Point of View

As a play, Much Ado About Nothing has the advantage of being able to provide numerous points of view within the omniscient, overall viewer experience. The viewer is privy not only to gossip, but also to the people overhearing the gossip. In this sense, unlike in a novel, the viewer has more information than any character in the play. Moreover, monologues and soliloquies help to reinforce the viewer's depth of understanding of individual characters. For example, after the masked ball scene, Benedick repeats many of Beatrice's insults over to himself, showing how deep her verbal spars have actually cut him. Similarly, when Beatrice overhears the staged conversation between Ursula and Hero in which they lament Beatrice's not returning Benedick's love, she then speaks in an aside to herself, mulling over her own motivations. In this sense, the play is both interior and exterior, and provides...