Much Ado About Nothing Analysis

What does Don John refer to himself as in Act 1? plain dealing villain
“Plain dealing villain” is a metaphor for what? dealing cards (dealing cards face up)he doesn’t want to hide who he is
In Act 2, Benedick refers to Claudio as what? an oyster
Why does Benedick refer to Claudio as an oyster? he doesn’t have a backboneslimy – it was considered the lowest life form in Elizabethan times and an insult
Where does the play take place? Messina in the kingdom of Aragon
In Act 1, Benedick says that Beatrice and Hero are like what? Beatrice is like the first day of May and Hero is like the last of December
What does Benedick mean by that? Beatrice is prettier than Hero
Dramatic Irony Characters think Benedick hates Beatrice, but we know he likes her
What allusions does Claudio give in Act 4? He thinks that Hero is pure like Diane (virgin goddess of the moon) but really she is like Venus (a stale)
Comic relief When something funny happens after a moment of tension
What was the comic relief in Much Ado? Dogberry and Verges
Symbols taming of wild animalswarHero’s death
Simile Beatrice compares Benedick to a disease
What does Beatrice say about Benedick? (disease) “O Lord, he will hang upon him like a disease! God help the noble Claudio! If he have caught the Benedick, it will cost him a thousand pound ere ‘a be cured.”
Metaphor messenger compares Claudio to a lion in terms of valor, to a lamb because of his youth
What does the messenger say about Claudio? “He hath borne himself beyond the promise of his age, doing in the figure of a lamb, the feats of a lion.” (Act 1, Scene 1)
Personification Benedick makes the act of courtesy a turncoat (traitor)”Then is courtesy a turncoat”
Major conflict Don John creates the appearance that Hero is unfaithful to Claudio, and Claudio and Don Pedro come to believe this lie. The real conflict that underlies all of this “ado about nothing” may be that Claudio, Don Pedro, and Benedick share a suspicion of marriage as a trap in which husbands are bound to be controlled and deceived, but they also deeply desire to be married.
Rising action Claudio falls in love with HeroBenedick, Don Pedro, and Claudio express their anxieties about marriage in jokes and witty banterDon Pedro woos Hero on Claudio’s behalfThe villainous Don John creates the illusion that Hero is unfaithful
Climax Claudio rejects Hero at the alter, insulting her and accusing her of unchaste behaviorDon Pedro supports ClaudioBenedick, who is most opposed to women and love at the beginning of the play, sides with Hero and his future wife, Beatrice
Falling action Benedick challenges Claudio to a duel for slandering HeroLeonato proclaims publicly that Hero died of grief at being falsely accusedHero’s innocence is brought to light by DogberryClaudio and Don Pedro repent
Resolution By blindly marrying a masked woman whom he believes he has never met, Claudio shows that he has abandoned jealous suspicions and fears of being controlled, and that he is ready to marryHe is rewarded by discovering that his bride is actually Hero
Foreshadowing Don John’s plan to cross Claudio out of jealousy in Act 1Benedick and Beatrice’s witty insults foreshadow their falling in love
Mythical allusion Claudio thought Hero was like Diane, but discovered she was like Venus
Biblical allusion Benedick says he wouldn’t marry Beatrice if she had all the wealth of the Garden of Eden
Dogberry ** “Thou will be condemned in everlasting redemption.”
Friar ** “Come lady, die to live. This wedding day // Perhaps is put prolonged. Have patience and endure.”
Benedick ** Calls Beatrice – “my dear Lady Disdain”
Beatrice ** “I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.” (Act 1, Scene 1)
Prince (to Benedick) ** “Thou wast ever an obstinate heretic in the despite of beauty.”
Prince (to Hero) ** “Speak low if you speak love.” (Act 2, Scene 1)
Don John ** calls himself “a plain dealing villain”
Leonato ** “There is a kind of merry war betwixt Signor Benedick and her. They never met but there’s a skirmish of wit between them.”
Claudio ** “Friendship is constant in all other things//Save in the office and affairs of love…” (Act 2, Scene 1)
Benedick “I do love nothing in the world so well as you. Is not that strange?” (Act 4)
Benedick “In brief, since I do purpose to marry, I will think nothing to any purpose that the world can say against it; and therefore never flout at me for what I have said against it: for man is a giddy thing. And that this is my conclusion.” (Act 5)
Benedick “They say the lady is fair. ‘Tis a truth, I can bear them witness. And virtupus–’tis so, I cannot reprove it. And wise, but for loving me. By my troth, it is no addition to her wit–nor no great argument of her folly, for I will be horribly in love with her.” (Act 2, Scene 3)
Benedick “There’s her cousin, an she were not possessed with a fury, exceeds her as much in beauty as the first of may doth the last of December.” (Act 1, Scene 1)
Beatrice “I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest.” (Act 4)
Don John I am not of many words
Don John “Will it serve for any model to build mischief on?”
Don John He is composed and framed of treachery
Hero A Jewel
Don Pedro encourages Claudio to marry Hero because she is worthy “The lady is very well worthy”
Antonio (to Hero) “I trust you will be ruled by your father:”
Claudio uses a metaphor in talking to Leonato about Hero who he thinks is now tarnished because of her disloyalty “:This rotten orange”
What Claudio believes that Hero has been unfaithful “An approved wanton”
Benedick With anger, with sickness, or with hunger, my lord, not with love.
PersonificationBenedick gives human characteristics to the hurtful words that are spoken by Beatrice “She speaks poniards, and every word stabs”
Leanato (about Beatrice) “She mocks all her wooers out of suit”
Benedick being deceived “She were an excellent wife for Benedick”
Beatrice laments that she is not a man “O, God that I were a man”
Don Pedro “I will assume thy part in some disguise, and tell fair Hero I am Claudio”
Benedick “I may change chance some odd quirks and remnants of wit broken on me because I have railed so long against marriage, but both not the appetite alter?”
Benedick ” I will live a bachelor”
Benedick “It is certain that I am loved of all ladies, only you excepted”
HumourBeatrice’s witty and humourous insult of Benedick that his face could not get any worse were it scratched “Scratching would not make it worse an twere a face as yours were”
July 10, 2019