Much Ado About Nothing June 22, 2012

Benedick and Beatrice are engaged in a 'merry war'; they both talk a mile a minute and proclaim their scorn for love, marriage, and each other. In contrast, Claudio and Hero are sweet young people who are rendered practically speechless by their love for one another. By means of 'noting' (which sounds the same as 'nothing,' and which is gossip, rumour, and overhearing), Benedick and Beatrice are tricked into confessing their love for each other, and Claudio is tricked into rejecting Hero at the altar. However, Dogberry, a Constable who is a master of malapropisms, discovers the evil trickery of the villain, the bastard Don John. In the end, Don John's treacherous ways are discoverd and all is made right.