Much Ado about Nothing

Much Ado has always been popular on the stage. This edition pays especial attention to the history and range of theatrical interpretation, in which the most famous actors, from the time of Garrick to the present, have appeared as the sparring lovers Benedick and Beatrice. A full commentary includes annotation of the many sexual jokes in the play that have been obscured by the complexity of Elizabethan language. For this updated edition Angela Stock has added a new section to the Introduction in which she reviews the romantic and the darker, more cynical aspects of the play in the light of late twentieth-century stage, film and critical interpretations. She also tackles the interesting question of Beatrice’s proper age and the critical fortunes of Hero and Claudio in terms of the play’s interest in sexuality and misogyny, eavesdropping and deception.

• Updated edition of a text which has been highly popular in the series since 1984 • Substantial additional section to the Introduction by Angela Stock • Two new production photographs and a revised Reading List

Introduction, with new section by Angela Stock on recent stage and critical interpretations; Note on the text; List of characters; The play; Supplementary notes; Textual analysis; Appendixes: The time-scheme of Much Ado About Nothing; Lewis Carroll’s Letter to Ellen Terry; Benedick’s song; Reading list.