ENGL 225 Lecture 3: Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing
• City comedy
• Imitation/mirroring big in theater
• John Norbrooke on the theatre
o Detrators lai that the theater teahes audiee hoe to eguile, hoe to etraye... hoe to
urther, hoe to poiso, hoe to disoey ad [ho to] reel agaist Pries
o Supporters claim that the theater can promote people to be better
• Stephen Gossen
o Theater geerates strage osorts of elody… ostly apparel…effeiate gestures ad ato
speehes… [ that ifiltrates] y the priy etries of the eare…
▪ We are vulnerable
Muh Ado Aout Nothing deals with…
• Idea of way we are perceived and way we interpret
• Spectatorship called in account but audience vulnerable; we get doped; done repeatedly; we think we are
reoed ut e are’t
Act 4 Scene 1
• Why does Claudio denounce Hero so publicly?
Questions
• Are or eyes our own in the play? How does the play operate with that understanding?
• Why open with men returning from war?
o Won victory, celebratory mood, comradery (Claudio and Don Pedro)
o Don John might have been fighting for the opposing side and taken prisoner
o Metaphor for what goes on throughout the play
*Nature of seeing/sight*
• Sight renders things differently to different people
• Claudio & Benedick (1.1.180)
o CLAUDIO
▪ In mine eye she is the sweetest lady that ever I
looked on.
o BENEDICK
▪ I can see yet without spectacles and I see no such
matter
• Claduio & Don Pedro (1.1.283)
o CLAUDIO
▪ O, my lord,
When you went onward on this ended action,
I look'd upon her with a soldier's eye,
That liked, but had a rougher task in hand
Than to drive liking to the name of love:
But now I am return'd and that war-thoughts
Have left their places vacant, in their rooms
Come thronging soft and delicate desires,
All prompting me how fair young Hero is,
Saying, I liked her ere I went to wars.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Idea of way we are perceived and way we interpret: spectatorship called in account but audience vulnerable; we get doped; done repeatedly; we think we are re(cid:373)o(cid:448)ed (cid:271)ut (cid:449)e are(cid:374)"t. *nature of seeing/sight: sight renders things differently to different people, claudio & benedick (1. 1. 180, claudio. In mine eye she is the sweetest lady that ever i looked on: benedick. I can see yet without spectacles and i see no such matter: claduio & don pedro (1. 1. 283, claudio, o, my lord, When you went onward on this ended action, I look"d upon her with a soldier"s eye, That liked, but had a rougher task in hand. Than to drive liking to the name of love: But now i am return"d and that war-thoughts. Have left their places vacant, in their rooms. All prompting me how fair young hero is, Saying, i liked her ere i went to wars: don pedro, thou wilt be like a lover presently.
