Much Ado About Nothing - William Shakespeare

Claudio has come back from war and once again meets the beautiful Hero and allows himself to fall in love. This causes much amusement for Benedick and Beatrice who both proclaim that they will never marry and instead like to spar with each other. When Claudio and Hero agree to marry they decide to trick their friends Benedick and Beatrice. They make them both believe that one loves the other. In doing so they come to believe that they are really in love. Meanwhile Don John, the Bastard brother of their friend Don Pedro, is up to mischief. He is unhappy unless he is causing trouble and decides to cause make the young couple miserable. He convinces both Don Pedro and Claudio that Hero might not be so innocent and pure after all.

Out of all the Shakespeare plays I picked out this is the one I was probably least excited about. After reading the last two I had thought that the tragedies were going to be my favourite. I didn't know how the comedies could possibly compare. However, I was more than pleasantly surprised. No sooner had I started reading was I caught straight into the story. I was able to forget completely that I was reading a play. It was both funny and a fantastic tale.

Unsurprisingly the characters which stood out for me were Benedick and Beatrice, Benedick especially. Yes, their banter was funny. They both seemed to love baiting each other. Beatrice in particular seemed to very much enjoy giving Benedick the sharp side of her tongue. It amused me how easily they believed the stories they overheard of one being in love with the other. The image of Beatrice supposedly crying over her love of Benedick was especially funny since I couldn't actually picture her character doing that over anyone. Their change of hearts was extremely quick which makes you think their jabs at each other were really a cover for how they truly felt. Hidden even to themselves. The best part for me though was that Benedick had changed his mind so completely that he was even willing to kill someone for her.

The rest of the plot was a fun read too. I was also sucked into the story of Don John and his villainous plan. Even though I knew how it must turn out (for it's not a tragedy) I still found it exciting to read. I have to say though if I had been Hero Claudio would have got a punch in the face for believing the lies so readily despite the false proof. Her father too who wished she were dead rather than have this be true. Only the Friar and Beatrice seemed ready to believe her innocence. It made for an exciting ending though as the guards saved the day.

I feel a little guilty for this but I actually think I enjoyed this one a little more than I did Macbeth. Feel like I am betraying my favourite witches and Lady Macbeth. This one though was extremely entertaining without any of the deaths and I could actually rave about it all day.  I think that this would be a good one for any beginner like myself as there was also a smaller cast. I didn't have to go back and forwards to the list of characters at the start. I also discovered that Joss Whedon of Firefly Fame has directed this as a film starring some a lot of actors who have worked with him before. Will be interesting to see what he does with it.

Read for Shakespeare month organised by Ellie of A Literary Odyssey.
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Don't forget that I am giving away a copy of one of my favourite books, The Eyre Affair. All you need to do is leave a comment on the post.