Much Ado About Nothing (Folger Shakespeare Library)

Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing is a witty, entertaining play. As the silly characters fall in and out of love, the audience will laugh and be frustrated. The plot is driven by vengeance, love, and gossip. Through these powerful human emotions, the audience will feel immediately connected to the characters. Hero and Claudio are tested with gossip and lies, but in the end are happy together. Beatrice and Benedict share a more controversial love, constantly arguing to hide their insecurities. Once they finally unite, their matched wit becomes their strongest asset. Throughout this fun, flirty play, the reader will have no choice but to relax and enjoy one of Shakespeare's greatest comedies. Although satisfying entertainment, Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing was also thought provoking. Despite the silly tone, Shakespeare is making a statement postulating the frivolity of society. The merry cast is completely absorbed in their various social problems. They have no concern for justice or human rights, purely driven to create an impressive status. Shakespeare's portrayal of communities calls for a realization, and a change in public values. One modern problem with this play could be the old English writing style. Although sometimes difficult to understand, it is with his unique and time-appropriate metaphors that Shakespeare beautifies his language. Also, The Folgers' Edition has thorough side notes, keeping the reader informed and on-track. This play is an intelligent but enjoyable combination of entertaining wit and serious commentary.

This is a Shakespearean Comedy of Manners from before the genre was even really a fully developed thing, featuring love affairs, a revenge plot, some humorous incompetence, a faked death, and much more. I'm not a big comedy fan, but this is certainly a good example of the genre at the time from which it came, and I actually quite enjoyed it. When it comes to the works of Shakespeare as a whole, I would say that this is a less memorable example, but definitely has some positives going for it as well. For one, it's far less well-known than many of his more famous works, so it doesn't feel familiar as you read it. The characters and plot also tend to grow on you, even as the language isn't quite so memorable, and the plotting and mistaken identities aspects are always good plot points, whether you're speaking of today or centuries ago. As to the edition itself, I found it to be greatly helpful in understanding the action in the play. It has a layout which places each page of the play opposite a page of notes, definitions, explanations, and other things needed to understand that page more thoroughly. While I didn't always need it, I was certainly glad to have it whenever I ran into a turn of language that was unfamiliar, and I definitely appreciated the scene-by-scene summaries. Really, if you want to or need to read Shakespeare, an edition such as this is really the way to go, especially until you get more accustomed to it.

Good

Wonderful copy great condition

A fine Shakespearean play. The Folger Library edition provides useful insight and background. Recommended.

Everything about this book makes reading Shakespeare fun. The actual text is presented on the page in a way that makes it easy to follow. And the page facing the text provides explanations for the language in the text that will enable you to understand what you are reading.

Got for my daughter’s English class. She said it was classic Shakespeare

Used in Shakespeare club.