Lines 1–71: Leonato, Antonio, Hero, and Beatrice wait for the prince and his party to arrive. They discuss Don John’s bitter temperament, and Beatrice jokes that the ideal man would be a combination of Don John and Benedick—one says too little and the other too much. This leads to a more general discussion of men and marriage, with Beatrice demonstrating her wit and professing similar opinions to those of Benedick in Act 1 Scene 1, asserting that she will not marry. Leonato reminds Hero of her duty to accept Don Pedro if he should propose, reinforcing the differences between the two cousins: Beatrice appears relatively free in terms of both speech and decision but Hero is subject to her father’s authority and, in fact, says nothing throughout the whole exchange.
Lines 72–83: Don Pedro asks Hero to dance with him. Their conversation is romantic, but Hero tells him she cannot give him an answer until she knows who he is.
Lines 84–94: Margaret rebuffs Balthasar’s advances.
Lines 95–105: Antonio denies his true identity to Ursula who claims she knows him by the marks of his old age, such as his “dry hand,” but then gives a more tactful reason—he cannot hide his “excellent wit.”
Lines 106–133: Benedick use his anonymity to verbally abuse Beatrice, pretending to report an insult by someone else. Beatrice pretends not to know she is talking to Benedick and criticizes him at length, suggesting that he overestimates his own wit and that others find him “a very dull fool.”
Lines 134–148: Don John and Borachio pretend to believe that Claudio is Benedick and ask to speak to him as a friend of Don Pedro’s. They tell him that Don Pedro is in love with Hero and means to marry her, and ask “Benedick” to warn the prince against this as she is not his equal.
Lines 149–183: Claudio’s soliloquy reveals that he believes that Don Pedro has won Hero for himself. This reveals a gullible and jealous side to his personality. Benedick enters, and, apparently laboring under the same misconception as Claudio, offers to fashion him a willow garland—the emblem of a forsaken lover. Claudio leaves and Benedick reflects on Beatrice’s earlier criticism.
Lines 184–239: Don Pedro, Leonato, and Hero enter, looking for Claudio. Benedick tells them that Claudio believes that the prince has wooed Hero for himself, and is told that this is not true: Hero is intended for Claudio. Don Pedro reports that the gentleman that danced with Beatrice told her that she is “much wronged” by Benedick, who makes a furious speech about how, conversely, she “misused” him and how much he dislikes her. As Beatrice enters, bringing Claudio, he begs Don Pedro to send him on an errand “to the world’s end,” so that he may avoid her. The prince refuses, but Benedick leaves anyway.
Lines 240–298: Don Pedro comments to Beatrice that she has lost Benedick’s heart, and she comments that in the past “he lent it” to her, suggesting a previous attachment between them. Beatrice says that she has brought Claudio, commenting on his jealous disposition. Don Pedro explains that he has Leonato’s consent to Claudio marrying Hero, and the lovers exchange vows, although, again, Hero is silent—Beatrice supplies her words. Beatrice then claims to regret her single status, and Don Pedro makes her a half-joking offer of marriage. Beatrice refuses on the grounds that, like a good suit of clothes, he is too expensive to “wear every day.” She then apologizes to him for being “all mirth and no matter,” before Leonato sends her off on an errand.
Lines 299–338: The assembled characters discuss Beatrice’s lively disposition and her single state. Don Pedro comments that she would be “an excellent wife for Benedick.” Claudio states his intention to marry Hero the next day, but Leonato says that they must wait a week. Don Pedro suggests that they pass this time by making Benedick and Beatrice fall in love. Everyone agrees to help.
ACT 2 SCENE 2
Borachio shows Don John how he can prevent Claudio’s marriage to Hero and injure Don Pedro and Leonato. Don John will tell Claudio and Don Pedro that Hero is unfaithful and show them a scene that Borachio will stage at Hero’s window, in which he will play out a lovers’ encounter with Margaret, calling her “Hero” throughout. Hero’s honor will be ruined, as will that of her father, Claudio, and Don Pedro.
ACT 2 SCENE 3
Theatrical self-awareness is sustained through the next three scenes, as different characters are set up to observe the “dramas” that are being played to deceive them. The first of these is the duping of Benedick in the garden of Leonato’s house. The dramatic irony and Benedick’s asides add to the comedy, and the theme of deception is reinforced by the sustained trapping imagery.
Lines 1–32: Benedick’s soliloquy focuses on the change in Claudio since he fell in love. He contemplates whether he himself will ever be “converted,” dwelling on the virtues that his ideal woman would have. He sees the other men and hides in the arbor.
Lines 33–84: Don Pedro and Claudio establish that Benedick is listening, then talk of love and request Balthasar to play a love song, the words of which reinforce the theme of deception. Benedick’s asides are cynical and prosaic.
Lines 85–197: After Balthasar has left, Don Pedro, Claudio, and Leonato discuss the fact that Beatrice is in love with Benedick and cannot tell him. They agree that he should not know because he would only “torment” Beatrice. They discuss Beatrice’s many virtues, and Benedick’s unworthiness. There are asides between the characters as they gauge Benedick’s response, and from Benedick, who suspects it is a “gull,” but decides it cannot be because Leonato is a part of the conversation.
Lines 198–219: In one short soliloquy Benedick undergoes a rapidly changing array of emotions and self-analysis, and a complete reversal of opinion with regard to Beatrice. Believing that Beatrice loves him, he resolves to bear the mockery he will receive after having “railed so long against marriage” and to return her love.
Lines 220–235: Beatrice comes to call Benedick for dinner. Her responses to his pleasantries are ill tempered, but he persists in reading nonexistent double meanings into her words, and finding evidence of her love.
ACT 3 SCENE 1
Lines 1–33: Hero directs Margaret to go and tell Beatrice that she and Ursula are discussing her in the orchard. She then primes Ursula as to what their conversation must be about—praising Benedick and discussing his love for Beatrice. They see Beatrice enter and conceal herself, and move so that she can overhear them. They use similar images of trapping to those in the previous scene.
Lines 34–108: They discuss Benedick’s love for Beatrice and the fact that Hero has supposedly refused to tell Beatrice because “she cannot love” and her response would be to “make sport” of Benedick. They list Benedick’s virtues and Hero resolves to tell Benedick to “fight against his passion.” They leave to choose a wedding outfit for Hero.
Lines 109–118: Beatrice declares she will “requite” Benedick’s love in a speech that, like his in Act 2 Scene 3, shows change and increased self-awareness.
ACT 3 SCENE 2
We do not watch the deceptive performance staged by Borachio. Instead, we see Don John prepare Don Pedro and Claudio to witness it.
Lines 1–61: Don Pedro intends to leave for Aragon once Claudio’s marriage is accomplished, taking Benedick with him for company. Benedick enters, claiming to have toothache. Don Pedro, Claudio, and Leonato tease him, saying he shows all the signs of being in love—changing his clothes, shaving his beard, using perfume and, above all, being melancholy. Benedick asks to speak to Leonato in private and they leave.
Lines 62–115: Don John approaches and, having acknowledged that Claudio distrusts him, tells them that Hero is “disloyal” and offers to show them the evidence that night at Hero’s window. Claudio and Don Pedro seem reluctant to believe him at first, but by the end of the scene they have vowed to publicly disgrace her if they see proof that Don John is telling the truth.
ACT 3 SCENE 3
Lines 1–85: The master constable, Dogberry, and parish officer, Verges, issue instructions to the Watch. The Watchmen are revealed to be incompetent and stupid, a
nd the nonsensical comedy that is created is compounded by Dogberry’s hyperbolic and inaccurate vocabulary, in particular his use of malapropisms. Dogberry’s final instruction is to keep an eye on Leonato’s house, because of all the wedding preparations.
Lines 86–161: Borachio and Conrad enter, drunk, and the Watch overhear their conversation as Borachio recounts to Conrad his part in the deception of Don Pedro and Claudio. He describes how Don John incited Don Pedro and Claudio with “oaths,” and then how his own performance in leaving Hero’s window convinced them. He reports that Claudio has sworn to shame Hero in church the next day. The Watch arrest them, despite not understanding all that they have heard.
ACT 3 SCENE 4
Margaret helps Hero to dress for her wedding, while Ursula goes to wake Beatrice. As they discuss clothes, and Margaret makes innuendoes about Hero’s impending loss of virginity, Beatrice enters. Like Benedick in Act 3 Scene 2, she puts her melancholy down to illness. Margaret teases her, suggesting that she is in love, and dropping hints about Benedick. Ursula tells them that the men have come to take Hero to church and they withdraw to help her finish dressing.
ACT 3 SCENE 5
Dogberry and Verges go to inform Leonato of the arrest of Borachio and Conrad and the revelation of Don John’s plot. Leonato is impatient and too busy to listen to their “tedious,” long-winded beginning and is called away to the wedding before they can tell him.
ACT 4 SCENE 1
Lines 1–114: All the characters assemble for the marriage of Hero and Claudio, and Leonato tells the Friar to keep the service brief. Claudio asks if Leonato gives Hero freely to him and, reinforcing the theme of “worth” from earlier, asks what he can give in return for “this rich and precious gift.” Don Pedro suggests that all he can do is return the gift. Claudio does so, denouncing Hero as an “approvèd wanton,” who has only the appearance of modesty and chastity. Initially, Leonato thinks that Claudio himself has taken Hero’s virginity, but Claudio denies this. Hero suggests that Claudio must be ill to speak so falsely. Leonato appeals to Don Pedro, who claims that he has been dishonored by helping to link Claudio to “a common stale.”
Claudio asks Hero what man she spoke with at her window the previous night. Hero answers “no man,” in one of the few lines she speaks in the whole scene. Claudio, believing what he saw, recounts it to the assembled company, adding that the man has confessed to many previous sexual encounters with Hero. He rejects Hero once more and declares that he will never love again. Hero faints and Don Pedro, Claudio, and Don John leave.
Lines 115–263: Beatrice tries to help Hero, fearing she may be dead. Leonato says that it would be better if she was and prays that she does not wake up, regretting that he ever had a child. At this point, he is torn between the public and domestic elements of his life: his social position and honor, and his love for his only child. Beatrice insists that Hero is “belied.” The Friar intervenes, saying that he observed Hero’s expressions throughout and that he believes her to be innocent and that Claudio and Don Pedro are deceived. He questions Hero, who denies everything. Benedick suggests that Don John may be responsible. Leonato threatens to kill those who have wronged Hero, but the Friar suggests that they pretend she has died as a result of the slander while they find out the truth. Failing this, Hero can be placed quietly in a convent. He argues that Hero’s “death” will create remorse in Claudio and, even if they cannot prove her innocence, pity “will quench the wonder of her infamy.” Leonato agrees and Benedick vows to keep the secret.
Lines 264–338: Once alone, Benedick attempts to comfort Beatrice and reassure her that be believes Hero is innocent. She wishes that there was a man who could help, but when Benedick offers, she says it is not his “office.” He then declares his love for her, and after some procrastination, she returns it. He asks her to bid him to do anything for her, but when she tells him to “Kill Claudio,” he refuses. She threatens to leave and insists again that Hero is wronged and that Claudio is a villain, wishing she were a man so that she might be revenged. Benedick is torn between the bond of male friendship and his love for Beatrice, but eventually agrees to challenge Claudio.
ACT 4 SCENE 2
Borachio and Conrad are interrogated before the Sexton. Again, the process is prolonged by Dogberry’s comic self-importance and long-windedness. He selects nonsensical extracts from the proceedings and insists that they are written down, including Conrad’s insult that he is “an ass.” The Sexton gets to the truth, reporting that the public disgrace of Hero has taken place, that Hero has died as a result, and that Don John has left in secrecy. He states his intention to show Leonato the evidence of the interrogation, and instructs the constable to bring Borachio and Conrad.
ACT 5 SCENE 1
Lines 1–45: Leonato rejects Antonio’s attempts to comfort him, and resolves to tell Claudio and Don Pedro that they have slandered Hero.
Lines 46–192: Don Pedro and Claudio are in a hurry and do not wish to quarrel with Leonato, but he accuses them of “villainy” and threatens to fight Claudio. Claudio dismisses his challenge, but Antonio then joins in. Don Pedro refuses to fight two old men and will not listen to Leonato, who leaves with Antonio as Benedick arrives. Don Pedro and Claudio attempt to joke with Benedick as before about love and Beatrice, but he will not respond, and the male camaraderie that previously existed between the three men is awkwardly absent. He quietly challenges Claudio to a duel, and then leaves, telling them that they have “killed a sweet and innocent lady” and that Don John has left Messina.
Lines 193–326: Dogberry and Verges enter, leading Borachio and Conrad. Don Pedro and Claudio inquire why they are bound, and Borachio interrupts Dogberry’s confused response and confesses. The revelation of the truth affects Claudio as though he had “drunk poison,” as he simultaneously experiences shame, grief, and love for Hero. Leonato returns with the Sexton and demands to see the villain. Borachio owns up, but Leonato points out that Don Pedro and Claudio had a part in it as well. Claudio asks that Leonato choose his punishment. Leonato says that he must tell everyone of Hero’s innocence, hang an epitaph on Hero’s tomb, and marry his niece in place of Hero the next day. Claudio agrees. Borachio establishes Margaret’s innocence of her part in the plot and is taken away.
ACT 5 SCENE 2
Benedick tells Margaret to send Beatrice to him and, while he waits, attempts to compose a love song. As he laments his inability to do so, Beatrice enters and asks what has happened between him and Claudio. When he replies “Only foul words,” she refuses to kiss him and starts to leave. He tells her that he has challenged Claudio and they talk in romantic terms but conclude they are “too wise to woo peaceably,” as they cannot avoid jibing at each other. Ursula comes to tell them that Hero is proved innocent and that they are to go to Leonato.
ACT 5 SCENE 3
Claudio hangs the epitaph on Hero’s tomb, declaring her innocence. Balthasar sings a “solemn hymn” and Claudio vows to perform the same rite every year. They leave to prepare for Claudio’s wedding to Leonato’s “niece.”
ACT 5 SCENE 4
The lovers are united in marriage, a symbol of order restored. Masks are used again, but the removal of the masks represents the revelation of truths and the end of deception. The only question we may be left with is whether Claudio deserves Hero.
Lines 1–33: Leonato sends the women to mask themselves and consents to Benedick’s request to marry Beatrice. The Friar agrees to perform the ceremony.
Lines 34–51: Don Pedro and Claudio arrive and Claudio declares his intention to go through with the marriage.
Lines 52–129: The women enter, masked, and Claudio asks to see the face of the one he is to marry. Leonato insists he must swear to marry her before he sees her. He does so and Hero reveals her face. Claudio and Don Pedro are amazed and Leonato briefly tells of the deception, which the Friar says can be explained after the ceremony. Benedick asks Beatrice if she loves him. She denies it, and he says that Leonato, Don Pedro, and Clau
dio swore she did. She asks him the same question and he also denies it. They begin to argue, but Claudio produces a sonnet that Benedick has written for Beatrice, and Hero a love letter that Beatrice has written to Benedick. Beatrice continues to wrangle but Leonato says he will stop her mouth by making her and Benedick kiss. Don Pedro teases Benedick for going back on his word and choosing to marry, but Benedick just recommends that he get himself a wife, adding that he will devise “brave punishments” for Don John later. They all dance.
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
IN PERFORMANCE:
THE RSC AND BEYOND
The best way to understand a Shakespeare play is to see it or ideally to participate in it. By examining a range of productions, we may gain a sense of the extraordinary variety of approaches and interpretations that are possible—a variety that gives Shakespeare his unique capacity to be reinvented and made “our contemporary” four centuries after his death.
We begin with a brief overview of the play’s theatrical and cinematic life, offering historical perspectives on how it has been performed. We then analyze in more detail a series of productions staged over the last half-century by the Royal Shakespeare Company. The sense of dialogue between productions that can only occur when a company is dedicated to the revival and investigation of the Shakespeare canon over a long period, together with the uniquely comprehensive archival resource of promptbooks, program notes, reviews, and interviews held on behalf of the RSC at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon, allows an “RSC stage history” to become a crucible in which the chemistry of the play can be explored.
Much Ado About Nothing Page 12