Shakespeare - Much Ado About Nothing - Plot summary

Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy set in Italy. It’s about men and women, love, pretence and disguises. It’s about how hatred can turn so easily into love, and love so easily into hatred. There’s a villain that messes it all up for everybody, but like all good stories, the heroes win through in the end.

Contents

• Don Pedro and his men arrive in Messina.
• There is a masked ball where Don John causes trouble.
• Beatrice and Benedick are set up and begin to fall in love.
• Don John and Borachio trick Claudio and Don Pedro.
• Claudio publicly shames Hero on their wedding day.
• Dogberry’s men overhear Borachio boasting and arrest him.
• Claudio marries Hero’s cousin, but his bride turns out to be Hero.
• Beatrice and Benedick realise that they were set up, but want to marry each other anyway.

Everyone is excited at Leonato’s house. Don Pedro, the Prince of Aragon, is coming to stay on his way back from battle. Amongst his followers are Benedick, who claims to hate all women, and Claudio, who reveals that he quite fancies Leonato’s daughter, Hero. Don John, Don Pedro’s brother is also there. He is in disgrace for trying to overthrow his brother and is quite grumpy about it.

Benedick and Beatrice have an argument, which seems light-hearted and amuses everyone, but ends bitterly. It seems that they might have been together in the past, but Benedick broke Beatrice’s heart.

Don Pedro promises Claudio that he will help him win Hero’s heart and sort things out with her father, Leonato. Don Pedro plans to talk to Hero in disguise during the masked ball that evening.

Don John goes to the masked ball planning to make trouble for Claudio. He is jealous of Claudio because Don Pedro seems to like him so much. He wants to ruin Claudio’s happiness. Don John’s friends Borachio and Conrad willingly agree to help him.

Don John tells Claudio a lie that his brother Don Pedro fancies Hero and intends to marry her himself. Claudio believes Don John and goes off in a huff.

Meanwhile, Benedick wearing a mask, chats Beatrice up. They both pretend not to know who they are talking to and insult each other.

Don Pedro sorts things out with Claudio. Claudio and Hero’s wedding date is set for a week’s time.

Don Pedro gets everyone involved in a challenge to get Beatrice and Benedick to fall in love.

The men go to the orchard where Benedick is listening to some music. They pretend that they can’t see him and start to discuss how Beatrice is lovesick for Benedick. It’s all made up, but Benedick believes it and decides that he could fall in love with her after all.

Later, the women go to the orchard and someone sends for Beatrice. As she arrives, they pretend not to see her and start talking about how much Benedick is in love with her. She falls for it, too.

The night before the wedding, Don John tells Claudio and Don Pedro that Hero is unfaithful. He tells them that a man visits her bedroom at night. Although this seems very out of character for Hero who is quiet, shy and mild-mannered, Claudio and Don Pedro are ready to believe bad things about her. Don John offers to show them proof at midnight.

This “proof” will be Margaret - Hero’s gentlewoman (pretending to be Hero), kissing Borachio at Hero’s bedroom window. This is all part of Don John’s wicked trick.

Claudio promises that if Don John’s claim turns out to be true, he will publicly shame Hero at the altar. Don Pedro agrees that he will back him up.

Claudio acts as though he is going to go ahead and marry Hero, but right at the crucial moment, he accuses her of being unfaithful, calling her horrible names. Don Pedro joins in. Hero seems too bewildered to stand up for herself. Leonato believes Don Pedro and Claudio over his daughter. The men storm off, except for Benedick who can’t believe what has happened.

Benedick and Beatrice calm Leonato down. The Friar suggests that Hero should pretend that she is dead until they can prove that she has been wrongly accused.

Everyone leaves except for Beatrice and Benedick, who declare their love for each other. However, Beatrice is so angry that she asks Benedick to kill Claudio. He is reluctant at first, but to prove that he loves her, he agrees to challenge Claudio to a duel.

Constable Dogberry’s night watchmen are not that good at their job, and their boss is a source of great comedy because he uses lots of long words in completely the wrong way. However, the watchmen overhear Borachio boasting to Conrade how he helped trick Claudio and Don Pedro by kissing Margaret and pretending she was Hero. They arrest him and Conrade.

Meanwhile, Don Pedro and Claudio behave in an arrogant and dismissive way towards Leonato and his brother, Antonio, and Benedick challenges Claudio to a duel.

Dogberry comes to Leonato’s house, but has difficulty getting Leonato to understand him, let alone listen to him. Finally, the truth is revealed and Hero’s name is cleared. Leonato decides to make Claudio and Don Pedro suffer for a little longer though; he doesn’t tell them that Hero isn’t really dead.

Claudio feels terrible that Hero died as a result of his cruel accusations. Leonato tells him that to make up for it, he has to sing at Hero’s grave during the night, and in the morning, he must marry Hero’s cousin – not Beatrice, but a daughter of Antonio’s that no one has ever heard of. Leonato intends to trick Claudio. He will let Claudio marry Hero, but he won’t tell him that it is Hero beneath the veil.

Antonio, Leonato’s brother, agrees to walk the disguised Hero up the aisle, pretending that she’s his daughter. Claudio is not allowed to see her face until they are married. When he lifts her veil, he is amazed to find that it is his Hero after all. With this wedding, they have a second chance at love.

Benedick tells Leonato and the Friar that he would like to marry Beatrice. Beatrice says that she will marry him because she feels sorry for him. Benedick says that he doesn’t like her much, but everyone said how sick for love she was for him. Both of them realise that they have been tricked, but are happy to marry. They were perfect for each other all along, and Benedick, the sworn bachelor, is ecstatically happy.

The news comes that Don John has been arrested, but everyone is too happy to worry about this. Everyone dances and Benedick suggests that Don Pedro should get himself a wife, too.