Sunday, September 1, 2019
Much Ado About Nothing Notes
Much Ado About Nothingââ¬âRomantic Comedy * Much Ado about Nothing * Love and War; Love as Warââ¬âstarts with soldiers coming back from war and wanting love; love becomes a battlefield * Young Lovers: Claudio and Hero * ââ¬Å"Not(h)ingâ⬠Messina: Confusions of Appearance and Reality * Love and War; Love as War * 1. 1: World waiting for the return of youth and love * Learn of soldiers even before they enter scene: * Youthful Claudio, ll. 12-16 Benedick (older man) introduced by Beatrice, ll. 28-9ââ¬âhe is being introduced by mockery; Beatrice makes the joke and marks her different from the other women in the playââ¬âshe is loud, jokes about men, able to fight with words, witty, and Benedick is the same way * Beatrice and Benedickââ¬â¢s ââ¬Å"merry war,â⬠ll. 56-9 * Martial world replaced by ââ¬Å"merryâ⬠one * What happens when skills necessary for success on the field of battle enter domestic world? * Romantic Couples * Potential Lovers: Claudio a nd Hero (make up the main plot, but some of the least interesting characters in the playââ¬ârelatively quiet) * Beatrice and Benedick (subplotââ¬âmore mature, more worldly, and they are much more talkative/interesting) * Claudio and Hero: * Claudioââ¬â¢s first line in play introduces interest in Hero, l. l. 154-70; ââ¬Å"Noteâ⬠: * To take notice of; to consider or study carefully; to pay attention to; to mark (OED 5. a) * To become aware of; to notice or perceive mentally; to be struck by (OED 5. b) * Claudio and Hero * Nature of Claudioââ¬â¢s love? ll. 278-289 Contrast between affections prior to and post military action * Hesitancy to use the word ââ¬Å"loveâ⬠* Don Pedroââ¬â¢s plan (ll. 300-312): * Disguise (Pedro says he will disguise as Claudio for the ball and approach Hero) * seduction as military action * World of the Play: Messina * Place of propriety and hospitality: * Disguise, deceit runs rampant through play * Inability to distinguish betwee n appearance and reality predominant feature of life in the world of play 1) ââ¬Å"Not(h)ingâ⬠Messina: Confusion of Appearance and Reality 2) Educating Young Lovers: From Appearances to Faith ) Merry Warriors: Beatrice and Benedick * World of the Play: Messina * Gossipââ¬âOverhearing, mishearing, and eavesdroppingââ¬âcentral to play * ââ¬Å"Nothingâ⬠and ââ¬Å"notingâ⬠: to take notice of; to consider or study carefully; to pay attention; to mark (OED 5. a) * Pedroââ¬â¢s plan to woo for Claudio sets off chain reaction of misapprehensions: * 1. 2: Antonio tells Leonato that Pedro plans to woo Hero for himself (when in reality, Claudio is trying to woo her) * 1. 3: Borachio overhears Pedro and Claudio discussing plan, tells Don John the Bastard (Don John gets the story right! * 2. 1: Wooing by proxy * Masquerade/Disguise (dance to welcome back the soldiers) * Deceiving Claudio: Don John and Borachio, ll. 155-63 (they pretend he is Benedick) * Claudioââ¬â ¢s soliloquy ll. 164-74 * Does not question what he has been told: ââ¬Å"Tis certain so. â⬠(The prince woos for himself) * Love as impediment to friendship * ââ¬Å"Eye as lover (synecdoche: ââ¬Å"A figure by which a more comprehensive term is used for a less comprehensive or vice versa; as whole for part or part for whole, genus for species or species for genus, etc. (OED)) * Goes simply by what he sees Valediction (or rejection) to Hero * Leonato (Heroââ¬â¢s father) gives Claudio Heroââ¬â¢s hand, ll. 285-299 * Couple silent, must be prompted to speak * Beatrice cues them to speak * Hero is silent: sense of youthful embarrassment or confusion * they are overwhelmed and ignorant * Educating Young Lovers: From Appearances to Faith * ââ¬Å"Falseâ⬠Hero, Take Two: Don Johnââ¬â¢s spectacle of infidelity * Claudioââ¬â¢s problem with trust, 3. 2. 111-3 * Shame Hero publicly: In plain view of all * 4. 1: Broken Marriage Ceremony * Claudio returns bride to father ll. 29-41: The blush: sign of innocence or experience? * Innocence: ââ¬Å"How could you say these things? â⬠* Experience: ââ¬Å"Busted! â⬠* ââ¬Å"[E]xterior showsâ⬠of virtue (39) * He takes it as guilt, not as innocence * He is completely wrong. She is innocent. * Claudioââ¬â¢s second valediction to Hero, ll. 99-107 * speaks to his youthfulness that he is so easily swayed by only outward appearances * Re-educating Claudio * 5. 1: Realization of mis-noting (He is wrong. Learns of Don Johnââ¬â¢s lies) * 5. 3: Mourning ceremony (spends night at tomb of Hero) * Agrees to marry Heroââ¬â¢s cousin without seeing or knowing her. Claudio publicly retracts slander ll. 3-10 * In death, shame transformed into fame (Hero has become a hero through death) * Night gives way to dawn (shifts from grieving to hope; cover of darkness or confusion to a wrapping up of the play) * 5. 4: Heroââ¬â¢s ââ¬Å"Resurrectionâ⬠* Scene re-works and reverses 2. 1 (masked ball): womenââ¬â¢s identities concealed by masks * Ceremony corrects Claudioââ¬â¢s initial error, in which he identified and valued Hero by outward signs * Merry Warriors: Beatrice and Benedick * Beatrice: ââ¬Å"I pray you, is Signor Montanto returned from the wars of no? (1. 1. 28-9) * Opening exchange between host and guests takes bawdy turn, ll. 90-106 * Joking suggests male suspicion of female sexual inconstancy * Doubting Womenââ¬â¢s Constancy * ââ¬Å"A womanââ¬â¢s gentle heart, but no acquainted / With shifting change, as is false womenââ¬â¢s fashionâ⬠(Sonnet 20, 3-4) * Cuckold, ry: ââ¬Å"A derisive name for the husband of an unfaithful wifeâ⬠(OED 1) * Idea that deceived husband would grow horns which would reveal him to his community as a dupe of his wife and her lover * Fear of Being Cuckolded Horns (bovine rather than antlers) associated with visibility: make things seen * Cuckold is emasculated, not merely by having his place taken by another, but i n being rendered vulnerable to representation * Husband becomes spectacle of ignorance to all around him * Verbal Energy of Warring Words * Public protestations against love: * Benedick vows to live as bachelor 1. 1. 227-256 * Beatrice against falling in love 2. 1. 5-17, 40-60 * Shared sentiments (and wit) mark Beatrice and Benedick as suited for one another * Gender and Speech Claudio on match with Hero 1. 1. 278-80 * Marriage as alliance * Economic concerns bind women * Parental (patriarchalââ¬âseems like there are only dads in Shakespeareââ¬â¢s plays) desires seem to govern womenââ¬â¢s speech * Gulling the Reluctant Lovers * to pass the time prior to the wedding of Hero and Claudio, Don Pedro Proposes another theatrical interlude (trick) 2. 1. 342-366 * Tricking couple involves making them a spectacle, a form of comedic entertainment without their awareness * Matching Beatrice and Benedick involves form of structural cuckolding * 2. : Men ââ¬Å"Huntâ⬠Benedick * T ricksters pretend to speak truth, while Benedick ââ¬Å"notesâ⬠their conversation (so he can listen in on their conversation) * Men describe Beatriceââ¬â¢s suffering from unrequited love, ll. 87-119 * to gull: to make a gull of ; to dupe, cheat, befool, ââ¬Å"take in:, deceive (v. 3, def. 1) * Leonatoââ¬â¢s authority and Heroââ¬â¢s virtue convince Benedick of ââ¬Å"truthâ⬠* Benedick transformed, ll. 210-33 * Enumeration of Beatriceââ¬â¢s virtues contrasts Claudioââ¬â¢s interest in appearance * Converted into lover: ââ¬Å"for I will be horribly in love with herâ⬠(l. 23) * 3. 1: Women Snare Beatrice * Actresses follow Don Pedroââ¬â¢s script (? ââ¬âare they actually following the script) * Silent Hero? ll. 34-36, 47-56, 60-70, 72-80 * Focus on Beatriceââ¬â¢s faults rather than Benedickââ¬â¢s virtues * Beatrice to temper her voice to Benedickââ¬â¢s wishes, ll. 107017) * New Alliances: Repudiation scene (4. 1) * All doubt Hero but witty lovers (Beatrice and Benedick) * Beatrice tests Benedickââ¬â¢s love, ll. 262-289 * ââ¬Å"Kill Claudioâ⬠(288)
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