Overview

"Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599, as Shakespeare was approaching the middle of his career. The play was included in the First Folio, published in 1623. By means of ""noting"" (which, in Shakespeare's day, sounded similar to ""nothing"" as in the play's title, and which means gossip, rumour, and overhearing), Benedick and Beatrice are tricked into confessing their love for each other, and Claudio is tricked into rejecting Hero at the altar in the erroneous belief that she has been unfaithful. At the end, Benedick and Beatrice join forces to set things right, and the others join in a dance celebrating the marriages of the two couples. Characters: Benedick, a lord and soldier from Padua; companion of Don Pedro Beatrice, niece of Leonato Don Pedro, Prince of Aragon Don John, ""the Bastard Prince"", brother of Don Pedro Claudio, of Florence; a count, companion of Don Pedro, friend to Benedick Leonato, governor of Messina; Hero's father Antonio, brother of Leonato Balthasar, attendant on Don Pedro, a singer Borachio, follower of Don John Conrade, follower of Don John Innogen, a 'ghost character' in early editions as Leonato's wife Hero, daughter of Leonato Margaret, waiting-gentlewoman attendant on Hero Ursula, waiting-gentlewoman attendant on Hero Dogberry, the constable in charge of Messina's night watch Verges, the Headborough, Dogberry's partner Friar Francis, a priest a Sexton, the judge of the trial of Borachio a Boy, serving Benedick The Watch, watchmen of Messina Attendants and Messengers"

Full Product Details

9782491251239

Table of Contents

Reviews

Author Information

"William Shakespeare (bapt. 26 April 1564 - 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the ""Bard of Avon"" (or simply ""the Bard""). His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. They also continue to be studied and reinterpreted. Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others. Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613.His early plays were primarily comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best work produced in these genres. Until about 1608, he wrote mainly tragedies, among them Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language. In the last phase of his life, he wrote tragicomedies (also known as romances) and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of Shakespeare's plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy in his lifetime. However, in 1623, two fellow actors and friends of Shakespeare's, John Heminges and Henry Condell, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works that included all but two of his plays. The volume was prefaced with a poem by Ben Jonson, in which Jonson presciently hails Shakespeare in a now-famous quote as ""not of an age, but for all time""."

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available