Act One Scene One

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English 521 - Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado About NothingWilliam Shakespeare

Plot SummaryCommentary

Character Analysis


Much Ado About Nothing: The Film


Act OneScene One


Summary

We are introduced to the characters.

We learn Don Pedro has beaten his half-brother, Don John, in battle.

We learn Claudio loves Hero and that Benedick and Beatrice are engaged in a battle of wits.

Don Pedro is going to help Claudio woo the lovely Hero, much to Benedick’s chagrin.


Claudio and Benedick


Commentary

We also see Claudio as a lover, Benedick as a mocker, and Don Pedro as a father figure.

We are given hints that B&B will get together:

Battle of wits has strong feelings underneath;Don Pedro’s threat: ‘you will look pale with

love’ Think of Benedick as Chandler from ‘Friends’. He covers

his true feelings with sarcasm/wit. We will learn that Beatrice is the play’s most

interesting character.

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Commentary Continued…

Don Pedro’s promise to court Hero for Claudio smacks of overprotectiveness.

Shakespeare was notorious for his use of puns. We should always be on the lookout for wordplay, for example:

The exchanges between B&B, where they discuss food, disease: ‘If he have caught the Benedick, it will cost him…’ ‘In our last conflict, four of his five wits went halting off…’


Quotes!

Line 12 Line 76 Line 127 Line 156 Line 171 Line 290 Line 295


The Boys are Back in Town…


Act OneScene Two


Summary

A very brief scene, but one which tells a lot. Leonato’s brother, Antonio, is also introduced.

Antonio tells Leonato that he has mistakenly overheard Don Pedro’s plans to woo Hero. He doesn’t know that he’s doing it for Claudio.

Don Pedro feels that he’d better inform Hero of the plan, so that he can encourage her to say yes.


Commentary

We meet Antonio in this scene. He will later challenge Claudio.

This also introduces the first threat to Claudio and Hero’s happiness.

When Leonato doesn’t really question Don Pedro’s plan, it gives a hint that he may be very AMBITIOUS for his daughter to marry Don Pedro, a prince.

There is another reference to the dream theme.

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The ‘Dream Theme’ in Much Ado Dream imagery is significant in MAAN.

It suggests that strange things are going on, and that more is involved than meets the eye.

News that Don Pedro is to court Hero leads Leonato to respond: ‘We will hold it as a dream till it appear itself.’

Thus the theme of appearance and reality, introduced in the first scene in reference, for instance, to Claudio’s behaviour in war (‘doing in the figure of a lamb the feats of a lion’), continues here.


Antonio The man who

mistakenly believes that Don Pedro – and not Claudio – will be the one to woo Hero.

He also will challenge Claudio for Hero’s honor later in the play.


Leonato & Hero Leonato is preparing

Hero to marry the wrong man: Don Pedro!

She would rather marry Claudio, whom she really loves.

FYI: Coffin once dated Kate Beckinsale, playing Hero.


Act OneScene Three


Summary

Don John and his servant, Conrad, open the scene. Conrad suggests, now that DJ is back in Don Pedro’s

good graces, he should look to advance himself. DJ says he’d rather be who he is, not pretend to be happy.

Borachio enters and tells them about Don Pedro’s REAL plan to woo Hero.

DJ jumps at the chance to make mischief for Claudio, whom he calls ‘a proper squire’ and a ‘young start-up’ who has become famous because he helped to defeat DJ.

Conrad and Borachio tell him they’ll support his plans.


The Bad Boys of Messina The Bad Boys of Messina:

Don John, the ‘plain-dealing villain’.

Conrad, the masseur (shiver)

Borachio, whose name comes from the Spanish word ‘borracho’, which means ‘drunk’ (this will become very important in the plot later in the play)

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Commentary

We are now introduced to DJ’s plot against Claudio. He hates Claudio: For his role in overthrowing DJ. Because Don Pedro favors Claudio over DJ.

Proverb: ‘I had rather be a canker in a hedge than a rose in his grace’. - Don John about Don Pedro

We also learn that DJ, like Benedick, is an outsider in Messina. Willy Shakes uses animal imagery to suggest this. For example…


Don John’s Animal Imagery ‘I am trusted with a MUZZLE and

enfranchised with a CLOG; therefore I have decreed not to SING IN MY CAGE. If I had a mouth, I would BITE.

The imagery identifies him as a child of nature, an outsider, and a schemer.

He also was able to speak a lot of lines without blinking!


Quotes:

Line 21 Line 27 Line 30 Line 57


Act TwoScene One


Summary

Long scene!

Entering first are:LeonatoAntonio (the idiot brother)

BeatriceHeroMargaretUrsula


Summary Continued…

Leonato wonders about Don John and the remark about his foul temper.

Beatrice remarks that the perfect man would be one who combines Don John’s silence and Benedick’s chattering.

Leonato thinks Beatrice is being SHREWISH. She disagrees and claims she’ll go to Heaven as a maid.

Leonato hopes that Hero will be less shrewish and will be ‘ruled’ by her father. Surprisingly, Beatrice agrees with him, but tells Hero that she hopes at least that the guy is good looking!

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Beatrice and Hero Leonato says he hopes

to see his niece (Beatrice) married one day.

She tells him it’ll be a hot day in January.

Leonato then tells Hero that she should accept Don Pedro.

Beatrice warns her not to make a mistake in marriage.


Summary Continued…

The men approach in masks, accompanied by Don John and Borachio, unmasked.

When the music begins, people pair off:Hero & Don PedroBalthasar & MargaretUrsula & AntonioBeatrice & Benedick

Beatrice, not knowing she is with Benedick, tells him that Benedick is the ‘Prince’s jester, a very dull fool’.

Benedick’s feelings are hurt.


More Summary… Claudio (who is pretending to be Benedick) is told by Don John

that Don Pedro is wooing Hero for himself. He buys it, hook, line, and sinker.

‘Friendship is constant in all other things/Save for the office and affairs of love’, according to Claudio.

Benedick wonders aloud if Beatrice is correct. Is he a fool? He does have a merry soul.

The others enter and Benedick tells Don Pedro that Claudio is mad. He also explains that he and Beatrice still do not like one another!


And Even More Summary…

Beatrice enters with Claudio and Benedick asks if Don Pedro will send him on an errand – any errand – in order to avoid her. He leaves and the others tease Beatrice.

She hints that Benedick has hurt her before, so she’s just getting even with him.

Don Pedro reveals that his plan has worked. Hero will marry Claudio.

Beatrice complains to Don Pedro that everyone is getting married except her.

Claudio and Don Pedro agree that the young lovers will be married in a week.


The End of the Scene… Don Pedro comes up

with a scheme:

He will tell all of the players how they can trick Beatrice and Benedick into falling in love with one another.

Leonato, Claudio, and Hero agree to the plan.


Commentary

Because Don Pedro’s plan to woo Hero for Claudio is complicated, there are lots of things that could go bad, emphasizing the theme of APPEARANCE & REALITY.

It also starts Claudio on his emotional roller-coaster which will continue throughout the play.

Although Don John’s first plan to ruin Claudio fails, we learn that he’s too smart to fail for too long.

The third plot is introduced at scene’s end. The characters have 1 week to get B&B together…

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Commentary II…

Three developments create suspense:Will the wedding take place as scheduled?Will Don John create a successful plot to ruin Claudio?Will Don Pedro (and others) succeed in united B&B?

The scene also builds Beatrice’s character. She is feeling the pressure of not being married. She tries to distance herself from Hero by being fiercely independent. She will choose her OWN husband!


Commentary III

Claudio is insecure. He readily believes that Don Pedro sold him out, and believes things too easily and hastily.

He is also prone to wild mood swings, as in this scene. Hero is almost silent and passive – a FOIL for Beatrice.

As astute Shakespeare scholars, we notice that the entire scene is prose.

We also see the FOUR FACES OF BENEDICK:


Benedick the Outsider As the outsider, he

is comfortable being the main critic to society.

He criticizes Claudio’s decision to get married.

He criticizes the games lovers play, although he’s doing it too.


Benedick the Potential Lover

He reacts to the personality of Beatrice.

His feelings get hurt.

She brings out the best and the worst in him, and he hates himself for it.


Benedick the Soldier

He thinks and speaks about things in military terms.

When speaking to Beatrice, he says he feels like he’s being shot.


Benedick the Messenger

He plays the role of the unaware deceiver of Claudio.

He brings to Claudio the false report of Don Pedro’s theft of Hero.

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Beatrice the Critic She often critiques the men in

the play: Don Pedro is too old, Don John is too angry, Benedick talks too much.

She sees men as pieces of the earth.

In her quieter moments, she does show affection for Benedick, foreshadowing their later marriage.


Beatrice Likes Benedick!

I am sure he is in the fleet. I would he had boarded me.

He’ll but break a comparison or two {like a lance} on me; which peradventure, not marked or not laughed at, strikes him into melancholy.

Then there’s a partridge wing saved, for the fool will eat no supper that night. (Yet another food image)


Quotes: Line 6 Line 30 Line 50 Line 58 Line 131 Line 163

Line 191 Line 224 Line 254 Line 275 Line 295 Line 335


Act TwoScene Two


Summary

Borachio promises Don John that he can ‘cross’ the upcoming marriage of Hero & Claudio, while still looking innocent.

They will make Hero look like a ‘contaminated stale’ or a prostitute.

Don John is pleased with the scheme and offers Borachio 1000 ducats.


Ducats…

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Commentary

We see here a continuation of the APPEARANCE vs REALITY theme: people will believe that Borachio/Margaret are actually Claudio/Hero and there will be trouble.

We learn a bit about Borachio in this scene: he is willing to use Margaret in order to make some money for himself.

The use of the word ‘cross’ is also symbolic: It hints that Don John is

some sort of devil who is the antagonist to the heavenly Don Pedro.

Don John represents a sort of Judas who ‘crucifies’ Hero and Claudio.


Borachio & Don John (with Conrad)


Quotes

Line 19


Act TwoScene Three


Summary Benedick wonders aloud

how much Claudio has changed.

As he wonders, he considers the virtues he’d look for in a woman.

Claudio, Leonato, and Don Pedro speak about Beatrice so Benedick can hear. They convince him that Beatrice is in love with him.


Commentary The whole purpose of this

scene is to fulfill part one of the B&B scheme.

This scene is called HIGH COMEDY: the guys who mocks love (and secretly wants to be loved) is tricked into falling in love by his friends.

He can now admit he loves.

No doubt, his new conversion to a lover has something to do with the fact that his buddy Claudio has fallen in love.

Also, due to some insecurity about some unstable relationships, and the fact that Don Pedro now seems to favor Claudio.

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Quotes

Line 42 Line 92 Line 120 Line 213 Line 231


Act ThreeScene One


Summary In this scene, Hero and her

waiting-women trick Beatrice into loving Benedick.

They say that Beatrice is ‘too disdainful’ and mean to ever hold onto a man.

Hero says she’ll convince Benedick to forget Beatrice, because she is too mean.

Beatrice, of course, is in love.


Commentary This is a parallel to the last

scene.

It also serves as the climax to this plot.

With Beatrice now converted, all that remains is for the two lovers to admit they love one another.

This scene also shows us that Hero is capable of deceit – a trait which will both hurt and help her as the play progresses.

Animal imagery continues in this scene: Beatrice will tame her own ‘wild heart’, which has been shy and reluctant, like a bird.


Plot I: Beatrice and Benedick


Quotes

Line 32 Line 49 Line 105 Line 109

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Act ThreeScene Two


Summary This scene opens with Don Pedro informing his men

that he’ll return to Aragon after the wedding and he’ll take Benedick with him.

Benedick says he feels different (he’s in love) but blames it on a toothache. The others tease him.

John the Bastard enters and baits Claudio and Don Pedro. They don’t want to believe him but, if it is true, Claudio swears he will shame Hero at their wedding.

Don Pedro will join him, he says, if it is true.


Commentary

Benedick is now a lover – not a woman-hater. Don John’s plot makes for a more sinister tone.

The childish dependence of Claudio is also suggested. He offers to go with Don Pedro to Aragon on his honeymoon!

Also, he quickly believes that Hero is unfaithful and is callous in threatening to ruin her in public. Remember he fell in love and wanted to get married all in the same day; he also believed – too quickly – that Don Pedro had betrayed him. In a nutshell, the guy’s a wuss.


Claudio

Is a Wuss!


Commentary II: Don Pedro We see some of Don

Pedro’s moodiness in this scene:

He is leaving to go home. He is quick to believe his

villain brother, perhaps because he doesn’t want to lose his friend.

He is as callous as Claudio when he agrees to ‘besmirch’ Hero at the wedding.


Plot II: No Wedding

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Quotes

Line 25 Line 61 Line 100 Line 105 Line 109 Line 112


Act ThreeScene Three


Summary

This is Dogberry’s (chief constable) scene. He is accompanied by Verges, a less important cop.

These are the LOW, COMIC characters. They speak strangely and SLAUGHTER the English language.

Borachio and Conrad enter and are quickly arrested.

Conrad feels foolish after having been arrested by such fools.


Dogberry & Verges


Commentary

We are introduced to another SUB-PLOT: The satire on law-enforcement of the day prepares us for

the uncovering of Don John’s plot.

We now have suspense as well. We know that the plot is out in the open, but will Claudio and Hero know about it before the wedding? Will the constables get it straight?

Dogberry uses MALAPROPISMS (misuse of words) for comic effect in the play. He is also very pompous. Shakespeare liked to present these types of clowns.


‘Come hither, neighbor Seacoal’

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Quotes

Line 100 Line 102 Line 133 (Borachio’s Drunken Speech) Line 142 (More Drunken Speech)


Act ThreeScene Four


Summary

This scene doesn’t appear in the film.

The ladies are preparing for the wedding and speaking lewdly (as only ladies do) about men.

The ladies suggest that Beatrice take some Cardius Benedictus and lay it on her heart, since she also feels ill (lovesick, like Benedick).

This scene is the parallel to the scene where the men teased Benedick.


Commentary

We get a glimpse at Margaret’s coarser side, as she makes lewd jokes and off-color remarks.

Also, Margaret is not feeling very guilty – a hint that she perhaps was unaware of her role in Borachio’s plot?

IRONY: She is helping prepare for the wedding which she

also helped sabotage.


Quote

Line 68 (Margaret’s Potty Mouth)


Act ThreeScene Five

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Summary

Dogberry and Verges come to Leonato with some information, and Leonato is impatient with them.

The clowns cannot get their point across.

Leonato gets upset and calls them ‘tedious’. Dogberry misinterprets this as a compliment.

He tells Leonato that he’s ‘comprehended two aspicious persons’ and is going to examine them. Leonato thinks this is a great idea, gives them some wine, and leaves.



Commentary

This scene comments upon how nobles treated lower-classes.

If Leonato had taken the time to listen to the two clowns, things would have been much different.

Because he didn’t, the suspense of the audience continues.

Dogberry is too pompous to blurt out his story. He has to set the scene. He is also too vain to let Verges tell it.


Quotes

Line 18 (Dogberry) Line 33 (Dogberry) Line 43 (Dogberry) Line 49 (Dogberry)


Act FourScene One


Summary This scene begins at church. Claudio leaves Hero at the

altar, with full support of Don Pedro; Hero faints on the spot.

The friar believes Hero is pure and asks Leonato to be patient.

He then comes up with a plan to tell people that Hero died of shame.

Benedick agrees to help them, even though he is Don Pedro’s soldier.

Everyone leaves except B&B.

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Benedick the Wuss? B & B admit their love for

one another, except…

Beatrice uses the old female trick of accusing Benedick of not loving her if he doesn’t avenge Hero’s name by fighting with Claudio.

After some groveling, Benedick agrees to challenge Claudio to a duel.


Commentary This scene features three of

the main plots of the play coming to a head.The wedding is ruined;Don John’s plot is fulfilled;B & B proclaim their love.

Suspense is now also introduced:Will Benedick kill Claudio?How will people react to

Hero’s ‘death?

The only reasonable person in the play seems to be the Friar, as the only one who actually believes in Hero (besides Beatrice).

Claudio proves – once again –his wussiness (he is petty, vain, and impulsive). His loyalty to Don Pedro is more than his love of Hero.


More Commentary: Benedick is smart enough to

realize that Don John is probably behind all this but he must challenge Claudio to prove his love to Beatrice.

Two of them have the very bent of honour, and if their wisdoms be misled in this, the practice of it lives in John the Bastard, whose spirits toil in frame of villainies.


Quotes Line 11 – 13 Line 18 – 19 Line 31 – 32 Line 40 – 41 Line 63 – 65 Line 83 – 85 Line 86 – 93 Line 101 – 106 Line 107 Line 109 – 110 Line 113 – 115 Line 122 - 126

Line 151 – 153 Line 161 – 163 Line 166 – 169 Line 177 – 179 Line 185 – 188 Line 189 – 192 Line 201 – 203 Line 252 – 253 Line 284 – 285 Line 296 – 297 Line 319 – 320 Line 326 - 330


Act FourScene Two


Summary We are again treated to the

mal-appropriate behaviour of Dogberry & Verges.

The watchman explains what they heard from Borachio and Conrad.

The sexton (judge) passes along news that Hero has died.

Conrad calls Dogberry an ass.

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Commentary This scene is comic relief.

It also indicates that Friar Francis’s plan has worked.

The language of the scene is thick with malapropisms and misunderstandings.Coffin shall read them (Page 53 of Coles Notes)


Quotes

O villain! Thou wilt be condemned into everlasting redemption for this!- Dogberry (Line 53 – 54)

Away, you are an ass; you are an ass.- Conrad (Line 71)


Act FiveScene One


Summary

The scene begins with Antonio trying to calm Leonato. Leonato tries to challenge Claudio. Claudio refuses.

Benedick enters, takes Claudio aside, and challenges him to a duel. He tells Claudio he will tell the whole town of his cowardice if he refuses.

He also tells Don Pedro that he must end their friendship.

Don Pedro and Claudio realize that B’s actions are a result of his love for Beatrice.


Summary II Dogberry and Verges arrive with Borachio and Conrad. Don Pedro and Claudio find out about Don John’s plot. Claudio is very remorseful and tells Leonato he will do

anything as his penance. Don Pedro also begs forgiveness.

Leonato tells them to spread Hero’s good name around Messina.

He also tells Claudio that he will marry his brothers ‘daughter’ the next morning.

Borachio confesses that Margaret didn’t know about the plot; Dogberry wants Conrad punished for the earlier insult.


Commentary We see Leonato as the overly-emotional father again – but,

in this case, he does it to play upon the grief of Claudio and Don Pedro and have them agree to the absurd request of the new marriage.

Benedick gains the audience’s sympathy for choosing love over friendship.

Our doubts about Margaret are also cleared up in this scene.

Any tension in the scene is erased with the arrival of the two constables.

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Quotes

Line 53 – 55Line 62 – 66Line 87 – 90Line 103 – 105Line 119Line 123, 124, 125Line 142 – 146; Line

147 – 148

Line 182 – 188Line 208 – 212Line 225 - 236Line 246 – 249Line 272 – 275Line 281 – 285


Act FiveScene Two


Summary Benedick is going to try and

impress Beatrice with a new love song.

Benedick speaks about building a ‘monument’ while he lives (he wants to have a family).

Ursula informs them that Don John’s plot has been uncovered and they leave to hear the welcome news.

Quotes:

Line 66

Line 70 - 73


Commentary We are seeing some

development in the relationship between B & B.

Margaret resumes her role as the witty opponent of Benedick’s wit.

Benedick realizes he is a better soldier than a lover.

Beatrice proves to be a clumsy partner for Benedick.


Act FiveScene Three


Summary Commentary Claudio reads from a

scroll, saying Hero was killed by ‘slanderous tongues’.

He swears he will perform this ritual every year.

At scene’s end, Claudio and Don Pedro leave to prepare for the wedding.

This scene is meant to cast Claudio in a sympathetic light again.

This scene is also a commentary on the dangers of slander.

The depth of his feelings of remorse are suggested by his resolve to marry another.

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Hero’s Accusers:


Act FiveScene Four


Summary The play’s last scene.

Leonato explains the innocence of Claudio, Don Pedro, and Margaret.

Benedick is happy he doesn’t have to fight Claudio.

The women are shooed away and told to put on masks.

Benedick asks to marry Beatrice. He gets permission.

Benedick is scared of getting married (February face).


Summary II

Claudio must swear to marry Leonato’s ‘niece’ before seeing her face.

B & B seem to have trouble declaring their love for one another.

Benedick tells Don Pedro it’s his turn to marry.

A messenger arrives with news that Don John has been captured.


Commentary

This scene is used to reconcile everything/everyone. Don Pedro’s melancholy is a natural reaction to the

marriages and the inevitable adjustments he will have to make in his own life.

Claudio leaves the audience with mixed feelings: many still cannot forgive him.

Throughout the entire scene, the characters hint that Benedick and Beatrice have been duped, but they don’t pick up on it.

Shakespeare uses prose in the end in order to relax the scene and ensure a happy ending for all the characters.


Quotes:

Line 40 – 42 Line 55 Line 60 – 61 Line 121 - 123

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Plot III: Happy Endings:


Much Ado About Nothing

Act One Scene One

Documents

Transcript of Act One Scene One