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Guides to the greatest Renaissance museum in Italy, the Uffizi, used to tell tourists gently, "Ladies and gentlemen, it is not the paintings that are on trial here."
Yet the central plot seems less humorous.The story of Claudio and Hero seems much less easy to accept. Shakespeare tends to pack so many grains of information into his works, that it is easy to overlook some. Whenever reading Shakespeare, I am always in fear that I am missing even some small portion of the plot. A manipulative and vendictive Don John implies that Hero was unfaithful to Claudio in the days leading up to their wedding, causing Claudio to refuse Hero at the wedding ceremony. While "Much Ado About Nothing" is commonly refered to as a comedy, I fail to find humor in the pain. The sharp edged tongues of Benedick and Beatrice often steal the show as other characters manipulate this pair that was apparently made for each other into a compromising position. Hero disappears seemingly into death until Don John's guilty accomplice confesses.The story itself does not seem unrealistic by today's standards, yet I felt as though something was missing from the plot. Known as one of Shakespeare's best comedies, I felt I missed some of the humor in its subtleness.
I really didn't understand a lot of what was going on in the garden scene when they are trying to get Beatrice and Benedick to think they both love each other. I think this because the play focused a ton on the comedy of love. Although you may think you can't learn much from it you really can. But she never did and she really loved Claudio. How you can get to people who started out hating each other to like each other. I mean this literally.
I think that was one of the reasons for writing this. Also in Beatrice and Benedick's situation they thought they could never like each other and they ended up falling in love. I surprised myself in this question. But then as you read and actually break down the words it was actually very easy and fun to figure out what it means.I think Shakespeare's main point in writing was to show people how funny love is. From this play I learned to not judge a book (or play) by its cover.
He has done tons of serious works and I think this was a great piece that kind of gave you a breath of fresh air. It was still hard to read and understand but I think the movie and actually seeing it being acted out helped a ton. When Claudio heard that Hero was having an affair with someone he got mad and disgraced her and everyone thought she was a horrible person. It was a much lighter reading than Antigone and I think I liked and understood it better too. I came into this with a bad attitude and I realized that instead of doing that I should of had a good attitude and I could have enjoyed it more. To give the people who were coming to see it something a little lighter. It makes them so much easier to understand. Although one of those statements is true the other one was false.
Much Ado About Nothing was a very well written play. Some of the people I thought I could never be friends with I am very close friends with now. Another thing it taught me was to not believe everything I hear. I am a very big gossiper and I now realize how much they can hurt people.I would totally recommend this script to others. I loved this script. Without the movie I think I would completely be lost and not understand the book at all. So I was a little bummed when our group chose that to do the skit. Also I would go into reading the book with a good attitude thinking that this can help you because if you don't, like me, you will wind up more confused than ever.
I came into this play thinking that I will not like and I would not understand it. In the beginning I thought it could show me nothing about my life or teach me anything and I was completely wrong. I would suggest, though, watching the movie after you read each act.
Indeed, this story shows someone to what great lengths they will go in the name of love. In several instances I found myself laughing out loud just reading the script. No matter how they do react it is a far cry from what they normally would do. If by chance you read this review, then realize this, I am not exagerrating of making any of this stuff up.
It is so involved that I often wanted to strangle some of the characters and tell others some great secret. This story is so good because it teaches so many lessons without having this heavy blanket of philosophy shrouded around it. I personally do not really enjoy the drama of a love story, but this is a whole different animal.The characters in the story are completely normal citizens of an almost care- free society, but, when love comes knocking at their door they transform into completely zaney lunatics. Shakespeare wrote this play, as I believe, to show people how stupid they are and the foolish things that they do when they are in love. I personally loved reading this play and it does have many interesting values and lessons that one could learn and apply.
This type is known as "puppy love." Each couple represents their type of love very well and has helped me to realize which sort of love that I have, and have had with other people. This book is well worth whatever they are asking for it. One type of love, presented by Beatrice and Benedict is the real heart felt one, where both people know and care for one another and the other was demonstrated by Hera and Claudio. The characters are, however, people and react in different ways. For instance, Benedict, one of the main characters, falls in love with the main female and all of a sudden becomes a quiet, softspoken gentleman, who now cares about his appearance.
The story does portray very well what love is, different types of love, and how it is reacted to. This play was a particular relief of your average Shakespeare play, in that it is not a deep philosophical piece of literature. If you really apply yourself you can get alot out of this story. The storyline is very good and lets you feel that you are a part of the story, like you know something that the other characters do not know.
Then I felt like a retard and stopped myself. This is a very light read and though it is mildly difficult to understand it is easy to understand what point Shakespeare is trying to get across. This is a really good story without the deep thoughts and questions of life.
Over all I would say that this is yet another one of Shakespears timeless classics that can still very easily be applied in almost every persons life today. So, in conclusion, this is just one person talking, but READ THE PLAY. Whereas before he was an opinionated man, who used sarcasm to get his points across.
This play has taught me many things, especially about women, but most of all it has taught me that there are two very specific types of love and that a person should experience both. I would recommend this play to anyone who just simply enjoys a good read. It is really good and worth it, but you do not have to take my word for it.
Especially the night before the wedding that she has been waiting for. The sometimes hard to understand language makes you stop and think about what Shakespeare is trying to say and ultimately makes you stop and realize what he is truly trying to communicate to his audience. You mishear something wrong, or in your anger, you tune out someone before getting all the facts. There were no visible consequences. We jump the gun a little and choose to believe whatever is told to us despite our gut feeling that the information is wrong.An example of this would be when Leonato has heard of Hero's scandalous evening with Borachio. People in the world these days are so willing to lie to us and readily do so without a second thought. Many times people are lied to without even knowing that someone has done so.
With Dogberry and his men constantly mixing up words and their meanings it gave the readers a comic relief. William Shakespeare's play "Much Ado About Nothing" was an extremely funny piece of literature. Both assumed what they had heard was true and acted on it. The happy ending was also a nice touch. Because both did not check to see if the information they heard was correct, everything worked out. What a mess you would have if Benedick decided that what he had overheard could not possibly be true. Despite the fact that she is his daughter and he would know her better than anyone, Leonato believes the lies told about Hero. We should "take everything with a grain of salt"- test everything.
Leonato, being her father and the one who raised her, should have known his daughter well enough to know that she would not dishonor her fiancé and herself. The deceit and mistaken identities added so much humor to the already capturing story.I believe that Shakespeare's main point in writing this play was to show that many times, people get worked up over simple miscommunications. The combination of not liking to read and the difficulty of understanding Old English would not make a very fun and pleasurable read. The same could be said the other way around. Beatrice would have made a fool out of herself while thinking that Benedick felt the same way.
Instead of choosing to believe his daughter, who firmly denies any and all sexual relationships, he joins Claudio, Don John, and Don Pedro in disgracing her.One lesson learned from "Much Ado About Nothing" is never should people automatically assume something to be correct. Even innocent lying has its consequences.Benedick and Beatrice both believed almost immediately that what they had overheard their friends saying in the garden was correct and completely true. Neither person decided to test what they had heard. I thought that it was very cleverly planned out and humorously executed. If people don't like to read, then I would not tell others about it.
I would recommend this play to other readers. Many would miss out on the humor and cleverness that Shakespeare brilliantly displayed to his audience. Readers on the other hand would most likely like this play. Yes, the Old English adds a challenge to the reading.
All that we would need to do to fix a certain problem would be going to the source of the information, but many times we take the easy way out. I found myself constantly wanting to know what would happen next and how it would end- how Shakespeare would wrap it up. True, sometimes the lying and deceit is all in good fun, but it still has the possibility of hurting someone. To see if what was said was true.
The humor and lightheartedness makes it an enjoyable play.
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