2006-12-20 23:28:12 · 7 answers · asked by bob 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Theater & Acting
I think the guy before me just did your homework for you.
2006-12-21 11:07:35 · answer #1 · answered by k 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ooooh... I'm directing Much Ado right now, so I've thought a lot about this.
First and foremost, as with all of Shakespeare's comedies, it all comes down to truth and illusion. Hiding your face is a common theme in this play: Beatrice teasing Benedick in the masquerade scene; Pedro pretending to be Claudio to woo Hero in the same scene, Borachio pretending that Margaret is Hero; the three women hiding their faces in the final scene.
And the masks are a kind of lie. People lie all through this play: John telling Claudio that Hero is unfaithful; the men lying to Benedick that Beatrice loves him; the Hero and Margaret lying to Beatrice about Benedick; the townspeople of Messina lying to Claudio and Pedro about Hero being dead.
This notion of illusion runs through all of Shakespeare's comedies, and many of his tragedies. Few of his comedies don't involve some sort of mistaken identity.
Another important theme is what it means to be a man. Look at Beatrice's "Oh, that I were a man" speech, and the rest of that scene. There are a lot of other references to manliness: Beatrice's joke about men with beards, Antonio yelling at Claudio about what it means to be a man.
That would have been particularly ironic, since in Shakespeare's time, all of the roles, including the women, would have been played by men. (So for my production I've cast only women, including in the male roles.)
And, of course, it's about love. Lots and lots about love, and that people need to be married to be happy. Poetry and music are other minor themes.
2006-12-21 05:59:15 · answer #2 · answered by jfengel 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It is a comedy, he did not write comedy's to be deep, you can get all the themes just by reading it.
B
2006-12-21 01:19:45 · answer #3 · answered by Bacchus 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well, as you can't be bothered to spell the name of the play correctly, I'm not going to bother telling you.
2006-12-20 23:42:26 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
it's all in the title shakespeares play much ado about nothing. Is about people fussing over nothing. (or so my gcse english teacher told me.)
2006-12-20 23:38:31 · answer #5 · answered by effielorraine 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you can't be bothered to get the name of the play right, you can't expect to get any decent answers.
2006-12-20 23:36:21 · answer #6 · answered by efes_haze 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It's about someone who
a) can't spell
b) wants someone else to do his homework for him.
In other words, it's about you!
2006-12-21 03:56:30 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋