| What are the main four key ideas, themes and issues? | *trickery and deception*self-deception and delusion*love and marriage*status and honor |
| trickery and deception | characters trick others into looking foolish, getting angry, becoming jealous, or falling in love. |
| self-deception and delusion | characters cannot see the obvious, and have an unrealistic view of themselves (good or bad). |
| love and marriage | described within a society where women have little power and little say in whom they marry. |
| status and honor | described within a society where anyone of low birth gives way to those of higher status, and where everyone is meant to keep to a strict social code. |
| How does Shakespere’s language affect the meaning of the title? | The title of the play could be a pun on the word “nothing”, which in Shakespeare’s times may have been pronounced as “noting”. In turn “noting” meant to “observe” or to “watch”. |
| What is the key feature of the play based on through the language? | The key feature of the play is based on misunderstandings- where things are not quite as they seem. People are misled or misheard (mis-noted), and this leads to comedy and drama. |
| How does Shakespeare’s diction affect the character’s language? | Shakespeare’s characters use language to insult each other, to deceive and to entertain. |
| Shakespeare’s Language | *Shakespeare wrote his plays in Early Modern English which has a few more rules than the language we speak today. |
| Unsual Word Order | Shakespeare wrote the way he did for poetic and dramatic purposes. There are many reasons why he did this–to create a specific poetic rhythm, to emphasize a certain word, to give a character a specific speech pattern, etc. |
| Examples of Unsual Word Order | *”But, brother, I can tell you strange news that you yet dreamt not of.” (Act I, scene 2)*”In our last conflict four of his five wits went halting off, and now is the whole man governed with one” (Act I, scene 1) |
| Poetry in Shakespeare’s Writing | We speak in prose (language without metrical structure). Shakespeare wrote both prose and verse (poetry). |
| prose | lines written in paragraph form |
| blank verse | unrhymed iambic pentameter |
| iambic pentameter | five beats of alternating unstressed and stressed syllables; ten syllables per line |
| examples of iambic pentameter in MAAN | I know we shall have revelling to-night: I will assume thy part in some disguise And tell fair Hero I am Claudio, And in her bosom I’ll unclasp my heart 295And take her hearing prisoner with the force And strong encounter of my amorous tale: Then after to her father will I break; And the conclusion is, she shall be thine. (Act I, scene i) |
| Omissions (ellipsis) | Again, for the sake of his poetry, Shakespeare often left out letters, syllables, and whole words. These omissions really aren’t that much different from the way we speak today. We leave out words and parts of words to speed up our speech. |
| Examples of Shakespeare’s omissions/contractions | ’tis ~ it is ope ~ open o’er ~ over gi’ ~ give ne’er ~ never e’er ~ everoft ~ often a’ ~ he e’en ~ even |
| Examples of Shakespeare’s omissions in the play | “If he have caught the Benedick, it will cost him a thousand pound ere a’ be cured.” (Act I, scene i) |
| Unusual words, archaic words | Most of us run into problems when we come across archaic words that are no longer used in Modern English. Or worse, when we run across words that are still used today but have much different meanings than when Shakespeare used (or invented!) the words. Although it is frustrating when we come across these unknown words, it is not surprising. Shakespeare’s vocabulary included 30,000 words. Today our vocabularies only run between 6,000 and 15,000 words! |
| Examples of Unusual/Archaic Words in the play | “You had musty victual, and he hath holp to eat it: he is a very valiant trencherman; he hath an 45excellent stomach.” (Act I, scene i) |
| Singular (subject) | I, thou, he/she/it |
| Singular (object) | me, thee, him/her/it |
| Singular (possessive adjective) | my mine, thy thine, his/her/its |
| Singular (possessive noun) | mine, thine, his/hers/its |
| Plural (subject) | we, ye, they |
| Plural (object) | us, you, them |
| Plural (possessive adjective) | our, your, their |
| Plural (possessive noun) | ours, yours, theirs |
| Verb inflections | is the modification of a word to express different grammatical categories such as tense, case, voice, aspect, person, number, gender and (on rare occasions) mood. The inflection of verbs is also called conjugation, and one can refer to the inflection of nouns, adjectives and pronouns as declension. |
| Verb inflection 2nd person familiar | adds the ending -est, -‘st, or st example: thou givest, thou sing’st |
| Verb inflection 3rd person singular | often substitutes -th for -s example: she giveth |
| subtext | the thoughts beneath the words*is content of a dramatic work which is not announced explicitly by the characters (or author) but is implicit or becomes something understood by the reader / viewer as the production unfolds. *Subtext can also refer to the thoughts and motives of the characters which are only covered in an aside. ‘I know what she is saying, but what does she really think?’ *Subtext can also be used to imply controversial subjects without specifically alienating people from the fiction, often through use of metaphor or euphemism. |
| How can we identify subtext? | *The context of the lines*What the character wants in the particular scene*What the character’s ultimate objective is*What obstacles prevent the character from attaining his/ her goals |
| hyperbole/exaggeration | derived from a Greek word meaning “over-casting” is a figure of speech, which involves an exaggeration of ideas for the sake of emphasis. |
| examples of hyperbole/exaggeration in the play | “If her breath were as terrible as her terminations, there were no living near her, she would infect to the north star!” |
| incongruity | To present something that is out of place or absurd in relation to its surroundings. Oxymoron, metaphor, and irony are used a lot here. |
| example of incongruity in the play | “Not til a hot Janurary”,”There is a merry war betwixt them” |
| slapstick | a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity which exceeds the boundaries of common sense |
| paraprosodokian | figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence, phrase, or statement is surprising or unexpected in a way that causes the reader or listener to reframe or reinterpret the first part. |
| examples of paraprosodokian | “If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong.””Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.””You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.” |
| malapropism | the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one, often with unintentionally amusing effec |
| example of a malapropism | “dance a flamingo ” (instead of flamenco ). |
| pun | a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings. |
| examples of puns | I bet the butcher the other day that he couldn’t reach the meat that was on the top shelf. He refused to take the bet, saying that the steaks were too high.Energizer Bunny arrested — charged with battery. |
| Language in Shakespeare | *To bring together*To tear apart*To show intelligence or lack thereof |
| What are the possible meanings of fashion? | *Wealth*Social status*Something you can easily change*Something that fits/ doesn’t fit*Clean/ dirty*Follows trends/ fads |
| How do the characters in the play use the ideas behind fashion? | *Love*Relationship status*Breaking up/ getting together |
| example of fashion in the play | Don Pedro. Good Signior Leonato, you are come to meet your trouble: the fashion of the world is to avoid cost, and you encounter it.Don Pedro. What need the bridge much broader than the flood? The fairest grant is the necessity. Look, what will serve is fit: ’tis once, thou lovest, And I will fit thee with the remedy. Benedick. Even to the next willow, about your own business, county. What fashion will you wear the garland of? about your neck, like an usurer’s chain? or under your arm, like a lieutenant’s scarf? You must wearit one way, for the prince hath got your Hero.Beatrice. No, my lord, unless I might have another for working-days: your grace is too costly to wear every day. But, I beseech your grace, pardon me: I was born to speak all mirth and no matter. |
| How is character determined in a play? | *What they say*What they do*What they think*What they look like*What others think about the character |
| Character development | *physical traits*psychological traits*motivation*behavior/actions*relationships*weaknesses/faults and strengths/virtues*moral constitution*complex/simple personality*history and background*change*similarities and differences between the characters |
| physical traits | what the character looks like, how he/she dresses, how he moves |
| relationships | reactions to other characters in the story |
| moral constitution | often a character will agonize over right and wrong |
| change | has the character changed during the course of the story? |
| Don John | The illegitimate brother of Don Pedro; sometimes called “the Bastard.” Don John is melancholy and sullen by nature, and he creates a dark scheme to ruin the happiness of Hero and Claudio. He is the villain of the play; his evil actions are motivated by his envy of his brother’s social authority |
| Don Pedro | An important nobleman from Aragon, sometimes referred to as “Prince.” Don Pedro is a longtime friend of Leonato, Hero’s father, and is also close to the soldiers who have been fighting under him—the younger Benedick and the very young Claudio. Don Pedro is generous, courteous, intelligent, and loving to his friends, but he is also quick to believe evil of others and hasty to take revenge. He is the most politically and socially powerful character in the play. |
| Beatrice | Leonato’s niece and Hero’s cousin. Beatrice is “a pleasant-spirited lady” with a very sharp tongue. She is generous and loving, but, like Benedick, continually mocks other people with elaborately tooled jokes and puns. She wages a war of wits against Benedick and often wins the battles. At the outset of the play, she appears content never to marry. |
| Benedick | An aristocratic soldier who has recently been fighting under Don Pedro, and a friend of Don Pedro and Claudio. Benedick is very witty, always making jokes and puns. He carries on a “merry war” of wits with Beatrice, but at the beginning of the play he swears he will never fall in love or marry. |
| Hero | The beautiful young daughter of Leonato and the cousin of Beatrice. Hero is lovely, gentle, and kind. She falls in love with Claudio when he falls for her, but when Don John slanders her and Claudio rashly takes revenge, she suffers terribly. |
| Claudio | A young soldier who has won great acclaim fighting under Don Pedro during the recent wars. Claudio falls in love with Hero upon his return to Messina. His unfortunately suspicious nature makes him quick to believe evil rumors and hasty to despair and take revenge. |
| Tone of the play | Snarky, Dismissive, Compassionate |
| How do we determine the theme in a play? | *Character change/ development*Recurring motifs and ideas*The basis for the conflict and how the conflict is resolved |
| Themes of the play | *Don’t judge hastily, don’t make rash decisions*Betrayal can lead to conflict*Misconceptions and mistakes can easily create problems*Accept the repercussions of your actions*Some wrongs cannot be undone*Don’t believe everything you hear |
| Topics in the play | * Marriage* Lies and deceit* Language and communication* Love* Respect and Reputation* Transformation* Pride* Maturity* Gender |
Much Ado About Nothing Review
July 13, 2019