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A summary of Act 1: Scene 1 in William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of Much Ado About Nothing and what it means. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans.
He is from Florida but now lives in Portland, Oregon, where he also makes art, plays the piano, and goes to dog parks. Actually understand Much Ado About Nothing Act 1, Scene 1. Read every line of Shakespeare’s original text alongside a modern English translation.
Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing is set in Messina, Italy. The play features two love stories: Claudio and Hero, two young lovers, are set to be married. However, Don John starts a scandal that convinces Claudio that Hero is unfaithful. He publicly shamed her at the altar, causing her to faint.
Much Ado about Nothing is one of Shakespeare’s finest and best-loved comedies. With the battle of wits between Beatrice and Benedick and the plot involving young lovers Claudio and Hero, the play touches upon sexual jealousy, trust, and the importance of separating illusion from reality, among other prominent themes.
- Introduction
- Scene by Scene
- Thinking Aloud
- Characters / Who’s Who
Most of Shakespeare’s Histories and Tragedies have quite unambiguous names which leave little to the imagination. With titles like “Henry V” or “Macbeth”, it’s fair to say, it does what it says on the tin. His Comedies are different. Around the turn of the century – between, say, 1594 (“Love’s Labour’s Lost”) and 1604 (“Measure for Measure”) – the ...
Act One Scene One
Don Pedro, fresh from victory in battle, is on his way to Messina accompanied by two young men. There they will meet Don Leonato, governor of Messina, his daughter Hero and Beatrice, her cousin. Claudio, from Florence, who has relatives in Messina, has fought like a lion in the battle. Beatrice wittily asks after Benedick, to be told he too has “done good service” in battle. She recalls meeting him before, and is scathing in a light-hearted way about his intelligence. When told he associates...
Act One Scene Two
Leonato is informed by his older brother Antonio that Hero will shortly receive a marriage proposal. A servant overheard Don Pedro tell Claudio in the orchard that he means to propose this evening. Leonato says it is best to be cautious but he’ll warn her anyway so that she is ready with a response.
Act One Scene Three
Don John explains his melancholy by saying he has to accept that this is his natural state of mind. Conrad says that having recently confronted and been forgiven by his brother, he must bide his time. Don John says he will “be that I am”, and he’ll make use of his “discontent” when he’s ready. Borachio, an associate of Don John, arrives to announce the upcoming marriage of Hero to Claudio. He says he overheard Don Pedro promise to woo Hero for himself, then “give her” to Claudio. Don John is...
1.1 introduces the four central characters of this comedy: Hero and Claudio, together with Beatrice and Benedick. Their romances will dominate the narrative. It also briefly takes note of Don John, brother of Don Pedro, evidently “reconciled” with his brother. The play will reveal as it progresses that this reconciliation is superficial at best, bu...
Benedick
With the exception of Beatrice, no character in the play is transformed like Benedick. Initially he’s a warrior, fresh from battle, most at ease in male company, with his best friend Claudio, and determined never to marry: “I will do myself the right to trust none” he says of women in general, “and … I will live a bachelor” (1.1). But in his professions of indifference to Beatrice he looks like one who “protests too much”, and so it proves: by the end of the play he is ready to take revenge o...
Beatrice
At the start of the play she is difficult, spirited, contrary – even, perhaps, angry. Among the most assertive of Shakespeare’s female characters, and one of the wittiest, she seems to have history with Benedick, and it gives fuel to her fire. Yet she is surprised when she’s told that she is too bitter and scornful for her own good, and by the play’s end – though her anger is now directed at Claudio, whom she wants killed – her last act is symbolically a kiss that seals her love for Benedick.
Hero
Painfully shy and reserved, she plays the complementary role to her cousin Beatrice, passive and accepting of her fate where Beatrice is demanding and assertive. First she is romanced by Pedro acting on behalf of Claudio, and she accepts his offer of marriage. Then when confronted with Claudio’s accusations in the church, she does no more than say the truth (“I talk’d with no man at that hour, my lord” etc) while others devise the narrative that they hope will save her. If all else fails, the...
The phrase “much ado about nothing” is a versatile idiom that can be used in a variety of contexts. It can also be used to describe a situation in which there is a lot of activity, but no real progress is being made. It means “a lot of fuss over nothing” or “a great deal of trouble for no reason.”
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There are many characters in Shakespeare’s play Much Ado About Nothing. Take an in-depth look at the main ones identifying their key attributes and relationships and analysing their part in...
