Much Ado about Nothing (Arden Shakespeare: Third Series)

367 Pages·2005·5.09 MB·English

by  William Shakespeare

T HE A R D EN S H A K E S P E A RE
ABOUT NOTHING
EDITED BY CLAIRE McEACHERN
1
7
, s
SHAKESPEARE
The Arden Shakespeare is the established scholarly \
edition of Shakespeare's plays. Now in its third
series, Arden offers the best in contemporary
scholarship. Each volume guides you to a deeper
understanding and appreciation of Shakespeare's
work.
This edition of Much Ado About Nothing provides:
• A clear and authoritative text, edited to the
highest standards of scholarship.
• Detailed notes and commentary on the same
page as the text.
• A full, illustrated introduction to the play's
historical, cultural and performance contexts.
• An in-depth survey of critical approaches to the play.
• A full index to the introduction and notes.
• A select bibliography of references and further
reading.
With a wealth of helpful and incisive commentary,
The Arden Shakespeare is the finest edition of
Shakespeare you can find.
THE ARDEN SHAKESPEARE - THIRD SERIES
General editors: Richard Proudfoot, Ann Thompson and
David Scott Kastan
Visit the Arden website at
www.ardenshakespeare.com
i over design: tnterbrand Newell and Norrell
Cover illustration: Jeff Cottenden
ISBN 1-903436-83-4
Thomson Learning is dedicated to providing innovative approaches to
lifelong learning
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T HE A R D EN S H A K E S P E A RE
THIRD S E R I ES
General Editors: Richard Proudfoot, Ann Thompson
and David Scott Kastan
MUCH ADO
ABOUT NOTHING
T HE A R D EN S H A K E S P E A RE
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL edited by G. K. Hunter*
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA edited by John Wilders
AS YOU LIKE IT edited by Agnes Latham*
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS edited by R. A. Foakes*
CORIOLANUS edited by Philip Brockbank*
CYMBELINE edited by J. M. Nosworthy*
HAMLET edited by Harold Jenkins*
JULIUS CAESAR edited by David Daniell
KING HENRY IV Part 1 edited by David Scott Kastan
KING HENRY IV Part 2 edited by A. R. Humphreys*
KING HENRY V edited by T. W. Craik
KING HENRY VI Part 1 edited by Edward Burns
KING HENRY VI Part 2 edited by Ronald Knowles
KING HENRY VI Part 3 edited by John D. Cox and
Eric Rasmussen
KING HENRY VIII edited by Gordon McMullan
KING JOHN edited by E. A. J. Honigmann*
KING LEAR edited by R. A. Foakes
KING RICHARD II edited by Charles Forker
KING RICHARD III edited by Antony Hammond*
LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST edited by H. R. Woudhuysen
MACBETH edited by Kenneth Muir*
MEASURE FOR MEASURE edited by J. W Lever*
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE edited by John Russell Brown*
THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR edited by Giorgio Melchiori
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM edited by Harold F. Brooks*
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING edited by Claire McEachern
OTHELLO edited by E. A. J. Honigmann
PERICLES edited by Suzanne Gossett
THE POEMS edited by F. T. Prince*
ROMEO AND JULIET edited by Brian Gibbons*
SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS edited by Katherine Duncan-Jones
THE TAMING OF THE SHREW edited by Brian Morris*
THE TEMPEST edited by Virginia Mason Vaughan
and Alden T Vaughan
TIMON OF ATHENS edited by H. J. Oliver*
TITUS ANDRONICUS edited by Jonathan Bate
TROILUS AND CRESSIDA edited by David Bevington
TWELFTH NIGHT edited by J. M. Lothian and T. W. Craik*
THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA edited by William C. Carroll
THE TWO NOBLE KINSMEN edited by Lois Potter
THE WINTER'S TALE edited by J. H. P. Pafford*
* Second series
T HE A R D EN S H A K E S P E A RE
MUCH ADO
ABOUT
NOTHING
Edited by
CLAIRE McEACHERN
The Arden website is at
http : // www. ardenshakespeare. com
The general editors of the Arden Shakespeare have been
WJ. Craig and R.H. Case (first series 1899-1944)
Una Ellis-Fermor, Harold F. Brooks, Harold Jenkins and
Brian Morris (second series 1946—82)
Present general editors (third series)
Richard Proudfoot, Ann Thompson and David Scott Kastan
This edition of Much Ado About Nothing, by Claire McEachern
First published 2006 by the Arden Shakespeare
Editorial matter © 2006 Claire McEachern
Typeset by DC Graphic Design Ltd
Arden Shakespeare is an imprint of Thomson Learning
Thomson Learning
High Holborn House
50-51 Bedford Row
London WC1R 4LR
Printed in Croatia
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record has been requested
ISBN-13: 978-1-903436-82-0 (hbk)
ISBN-10: 1-903436-82-6 (hbk)
NPN 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN-13: 978-1-903436-83-7 (pbk)
ISBN-10: 1-903436-83-4 (pbk)
NPN 987654321
The Editor
Claire McEachern is Professor of English Literature
at the University of California, Los Angeles. She has
edited The Cambridge Companion to Shakespearean
Tragedy (2003), and co-edited (with Debora Shuger)
Religion and Culture in the English Renaissance (1997), as
well as five volumes of the Pelican Shakespeare (7 and
2 Henry IV, Henry V, King Jfohn and All's Well That
Ends Well). Her other previous publications include The
Poetics of English Nationhood 1590-1612 (1996).
For Warner Mandeville (4.1.267-8)
CONTENTS
List of illustrations IX
General editors' preface xii
Preface xvii
Introduction 1
Building a play: sources and contexts 4
The usual suspects: Ariosto and Bandello 5
Shakespeare's transformations of his sources:
the creation of a social world 11
The maid 13
'How many gentlemen?' 14
The villain 17
The lover 19
Beyond the plot 22
Denouement 23
Dialogue and debate forms 26
Sexual stereotypes 28
Disdain 33
Modifications of type 34
Chaste, silent and obedient 38
Hero 41
Cuckolds 43
Structure and style 50
'The course of true love' 51
Two plots? 58
Style 62
Prose and the prosaic 63
Contents
Euphuism 65
Verbal handshakes 70
'The even road of a blank verse' 74
Image patterns 75
Songs 76
Staging Much Ado 78
Tonal choices 80
Social representations 84
Choice of place and time 98
Cultural moment 102
Afterlives 108
Origins 110
Criticism 119
Text 125
First impressions 125
Making a book 128
Who's in, mho's out 133
Who gets to say what? 140
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING 145
Appendix: Casting chart 319
Abbreviations and references 322
Abbreviations used in notes 322
Works by and partly by Shakespeare 322
Editions of Shakespeare collated or referred to 324
Other works cited 326
Modern stage, film and television productions
cited 337
Index 339