treatise. It listed and discussed her grievances concerning gender inequality and had a total influence on the art of travel writing as well as the Romantic Movement. A sign of this progress in society, other than women’s introduction into several facets of society (i.e. entertainment, business, politics, etc.), is the adoption of gender role reversal, partly due to its comedic portrayal in television but also its necessity in some homes. As expected, there were some who were more conservative towards gender equality such as, William Shakespeare which was seen in his gruesome play, Macbeth that used this idea of general role reversal to oppose this idea.…

    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The book Much Ado About Nothing is a surprisingly fascinating story. Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare is similar to his other work in which people fall in love. In this story people cause problems to break relationships and love apart. Nevertheless true love finds its way back. What makes Much Ado About Nothing unique is trickery and deceit plays a huge roll in romance.…

    • 825 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The storyline of Much Ado About Nothing revolves around the drama that occurs over slight misunderstanding; a whole lot of fuss about matters that are ultimately not all that important. Shakespeare’s use of comedy in the play transcends time by dealing with issues in a comedic way that always has and always will be relevant and universal. In Much Ado About Nothing, William Shakespeare is successful in humouring and entertaining the audience from any time period. With the use of witty dialogue, animal imagery, sexual innuendo, malapropisms and including funny situations and characters, Much Ado About Nothing is similar to modern day comedy movies and TV shows. This proves that the type of humour Shakespeare strives to attain is carried out well into the 20th and 21st centuries.…

    • 1052 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Female emancipation and the struggle for women of existing within a predominately patriarchal society is a prevalent topic in literature. Female heroines are portrayed variably across all eras and genres of literature and yet the use of a melancholic and isolated female protagonist is arguably inescapable as writers continually refer back to a critical portrayal of women in their work. From Chaucer’s presentment of the Wife of Bath as an old hag to John Donne’s plea in his poem ‘Loves Alchemy’ that one should “Hope not for mind in women”1; or one of Shakespeare’s female protagonists, Ophelia driven mad arguably due to her unrequited love for Hamlet. There is a tendency in literature, with particular reference to Shakespeare’s…

    • 3108 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    This essay talks about the role of love as it used in Shakespeare’s comedies. It directly talks about “Much Ado about Nothing” and “Twelfth Night”, and how they use love in their stories. “Shakespeare expects us to accept wonder as having some kind of value in itself and in its relations to the action that has gone before. We are presented with the wonderful as an incitement to knowledge and to pleasure; and we are asked also to consider the dramatic fact that those who participate in the happy ending must be ready to set aside their human confinement to the probable and accept an intrusion of the improbable into their lives.” (262-263) Wonder and love are on equal footing in Shakespeare. He expects us to accept that the characters fall in love with each other as well. Love is a vital part of every romantic comedy whether it’s a play written by Shakespeare or a movie like “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”. The essay also makes a note of how the characters change through the plays and compares how it works in both stories. The author of the essay…

    • 301 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Much Ado is a play about love and comedy in a semi courtly setting in the small town of Messina, Italy. In comes the soldiers and everyone rejoices the women dress in their fine clothes in hopes of looking presentable. After all the excitement calmed a little and the women are dressed, they go and meet the soldiers as a household. Leonato whom is the father of Hero and uncle of Beatrice goes and welcomes Don Pedro, the prince, and his companions: Claudio, Benedick and Don John among others. Across the courtyard there is a young love blooming as Claudio gazes at fair Hero and falls in love with her. Simultaneously Beatrice and Benedick meet again with their ‘merry war’ of words.…

    • 1520 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “As women, we must speak out, speak up, say…yes to a future of … women’s rights and values” (Zainaab Salbi). William Shakespeare’s comedy Much Ado About Nothing follows two cousins, named Hero and Beatrice, with different meanings to being a Renaissance woman. A typical Renaissance woman knew her “rightful place” was behind the males. Staying in the background showed how dependent women were supposed to be. During the Renaissance period, women were married off and had no say to whom they were going to marry; the father had total control over choosing his daughter’s future husband. While Hero conforms to the expectations for females during Shakespeare’s Renaissance because she is customary, headstrong Beatrice challenges the expected gender…

    • 278 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Shakespeare’s 17th century play, “Much Ado About Nothing”, he illustrates the confusion among the characters that leads to simple miscommunications.…

    • 376 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Concluding, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” demonstrates a lot of male domi-nance in the world of the play reflecting the male dominance that took place in England in Shakespeare’s time. One might suspect that Shakespeare had feministic tendencies, as he chose to make a comedy out of what was really the sad truth – women were treated like…

    • 1116 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays