Today, I introduced Much Ado About Nothing. As a class, we began reading the play.
Come ask me for the handout you missed. Once I give you the handout, ask someone in class to help you add the notes you missed.
I provided the class with additional notes about some of the characters, and we also copied down the first of seven quotes we will study in the play.
We did not finish the first scene. We got about 3/4 of the way through it.
I have provided a summary of what you missed, below.
In the Italian town of Messina, the wealthy and kindly
Leonato prepares to welcome home some soldier friends who are returning
from a battle. These friends include Don Pedro of Aragon, a highly respected
nobleman, and a brave young soldier named Claudio, who has won much
honor in the fighting. Leonato’s young daughter, Hero, and her cousin,
Beatrice, accompany him. Beatrice asks about the health of another
soldier in Don Pedro’s army, a man named Signor Benedick. Beatrice
cleverly mocks and insults Benedick. A messenger from Don Pedro
defends Benedick as an honorable and virtuous man, but Leonato explains
that Beatrice and Benedick carry on a “merry war” of wits with one
another, trading jibes whenever they meet. Beatrice confirms this
statement, noting that in their most recent conflict, “four of his
five wits went halting off, and now is the whole man governed with
one” (I.i.52–54).
Don Pedro arrives at Leonato’s house with his two friends,
Claudio and Benedick, and they are joyfully welcomed. Also accompanying
Don Pedro is his quiet, sullen, illegitimate brother, Don John “the
Bastard,” with whom Don Pedro has recently become friendly after
a period of mutual hostility. While Leonato and Don Pedro have a
private talk, Beatrice and Benedick take up their war of wits. In
an extremely fast-paced exchange of barbs, they insult one another’s
looks, intelligence, and personality.
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Much Ado About Nothing.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. Web. 12 Apr. 2013.
