Comedy by William Shakespeare
Deceptive maneuvers determine the course of the plot. They range from misleading rumors, false reports and deliberate slander, from scenes of eavesdropping and disguise to unconscious dissimulation in social role-playing.
After a victorious match, Don Pedro, Prince of Aragon, visits the wealthy landowner Donna Leonata in Messina with his exquisite team. The widowed noblewoman and her beautiful daughter Hero invite the company to be their guests for at least a month. Claudio is delighted, and promptly falls in love with the beautiful Hero. Beatrice, Donna Leonata's niece, is less pleased, as her arch-enemy Benedict is also in the party. Moreover, Don Pedro's vengeful half-sister is prepared to use any means to get one over on this narrow-minded society. Shakespeare's comedy depicts a furious and ludicrous battle of the sexes: mature love that shreds itself with words and humor before reaching safe harbor; young love that is put to the test with envy and intrigue before it is allowed to find itself; an insoluble brother-sister quarrel that almost ends in disaster; a couple of crazy, simple-minded characters who just want to do their job well. These are the ingredients of this fast-paced play, which brings a comforting wink to the social life of this elite "upper class" and ultimately leads the open-minded "Bunte" reader to a wise realization: "Much ado about nothing" - because in the end, love and truth triumph over pretense and deception.
Much ado about nothing - Comedy by William Shakespeare
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