How to use this Page

Synopsis: Much Ado About Nothing is one of Shakespeare’s romantic comedies. With the encouragement of Don Pedro, a prince from Aragon, Claudio decides to romance Hero, and at a masquerade ball she accepts his hand in marriage. Don Pedro, impatient to wait the week for their wedding, sets forth as a matchmaker with the help of this couple, trying to set up Benedick and Beatrice (who constantly fight with each other). During this time, Don Pedro’s illegitimate half brother, Don John, works to deceive Claudio and trick him into believing Hero was unfaithful.

My thoughts: Though it’s an overused phrase, I think this is a play where lots of characters and situations are thrown together and “hilarity ensues.” Much Ado About Nothing is full of deception, plays on language (pay particular attention to names), and, of course, double entendres. This play was loads of fun to read, and I only wish I could see it performed sometime. At first it was a little difficult to keep all of the characters straight, but a few notes on a post-it took care of that. This is also a great play to read if you want to read one of the first examples (I believe) of the classic boy-and-girl-fight-a-lot then boy-and-girl-realize-they-have-feelings-for-one-another plot line.

-------------

After taking a course all about Shakespeare in the modern day, I’ve become absolutely intrigued by adaptations of Shakespeare’s works and references to Shakespeare in pop culture. So, for these Shakespearean Summer posts, I’ve decided to include other ways to take in Much Ado About Nothing. Here are a few of them:

Béatrice et Bénédict – A nineteenth-century opera by Berlioz that’s loosely based on Much Ado About Nothing. As you might guess by the title, this really focuses on the budding romance between Beatrice/ Béatrice and Benedick/ Bénédict, so the Hero’s supposed infidelity part doesn’t play a role in this opera. The overture is pretty well known :D

ShakespeaRe-Told – Recently discovered this series (thanks Jazz!). The Much Ado About Nothing episode is retold with anchors at a news station. The plot/big ideas seemed more or less consistent until the end.

The Boys Are Coming Home – A musical! Written a few years ago, I think (with admittedly mediocre music). This one’s a modern adaptation, moving the play to 1945 with soldiers returning from after World War II.

Synopsis: Othello tells the tale of the Moor and general in the Venetian army, Othello. He loves Desdemona and they arrange a secret marriage. In the meanwhile, Iago, a soldier who is under Othello’s command, is jealous, having proposed to Desdemona previously. Combine this jealousy with Iago’s anger over Othello’s choice to promote Cassio over himself, and Iago’s left with a desire for revenge. Iago slowly begins to deceive and twist Othello’s mind so that he begins to destroy his own life.

My thoughts: Unlike my last selection, The Taming of the Shrew, this play isn’t one to enjoy for its humor and witty remarks. Though this play is still full of wit, it is shrewd wit rather than comedic. Iago is probably my favorite character from any of Shakespeare’s plays, not because I like him, but because I’m always impressed by the way he manipulates others. I think that Othello is gripping, and each scene just builds in intensity. Plus, this is really interesting to read in terms of race (if you’re in the mood for a bit of tough thinking and analysis, that is).

----------

After taking a course all about Shakespeare in the modern day, I’ve become absolutely intrigued by adaptations of Shakespeare’s works and references to Shakespeare in pop culture. So, for these Shakespearean Summer posts, I’ve decided to include other ways to find Othello. Here are some of the more unique ones:

Omkara – Othello meets Bollywood. Enough said.

O – Set in a modern-day high school, where Othello is Odin, the star of the high school basketball team and the only African American at his school. Desdemona is Desi, the dean’s daughter, and Iago is Hugo, the basketball coach’s son. Pretty good film that’s quite intense (especially considering relatively reason school shootings).

All Night Long – A black and white 60’s movie set in London with lots of jazz music. A pretty loose adaptation, but there’s great music.

I'm participating in A Shakespearean Summer, a challenge hosted by Liv of Liv's Book Reviews. For this challenge, you read three of Shakespeare's plays and post about them. I love Shakespeare and I'm thrilled to be participating. So for my first play, I reread The Taming of the Shrew.

Summary: The Taming of the Shrew is framed by the story of a Lord who tricks the drunken Sly into believing he is a nobleman. The Lord proceeds to have a play enacted out for Sly, and it is this play that most people recognize. The Taming of the Shrew centers around four individuals: Katherina Minola, her younger sister Bianca, Petruchio Guicciardini and Lucentio della Rovere. Bianca, with her many suitors, is frustrated as she is not permitted to marry until her elder sister does. However, with Katherina’s insolence and temper, this shrew frightens off any man who dares to get to close. In the meanwhile, Lucentio and Petruchio arrive in Padua. In order to compete with Bianca’s other suitors, Lucentio disguises himself as her tutor in order to get close to her. At the same time, Petruchio, aware of Katherina’s wealth and reputation, sets forth to marry her, return her to his home, and ultimately, tame this shrew.

My thoughts: There's something weird about reviewing a Shakepeare play (maybe it's all those analytical English lit courses), so instead I'll just say what I think about this play. This is one of my favorite Shakespeare comedies, mainly for the witty banter. Plus, in my personal opinion, Grumio (Petruchio’s servant) is one of the funniest characters in any of Shakespeare’s plays. The ending, of course, is controversial. I don’t want to give away too much, but I think it’s pretty well-known (or at least predictable) that Katherina is tamed by the end of the play. I don’t read The Taming of the Shrew as a completely anti-feminist work (trust me, if I thought that was how this play should be interpreted, I wouldn’t like it). Instead, I think the taming and Katherina’s speech can’t be taken at face value, but rather read in a Shakespeare’s-bringing-an-issue-to-the-table and Katherina’s-speech-is-tongue-in-cheek sort of way. But that’s just my take, of course. Anyway, as far as Shakespeare goes, I found this play easier to understand, and all of the plotting and messing around with identity is very entertaining.

• Kiss Me Kate – This Cole Porter musical has an interior play that’s a musical version of Taming of the Shrew. Great music and lots of witty banter. You can see it on stage and there’s also an OK video version.


• 10 Things I Hate About You – Teen romantic comedy featuring Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles set in high school. Full of other Shakespeare references (including his sonnets, Macbeth, and more). I love it because it’s part of a golden age of teen movies (gotta love the 90’s). The new TV series, though, you should avoid.


• Deliver Us From Eva – A modern, urban adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew with LL Cool J and Gabrielle Union. It’s pretty awful, but I’ll admit that sometimes I love those movies that are so bad they’re almost good (well, at least good in the entertaining because you can poke fun sense).