Much Ado About Nothing

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Much Ado About Something?”

In this activity, students will use creative and critical thinking to propose an alternative ending to Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy, and as such ends with the weddings of the romantic leads. However, as with many Shakespearean comedies, audiences and readers might leave the play with a sense of unresolved threats: Don Pedro’s promise to punish Margaret hangs over the play’s conclusion, and though Hero and Claudio finally marry, their demonstrated lack of trust clouds the prospects of their marriage. Indeed, it is not hard to imagine the play ending very differently had matters lined up less fortuitously, with the “much ado about nothing” turning all at once into “much ado about something.” What if Dogberry had not apprehended Borachio and Conrade? What if the friar had failed to make such a powerful case for Hero’s innocence? What if Benedick really had killed Claudio?

In this activity, each student should compose a brief alternative ending to Much Ado About Nothing (not necessarily in verse, though students may try their hand at Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter if they wish). Students should consider the following:

• At what point in the plot might things have gone differently?
• What are the central conflicts in the play and how are they resolved (or not resolved)?
• Is the ending of the play as it stands really a happy ending? Could it be happier?
• What would it take to make the play’s ostensibly happy ending more “tragic”?

Have students present their endings to the class once they are finished. These presentations should facilitate class discussions on what distinguishes comedy from tragedy, both in Shakespeare and other authors.

Teaching Suggestion: Encourage students to consider other plays by Shakespeare for inspiration. It may be worth noting, for instance, that the last time Shakespeare had a character fake their death was in Romeo and Juliet, and that play ended, of course, with both Romeo and Juliet ending their lives.

Differentiation Suggestion: Students who require additional assistance coming up with ideas may find it beneficial to work in small groups to brainstorm common events in tragic stories—misunderstandings, fights, deaths, etc. To encourage student agency and for students with other abilities, interests, and/or intelligences, consider allowing them to present their assignments in media other than writing, for example as a short graphic novel or comic book, a song, or even a performance.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Sexual and romantic anxiety are extremely prominent throughout the play, with characters afraid that their romantic partners will be unfaithful to them.

• What is the role of sexual and romantic anxiety within the world of the play? (topic sentence)
• Analyze three scenes, speeches, or conversations that illustrate the role of sexual and romantic anxiety in the play.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, evaluate the way the characters in the play are so willing to see deceit everywhere, even in places where no deceit exists.

2. Differences in social class cause conflicts and misunderstandings between lovers and foes alike.

• What is the overall role of class and rank in the play? (topic sentence)
• Discuss specific scenes or characters that illustrate the way class and rank affect the play’s plot.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, evaluate the negative and positive ways class and rank are represented in the play.

3. The play portrays two very different romantic relationships: the first between Hero and Claudio and the second between Beatrice and Benedick.

• How is love represented differently by the romantic pairings of Hero and Claudio on one hand and Beatrice and Benedick on the other? (topic sentence)
• Compare and contrast the relationship between Hero and Claudio with the relationship between Beatrice and Benedick
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, reflect on which pair’s relationship is more complex and mature than the other’s.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Consider the relationship between Don Pedro and his half-brother Don John. Why is their relationship so fraught? How does the tension between them reflect the social mores of the time the play was written? What are the motivations of Don Pedro and Don John, respectively, and what purpose do their actions serve within the play?

2. Beatrice and Benedick are among Shakespeare’s most beloved characters. What makes their relationship so complex? How do these two characters challenge and complement one another? Why are they unable to have a more conventional courtship?

3. Reflect on the way gender roles are represented throughout the play. How does the play reflect the pressures and expectations of women and men in Shakespeare’s world? How do these pressures and expectations direct the plot of the play?

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following quotes best expresses Benedick’s view of marriage at the beginning of the play?

A) “Shall quips and sentences and these paper bullets of the brain awe a man from the career of his humor? No, the world must be peopled.” (Act II, Scene 3)

B) “I do love nothing in the world so well as you. Is not that strange?” (Act IV, Scene 1)

C) “[N]ever flout at me for what I have said against [marriage], for man is a giddy thing, and this is my conclusion.” (Act V, Scene 4)

D) “That a woman conceived me, I thank her; that she brought me up, I likewise give her most humble thanks; but that I will have a recheat winded in my forehead, or hang my bugle in an invisible baldrick, all women shall pardon me.” (Act I, Scene 1)

2. Who does Leonato originally believe to be Hero’s love interest?

A) Don Pedro

B) Claudio

C) Antonio

D) Benedick

3. Why does Don John hate Claudio?

A) Because of his close relationship with his enemy Don Pedro

B) Because they are rivals for Hero’s love

C) Because he covets Claudio’s wealth

D) Because Claudio insulted him

4. Which quote best illustrates how Don John views himself?

A) “Can this be true? / Stand I condemned for pride and scorn so much? / Contempt, farewell!” (Act III, Scene 1)

B) “They say I will bear myself proudly, if I perceive the love come from her. […] I must not seem proud.” (Act II, Scene 3)

C) In this, though I cannot be said to be a flattering honest man, it must not be denied but I am a plain-dealing villain.” (Act I, Scene 3)

D) “But, masters, remember that I am an ass. Though it be not written down, yet forget not that I am an ass.” (Act IV, Scene 2)

5. How does Beatrice offend Bendick at the masked ball?

A) By failing to recognize him behind his mask

B) By referring to him as the prince’s jester

C) By ignoring him completely

D) By refusing to marry him

6. Who proposes to Beatrice at the masked ball?

A) Don John

B) Benedick

C) Claudio

D) Don Pedro

7. When does Benedick become romantically interested in Beatrice?

A) The first time he sees her

B) After overhearing his friends talking about how Beatrice is in love with him

C) After becoming jealous of his friend Claudio’s relationship with Hero

D) After returning to Messina with Don Pedro

8. Why are Borachio and Conrade arrested?

A) They are caught exposing themselves in public.

B) They are overheard bragging about sabotaging Hero and Claudio’s wedding.

C) They are caught fighting in public.

D) They are overheard plotting to abduct Hero.

9. How does Claudio punish Hero when he believes that she has been unfaithful to him?

A) By publicly humiliating her at their wedding

B) By breaking off his engagement with her

C) By challenging her father to a duel

D) By beating her in private

10. When Dogberry tells Borachio that “thou wilt be condemned into everlasting redemption for this” (Act IV, Scene 2), he is illustrating which literary device?

A) Malapropism

B) Personification

C) Metaphor

D) Alliteration

11. When do Beatrice and Benedick first confess their love for each other?

A) After Claudio and Hero are married

B) After Claudio humiliates Hero

C) At the masked ball

D) At Hero’s funeral

12. What punishment does Leonato impose on Claudio for his treatment of Hero?

A) To write a poem for Hero’s epitaph

B) To marry Hero’s cousin

C) To pay a hefty fine

D) Both A and B

13. Why doesn’t Benedick’s duel with Claudio take place?

A) Because Claudio ends his life

B) Because Claudio atones for his error

C) Because Benedick is banished by Don Pedro

D) All of the above.

14. What happens to Don John at the end of the play?

A) He is executed.

B) He runs away.

C) He is arrested.

D) He atones for his misdeeds.

15. What does Benedick mean when he tells Don Pedro “[N]ever flout at me for what I have said against [marriage], for man is a giddy thing” (Act V, Scene 4)?

A) Benedick should not be blamed for changing his opinion on marriage because people are inconsistent.

B) It is not appropriate to make fun of somebody else during a party.

C) Don Pedro should respect his wishes on his wedding day.

D) Benedick did not mean his earlier statements about marriage to be taken in earnest.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. How is the play’s title representative of the plot?

2. How are Benedick’s love speeches different from Beatrice’s? What do these differences reveal about Benedick’s and Beatrice’s respective characters?