Stage and Screen History

Much Ado About Nothing was one of Shakespeare's plays acted at court to celebrate the marriage of Princess Elizabeth. Much Ado About Nothing was one of Shakespeare's most popular comedy of the time and is still a favorite one of his to perform. It wasn't until David Garrack chose to play the witty Benedick, after his honeymoon, till it was cemented in the Restoration repertory forever. Since then many famous actors and actresses have played Benedick and Beatrice. J.P. Kemble and Dorothea Jordan; Henry Irving and Ellen Terry; and Kenneth Branagh and Samantha Bond are some famous people who have performed these roles.

The earliest recorded televised showing of Much Ado About Nothing was in 1909, but it was a silent film. In 1978, BBC TV produced a version of Much Ado with Michael York as Benedick. The most noticable and veiwed version of Much Ado was in 1993 with Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson as Benedick and Beatrice.

Oxford Reference Online: Much Ado About Nothing

(Michael Dobson , Anthony Davies  "Much Ado About Nothing"  The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. Ed. Michael Dobson and Stanley Wells. Oxford University Press, 2001. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Central Washington University.  10 March 2011  http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t117.e1982)

Acting Styles

Here are some examples of two different productions of Much Ado About Nothing:

1. 1984 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViFQfGjvj_0
    This movie relates more the classical movement of the peice as well as language and costumes. Mainly this is true because of the year this movie was made and the resources available.

2. 1993 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WST2D9Ht1j0&feature=related
    This movie is more modern than the earlier version and also seems to elevate the language to a more modern level, for audiences to understand. Rather than just speaking the language to way it was write, it seems to have more of an understanding of what Shakespeare is trying to convey and says it in the appropriate fashion

Masks

Masks have been apart of our life since the beginning of our civilization. Now adays masks are used primarily for certain events, such as parties or Halloween, but they still have the central purpose. Masks main purpose has always been to hide the owners identity from other people. In the 16th century Venitian masks were primarily used during the Carnevale (Carnival of Venice), but were also used in many different occassions. Theatre was one occassion where masked were used and were very affectively used to conceal the identity of the characters. In Much Ado About Nothing masks are used in to decieve and hide identity of characters. One scene involves the festival where the people used masks to conceal their identities to their dance partners. Benedick and Beatrice have an encounter (Beatrice isn't wearing a mask) where beatrice rips apart Benedicks man-hood, and Don John uses the fact that Claudio (who he pretends to think is Benedick) has a mask on to falsify his report that Don Pedro is taking Hero for himself. Also masks are used (sometimes) at the end of the show to conceal the identity of what "Hero's identical cousin" looks like in order to marry her to Claudio. Both of these situations show that that the characters didn't know who was behind the mask, which also helped the audience understand who was who and what was going on.

Google (16th century masks, and Much Ado About Nothing masks)

Themes

Shakespeare's plays are always filled with themes and hidden meanings. Much Ado About Nothing has a couple of them itself, that relate to real world issues of the time. One main theme of the play is relating to opposite sex, and how it relates to society of the time. Right off the bat, Benedick and Beatrice become the main focus of the play. The provacative treatment of gender is central to the play and should be seen in the Renaissance context it was written. There were also a lot of social stereotypes and anxieties that were address throughout the show. When Benedick address female's "sharp tongues and proneness to sexual lightness". Men also in that society beleieved that they had honour and camaraderie and a sense of superiority over women.
 Also, infedelity regarding cuckoldry or infedelity of the wife are prevalent in Shakespeare's plays. Several characters believe that a man has no idea if his wife is being faithful or not, therefore women can take advantage of that flaw. Don John takes advantage of Claudio's fear of infedelity which is why he is so ready to disprove Hero's virginity and loyalty. Some of the other men around, including her own father, believe that Hero is impure based on little evidence.
 Deception seems to be the main theme in this play, with the games and tricks that are pulled on one another throughout.  Some of the tricks are good, like making people fall in love, or bad like getting people what they want. Don John tricks Claudio to believe that Hero is unfaithful and unpure to discredit her and ruin the love and happiness going on throughout the land. There is also the deception of the men "telling" Benedick that beatrice loves him and the women "telling" Beatrice that Benedick loves her, which is all fun and games.

Googled (Much Ado About Nothing Themes)
http://www.shmoop.com/much-ado-about-nothing/themes.html

Character Significance

Characters in plays throughout the centuries always have hidden meaning within their titles. Names given to the characters usually have a hidden and underlying meaning giving more subtext to the characters actions. Much Ado About Nothing is no different and here is some subtext regarding main characters in the story.
 
  Don Pedro: Pedro is the Spanish name for Peter which means "stone", the character is based on Pere III of Aragon, count of Barcelona and King of Aragon. Don Pedro throughout the play is a foundation to Claudio and Benedick and is their captain and leader.
 
  Benedick: means "blessed"; and bene meaning "good". Benedick is a good character, even though he is very witty with his comments and attitude towards women and marriage.

  Claudio: derived from claudus, meaning "lame" or "crippled". Claudio's character is very young and nieve, so therefore he hasn't had any worldly experience in the ways of relationships and society. The meaning of his name could relate to his sturctural collapse once he is "rejected" by Hero.

  Don John: The name of John is reminiscent of King John of England (known as Prince John) who had a reputation for treachery and usurpation of the throne. Don John is the bastard son of Don Pedro and throughout the show he wants to take over Don Pedro's power, and defame his reputation.

  Hero: In Greek methology, Hero was the lover of Leander. Each night he swam across the Hellespont to meet her. When he accidently drowned while crossing, she threw herself  in the water to drown herself as well. Hero seems to fall head over heels when she meets Claudio, and is utterly devistated when he denounces her at the alter.

Googled (Name Meanings and Origins)
http://www.behindthename.com/

Iambic Pantameter

Iambic Pantameter is a very distinct metrical line in traditional verse and verse drama. It describes a certain rhythm at which the words are spoken, and these rhythms are measured in small groups of syllables called feet. The word "iambic" describes the type of foot that is used, and the word "pentameter" indicates that a line has five of these "feet". Shakespeare uses iambic pentameter in many of his plays mainly in tragedies, but has also been seen in some parts of his comedies. An iambic foot is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, such as "ba-BUM". The rhythm of this meter is more related to the human heartbeat, with a soft sound followed by a harder sound.

 Here are some example's of iambic pentameter in Much Ado About Nothing:

 Hero: "If it proves so, then love goes by haps (by chance)

             Some Cupid kills with arrows , some with traps

 Beatrice: What fire is in mine ear? can this be true?

               Stand I condemed for pride and scorn so much?

               Contempt, farewell, and maiden pride, adieu

               No glory lives on the back of such.

 Googled (Iambic Pentameter in Much Ado)  http://teacherweb.com/OK/YukonHS11-12/MsChapman-Roach/SISStudyguide08.pdf

Historical Background

Shakespeare is rumored to have wrote Much Ado in 1598, but it wasn't produced until 1600. The setting for Much Ado About Nothing takes place in Messina, Italy, and after extensive research it seems like the battle that Don Pedro, Claudio, and Benedick "return from" seems to be the Battle of Lepanto. The Battle of Lepanto took place when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Spain, the Republic of Venice, the Papacy, the Republic of Genoa, the Duchy of Davoy, the Knights Hospitaller and others decisively defeated the main fleet of the Ottoman Empire. This battle took place on sea (Gulf of Patras in the Ionian Sea) and lasted 5 hours with the Holy League victorious. There is no contextual evidence within the play that says what type of military Don Pedro, Claudio, and benedick are apart of, which makes this scenario very likey.

These are the victors of the Battle of Lepanto, from left; John of Austria, Marcantonio Colonna, and Sebastiano Venier)

This is an artists drawing a the different fleets ships just before contact during the battle.

This is an artists drawing the ships fleets on both sides , before the Battle of Lepanto.













Googled (History of Messena, Italy in 1600)
http://www.traditioninaction.org/History/A_001_Lepanto.html

Scenery

Scenery in this time period was believed to be very bland, simple, and sometimes non-existant. Much Ado About Nothing needed something more and advanced to comply with what was going on in the story. John Addington Symonds "It is difficult for us to realize the simplicity with which the stage was mounted in the London theatres. Scenery may be said to have been almost wholly absent. Even in Masques performed at Court, on which immense sums of money were lavished, and which employed the ingenuity of men like Inigo Jones [reigns of James I and Charles I], effect was obtained by groupings of figures in dances, by tableaux and processions, gilded chariots, temples, fountains, and the like, far more than by scene-painting. Upon the public stage such expenditure had, of course, to be avoided. Attention was concentrated on the actors, with whose movements, boldly defined against a simple background, nothing interfered. The stage on which they played was narrow, projecting into the yard, surrounded on all sides by spectators.” while Dr. H. H. Furness says, "in a note on Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare Variorum), I think there were more scenery and stage accessories in those days than is generally believed.”
   Much Ado About Nothing used multi-leveled stages in order to provide different areas of acting and helped move the stage directions within the show. Giving the actors the opportunity to have different acting spaces without spending money on backdrops and painting was revolutionary and helped the audience understand where everythign was in the play

Eva Turner Clark (1941)
http://www.shakespeare-oxford.com/?p=65

Costumes Aren't Nothing

Costumes of this time period were incredibly Elizabethan, but they can be adapted into any different style. The women of this period wore clothing that was cloth to their body, and everything was very tight. Clothes were made to make sure that the womens body showed as much breast as possible and that the waste was as tight as possible. The bumroll was added to the dress to make the wearer have a smaller waist and wider hips. With the clothing, the women had the take small steps because of the restricted clothing. Men's clothings were built and used in a way to give the man a more muscular and firm tone. The doublet resembled a breastplate to make the man feel more masculine and give the audience the impression of him being "more of a man". Just like the women's clothes, the man's clothes were used to give them a straighter and tight posture and keep their shape. One of the great things of Much Ado About Nothing is that it has the ability to transpose into different era's because of the story. A recent performance I saw, they had the costumes in a 1940's time period, right after WW II and it worked very well.

 Google (Elizabethan Men and Womans Fashion)
 http://www.tomecek.com/jay/Fashions.html

                                                                           

Much To Do.....

"Much Ado About Nothing" is one of William Shakespeare's comedies he wrote, but not a normal one. From all the other "comedies" he worte, this one does not deal with a funny situation, but does share some of the same comedic elements. Much Ado's comedy derives from the characters themselves and the highly mannered society in which they all live. The main characters of this play are two couples; Benedick and Beatrice and Claudio and Hero. These couples are solar opposites of each other where Benedick and Beatrice are always engaged in a "war of wits and words" swearing their hate for love, marriage, and each other. Claudio and Hero are the sweet, innocent couple who can barely express their love for each other. During the play Benedick and Beatrice are tricked into loving each other while Claudio is tricked into rejecting Hero at the alter. The sexton (priest) then devises a plan to create a "fake" funeral of Hero to find out who was behind the accusation. They later finds out the Don John is behind the evil deed and is then captured, Claudio is forced into marrying Hero identical cousin; who turns out to be Hero, and Benedick and Beatrice are married off as well and the plan ends in a dance.

Googled (Much Ado About Nothing)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Much_Ado_About_Nothing
http://www.enotes.com/much-ado-about-nothing