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Daily · Classics

Much Ado About Nothing

William Shakespeare · romantic comedy, c. 1598–1599·2 hrs in the original·original at gutenberg.org
The 30‑second version2 hrs → 50 sec
  • The gulling plots: Don Pedro and his friends stage elaborate eavesdropping scenes to convince the proudly anti-marriage Benedick and the scornful Beatrice that each is secretly dying of love for the other, and both are immediately converted.
  • Don John's slander: The villainous Don John pays Borachio to woo Hero's waiting-woman Margaret at Hero's chamber window at night, then leads Claudio and Don Pedro to watch from a distance, convincing them they have witnessed Hero's infidelity.
  • The church scene: Claudio publicly rejects Hero at the altar, Don Pedro supports the accusation, Hero swoons and is presumed dead, and Friar Francis counsels Leonato to announce her death so that remorse may eventually clear her name.
  • Dogberry saves the day: The malaprop-ridden constable Dogberry's watch overhears Borachio boasting of the deception, the villains are arrested and examined, and Borachio's full confession before Don Pedro and Claudio reveals Hero's innocence and Don John's guilt.
  • Resolution: Claudio does penance at Hero's supposed tomb, then agrees to marry Leonato's 'niece' sight unseen; the masked woman proves to be Hero herself, Benedick and Beatrice produce love-poems written in each other's hands as proof of their mutual feeling, and the play ends with a dance and news that Don John has been captured.
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•Why it earns a slot

The play is the definitive Shakespearean model for the battle-of-wits romantic comedy, and the Benedick-Beatrice courtship, driven entirely by competitive wit and mutual pride rather than conventional sentiment, has shaped the genre from Restoration comedy to modern romantic film.

In Messina, two courtship plots run in parallel: the straightforward romance between the young soldier Claudio and Hero is nearly destroyed when the villain Don John tricks Claudio into believing Hero is unchaste, causing him to humiliate her at the altar. Meanwhile, the sharp-tongued sparring partners Benedick and Beatrice are separately tricked by their friends into believing each loves the other, and the crisis over Hero's false disgrace finally pushes them to confess their genuine feelings. The plot unravels when the bumbling constable Dogberry's watch accidentally overhears Don John's henchman Borachio confessing the scheme, Hero's innocence is proved, and both couples are united in marriage.

This distillation is written from the freely available original, which is always the better read when you have the time: gutenberg.org.

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