Much Ado About Nothing (Dover Thrift Editions: Plays) Paperback – Unabridged, October 20, 1994

This is a love story, nothing more, nothing less. Yes, there’s the drama of Hero and Claudio, and the villainous Don John, and the comic relief of Dogberry; this is mere interlude. The larger story is about the unspoken love between Beatrice and Benedick, a couple that would rather trade insults than admit their true feelings. In the opening scene, it’s clear Beatrice loves Benedick despite her cool denials; she delights in teasing him. And, while Benedick intends to remain a bachelor, he clearly enjoys his verbal jousts with Beatrice. They are each acting out a role they have given themselves, Benedict as a confirmed bachelor, and Beatrice as a free spirit determined not to marry “till God make men of some other metal that earth.” She also says, “I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow, than a man swear he loves me.” Benedick calls her “Lady Disdain.”What brings them together? The villainy of Don John, who misleads Claudio into thinking the woman he is to marry (Beatrice’s cousin, Hero) has cheated on him. In the play’s one truly dramatic scene, in which Hero’s father accepts her guilt as proven, when Claudio without a touch of remorse consigns her to shame, and even Benedick himself knows not what to say, it’s Beatrice who sees through the fraudulent charge and comes to Hero’s defense. “Oh, on my soul, my cousin is belied!” This is the turning point of the play. Beatrice dispenses with all light-heartedness and mirth and shows herself as a woman of true character and strength. “O God, that I were a man! I would eat (Claudio’s) heart in the market place.” It’s at this point, too, that Benedick dispenses with his pretense of remaining a bachelor. Says actor Jeffrey Bean, who has played Benedick on the Broadway stage: “Benedick is an arrested adolescent,” someone who’s “stuck in youth, and the persona has worn him out by the time we see him.” Bean finds Beatrice’s defense of Hero’s honor illuminating for Benedick, allowing him to empathize with feminine suffering. When Benedick agrees to challenge Claudio at Beatrice’s request, “he leaves adolescence and becomes a man,” says Bean.From this point on, Beatrice and Benedick become comfortable with one another and work together to reveal Don John’s treachery and Hero’s innocence. As with most of Shakespeare’s comedies, the plays ends with marriage, of Claudio and Hero, and of Beatrice and Benedick. If you want a love story to sweep you off your feet, this it.Finally, this comment, from “The Age of Shakespeare” by Seccombe and Allen: “There is nothing in all comedy more brilliant than the interplay of these two . . . The way in which Shakespeare converts their mutual irritation into the basis of a real and lasting affection is a triumph of art.” About the Dover Thrift Edition: if you want the play in clean typeset and without explanations cluttering up the pages, this is for you. If you want commentary, you’ll have to look elsewhere.

My 4 children are all in a Shakespeare class together and the teacher recommended these Dover Thrift editions since they are the best way to keep all the characters/actors on the same page as they study and rehearse together. I don't mind needing to buy 4 copies when they are affordable like these are.

This is one of Shakespeare's lighter works. He makes fun of many cliches of young couples who fall in love. This is a play I would especially recommend if you are new to Shakespeare, because I feel it is a lot simpler than most of his other plays. If you have difficulty understanding the writing style and jokes I would recommend watching the first ten minutes of the movie with Keanu Reeves and Denzel Washington. They do a great job of acting the play out and it makes it easier to see the emotion that comes with the words written on the pages.

Helpfu reading should you have forgotten yourClass notes from college.

This is just a publication of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, which is a very short play (maybe 75 pages). I needed it for my son's high school English class. This version is not annotated, although at the bottom of each page there are footnotes which define words which are now obscure or out of date. Excellent price for a school book. The play itself is easy to read and rather humorous, but there are plenty of other reviewers who delve more deeply into the plot. I was happy to be able to get this quickly from Amazon, since my darling son told me the night before he needed the book that it was required, and he was certain I'd have a copy laying about (I did, but in a huge Shakespeare anthology volume).

Shakespeare had an amazing ability to make situations of nobility relative to the ordinary person. This one is a masterpiece! The comedy is relevant to our time and the situation is easily imaginable.

I was looking for a small book for my college class on shakespeare and all i could find was these gigantic books of his workds but with other peoples interpretations. Not what i wanted. then i just so happens that i stumbled upon the Dover Editions and they are great they contain just the individual work. Perfect!

These were the perfect size and price for my high school Shakespeare class. Easy to transport in a back pack, and sturdy enough to put up with teenage abuse.