Much Ado About Nothing 3

What do you think that the theme of the play is? Remember, a theme is not just a word, it is a whole sentence that conveys the message that the author (Shakespeare) is trying to get across to the audience (you). Find three quotes from the play to support your assertion. 

I believe the whole play has a few themes going on, trickery, humiliation, betrayal (kind of),  probably some others but I want to focus on these three. Humiliation, betrayal, and trickery all happen pretty bluntly in the same act. Let's get started, Don John tricked his friend Claduio into believing that Hero "betrayed" him by cheating on him. Don Pedro "exposed" Hero for cheating on Claudio before her wedding. This also ties into humiliation because, during the wedding scene when Don Pedro says "Myself, my brother, and this grievéd count. Did see her, hear her, at that hour last talk with a ruffian at her chamber window. Who hath indeed, most like a liberal villain, confessed the vile encounters they have had a thousand times in secret." pg. 64 lines 86-93.

Much Ado About Nothing 2

Choose one central character and determine what kind of conflict s/he is experiencing. First of all, is it internal or external? Secondly, are there any other types of conflicts at play here (person vs. self, person vs. person, person vs. nature, person vs. society)? Explain your answer and provide an example from the play (meaning a quote). 

Character: Hero 

Central

Hero is experiencing and external conflict, person vs person. For example when Hero was going to marry Claudio, Don John hatched a plan to humiliate her at her wedding. The reason why they did this is quite intriguing, Don John did not like Hero and he ruins her image by telling Claudio that she has slept with other men in the city. Claudio gets upset then he and Don John wait until the wedding to humiliate Hero. Hero has to pretend that she is dead in order to receive peace from those who want to hurt her. 

Much Ado About Nothing 1

Choose a challenging passage from Act I, and follow the thought. Explain your process of following the thought and then write the passage in your own words using contemporary English. 

I will be "decoding" the following:

LEONATO    A victory is twice itself when the achiever brings home full numbers. I find here that Don Pedro hath bestowed much honor on a young Florentine called Claudio.

MESSENGER   Much deserved on his part, and equally remembered by Don Pedro. He hath borne himself beyond the promise of his age, doing in the figure of a lamb the feats of a lion. He hath  indeed better bettered exception than you must expect of me to tell you how.

Okay, so first we need to locate the words we might not know the meaning to. The words we have are, borne, and hath. Borne means carried or transported by, and hath means have.

Translation:

LEONTAO    A victory is double when the victor takes home a trophy. I find that Don Pedro has brought honor to Florentine named Claudio.

MESSENGER   He deserves a lot for his part, he's remembered by Don Pedro. He has to carry himself with pride, by being the figure of a lamb the feats of a lion. He has is better than you would think let me tell you what he has done. 

I basically re-worded the two passages by learning the meanings of two unknown words, and applying them in the appropriate places and re-wording the statements as I go along.