Much Ado About Nothing | Criticism

This literature criticism consists of approximately 16 pages of analysis & critique of Much Ado About Nothing.

Much Ado About Nothing | Criticism

This literature criticism consists of approximately 16 pages of analysis & critique of Much Ado About Nothing.
This section contains 4,106 words
(approx. 14 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Critical Essay by W. H. Auden

SOURCE: Auden, W. H. “Much Ado About Nothing.” In W. H. Auden: Lectures on Shakespeare, reconstructed and edited by Arthur Kirsch, pp. 113-23. Princeton N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2000.

In the following reconstructed lecture, originally delivered in 1946, Auden discusses how Shakespeare kept Much Ado about Nothing's tragic subplot—the conspiracy of Don John—from overshadowing the play's comic main plot: the romantic duel of wits between Beatrice and Benedick.

The first thing to notice about Much Ado About Nothing is that the subplot overwhelms and overshadows the main plot. The main plot consists of the story of Hero and Claudio and the conspiracy of Don John. Its sources are Bandello, Ariosto, and a Greek romance. Shakespeare treats the story perfunctorily, and except for Don John, it's boring. And Shakespeare shows some carelessness in putting it together: for example, Margaret—didn't she know what she was doing? And...

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This section contains 4,106 words
(approx. 14 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Critical Essay by W. H. Auden
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Critical Essay by W. H. Auden from Gale. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.