Much Ado About Nothing
1603
Much Ado About Nothing
1603
Shakespeare's most delicious combat: a war of wits between Beatrice and Benedick, two people who swear they want nothing to do with love or each other. Set in the sun-soaked streets of Messina, the play weaves together two very different love stories. Claudio and Hero court simply and honestly, but their innocence makes them vulnerable to the machinations of the villainous Don John. Meanwhile, Beatrice and Benedick trade insults like优雅的刀锋, each claiming to be far too clever for romance. Their friends see what they cannot: the feelings buried beneath the banter. Through a trick of staged overheard conversations, the court conspires to make them see their own hearts. But the title hints at darker currents beneath the comedy: noting (gossip, observation, espionage) sounds like nothing, and the rumors that nearly destroy Hero's life are anything but harmless wordplay. Shakespeare delivers his sharpest dialogue alongside his most vicious villain, balancing laughter with a climax that lands like a slap. The result is a comedy that knows exactly how much pain it takes to make love believable.
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“Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more. Men were deceivers ever, One foot in sea, and one on shore, To one thing constant never. Then sigh not so, but let them go, And be you blithe and bonny, Converting all your sounds of woe Into hey nonny, nonny. Sing no more ditties, sing no more Of dumps so dull and heavy. The fraud of men was ever so Since summer first was leafy. Then sigh not so, but let them go, And be you blithe and bonny, Converting all your sounds of woe Into hey, nonny, nonny.””
— William Shakespeare
“I can see he's not in your good books,' said the messenger.'No, and if he were I would burn my library.””
— William Shakespeare
“I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow, than a man swear he loves me.””
— William Shakespeare
“Let me be that I am and seek not to alter me.””
— William Shakespeare
“I do love nothing in the world so well as you- is not that strange?””
— William Shakespeare
“Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.””
— William Shakespeare
“For which of my bad parts didst thou first fall in love with me?””
— William Shakespeare
“I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest.””
— William Shakespeare
“He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man. He that is more than a youth is not for me, and he that is less than a man, I am not for him.””
— William Shakespeare
