What’s it about? We follow the ups and downs of two relationships over the course of a few days. People meddle with Relationship #1 to make it become a romantic relationships. Other people meddle with Relationship #2 to break up the romance. Both are successful…except not really.
What’s it really about? Well…we follow the ups and downs of two relationships over the course of a few days.
No, really, what’s it ACTUALLY about? To me, this is a play about the perils of judging others. It’s a powerful reminder that people are not always who we think they are.
My thoughts:
I chose to write about this play this week because it is the day that my Master’s thesis is due and I could not resist the slightly hilarious spin that put on the title: Much Ado About Nothing. Can we take a moment to just appreciate that?
Okay, moving on.
This play is unique in a few ways. One of the things that interests me is its construction and how that is reflected in its title. It seems a bit ridiculous to have a play with a title that tells the audience, in essence, that all the action in the show adds up to “nothing.” The title tells us that we’re going to spend 2-3 hours watching events unfold and, in the end, those events are not really going to matter. This connotation seems appropriate for this play, which is one of Shakespeare’s darker comedies. (I think possibly only Merchant of Venice and All’s Well That Ends Well are the only two of his comedies that are darker. Correct me if I’m wrong!)
The structure of the play is very interesting, too. It is very similar to Shakespeare’s other romantic comedies up through the first wedding scene, which would have been the climax and finale of most other of the Bard’s comedies. But instead, the neat ends that are waiting to be tied up start to unravel. In that way, we almost get two plays in Much Ado About Nothing. One that is tidy and sweet, and one that feels more complex and ambiguous.
In some regards, this play actually reminds me a lot of Love’s Labour Lost, although I can’t quite articulate why. Perhaps it is simply the extent to which they show that life is complicated and fickle–and even when everything is great…it’s not actually so great.
This feels like a very jaded view/reading of these plays, but it’s what stands out to me right now (although reading these plays a few months from now may leave me with a very different impression). In fact, I would go so far as to say that this play helped me realize that Shakespeare’s tragedies and histories are actually, in some ways, more optimistic and full of joy than his comedies are. This is definitely something I am going to be thinking about as I continue my quest of reading all of Shakespeare’s plays this year.
For now, despite its surprising darkness, I have to say that Much Ado About Nothing is still an absolute delight. It contains one of my all-time favorite scenes (”I do spy some marks of love in her…”) and Beatrice and Benedick are very hard to beat as characters. They are thoroughly charming and witty. They are by far and away the best thing about Much Ado–which is fitting. If you have not seen Kenneth Branagh’s film version of this play, you are missing out. And if you’re looking for a good place to start with Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing is one obvious and excellent choice.
