“Much Ado About Nothing”

Minneapolis Central Library: Room N-202.

There is underground parking beneath the library, off 4th St. S., for about $5. Go in to the Library lobby and then in to the book stacks area. Take the elevator or stairs up to the 2nd floor, then go all the way to the left.

This is a discussion about the play, not a reading or showing of it.

SYNOPSIS (from the Folger Library)
The primary plot of Much Ado About Nothing turns on the courtship and scandal involving young Hero and her suitor, Claudio, but the witty war of words between Claudio’s friend Benedick and Hero’s cousin Beatrice often takes center stage.
Set in Messina, the play begins as Don Pedro’s army returns after a victory. Benedick, a gentleman soldier, resumes a verbal duel with Beatrice, the niece of Messina’s governor, Leonato. Count Claudio is smitten by Leonato’s daughter, Hero. After Don Pedro woos her in disguise for Claudio, the two young lovers plan to marry in a week. To fill in the time until the wedding, Don Pedro and the others set about tricking Benedick and Beatrice into falling in love with each other. Meanwhile, Don Pedro’s disgruntled brother, Don John, plots to ruin Hero and halt her wedding. Claudio believes Don John’s deception, is convinced Hero has a lover, and, at the wedding, brutally rejects her.
With Hero in hiding and falsely reported dead, Beatrice persuades Benedick to fight Claudio. Tragedy is averted when the bumbling city watch, having discovered Don John’s treachery, arrives and clears Hero’s name. With Claudio forgiven, both couples are ready to get married..

DOWNLOAD TEXT FOR FREE

FREE VIDEO PERFORMANCES
• MGM Movie (1993)
(Director: Kenneth Branagh. Actors: Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Richard Briers, Keanu Reeves, Kate Beckinsale, Robert Sean Leonard, Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton)
• Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, Globe on Screen (2011)

LOCAL LIVE PERFORMANCES
• U. of M. Rarig Theater, Minneapolis, April 4-6, 2025

KANOPY APP
Download the free app. Then link your library account to it. This will allow you free access to many Shakespeare plays.

ARTICLES
• Wikipedia: “Much Ado About Nothing”
• “About Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing” by Barbara Mowat and Paul Werstine
• “A Modern Perspective: Much Ado About Nothing” By Gail Kern Paster
• SparkNotes: Full Play Analysis
• SparkNotes: Themes
• “Much Ado About Nothing” Navigator
• Further Reading: Much Ado About Nothing

GENERAL INFORMATION
• The Folger Shakespeare Library has free and paid (includes notes) downloadable texts of all of Shakespeare’s plays.
• The Folger Library: Shakespeare Documented has copies of original documents from Shakespeare’s time.
• “The Play’s The Thing” is an excellent free podcast discussion of Shakespeare’s plays.
• Podcast: “Approaching Shakespeare”
• SparkNotes 101: Shakespeare [Excellent synopses of all the plays.]
• Shakespeare After All by Marjorie Garber [Excellent analysis of all the plays.]

FACEBOOK PAGES
• The Official William Shakespeare Page
• Shakespeare Study Group
• William Shakespeare: His Works and His World