Much Ado about Nothing

This new edition features an updated introduction analysing recent critical and performance interpretations, and a revised reading list.

William Shakespeare (Author), Travis D. Williams (Introduction by), F. H. Mares (Edited by)

9781316626733, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 20 September 2018

198 pages, 16 b/w illus.
22.8 x 15.3 x 1 cm, 0.33 kg

Much Ado about Nothing has always been popular on the stage. This edition pays especial attention to the history and range of theatrical interpretation, in which 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. In this new edition, Travis D. Williams reviews recent stage, television, film and critical interpretations of the play, considering treatment of the play's special interest in language, bodies and gender.

Introduction
The play
Supplementary notes
Textual analysis
Appendixes: 1. The time-scheme of Much Ado about Nothing, 2. Lewis Carroll's letter to Ellen Terry, 3. Benedick's song, 5.2.18-22
Reading list.

Subject Areas: Shakespeare studies & criticism [DSGS], Literary studies: plays & playwrights [DSG], Literary studies: c 1500 to c 1800 [DSBD], Shakespeare plays [DDS], Literature & literary studies [D]