Much Ado About Nothing Questions
Digging Deeper into Much Ado About Nothing
1. Would you regard this play as a comedy? Is the mood of this play light and humorous or serious and weighty? Respond to these questions and provide quotes and
scenes from the play that helped to establish the dominant mood.
2. The dialogue between Dogberry and Verges is often humorous because of their understandings of the meaning of words. Give some examples of this from the play
and create two or three of your own.
3. Would you rather be-Beatrice or Hero; or Claudio or Benedick? Compare and contrast the two female or male characters. Why do you think Shakespeare created the
pairs of characters?
4. Study a map of Italy and pinpoint the places mentioned in the play. Do some research about the historical situation in Italy in the sixteenth century and
explain historically the wars which Don Pedro and his men have been fighting.
5. Select one character and write a letter describing the events in Leonato’s house from that character’s point of view.
6. Write a dramatic monologue patterned after the monologues of Robert Browning (for example, My Last Duchess which can be found at
rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poem/288.html
7. Are Beatrice and Benedick an ideal couple? Is the fact they are roughly equal in wit and intelligence significant? Do you find their attitude toward love and
their courtship more satisfying than Claudio and Hero’s? Why or why not?
8. Discuss the character of Beatrice and/or Benedick. Is Benedick less ‘manly’ because he abandons his male friends? Is Beatrice less ‘womanly’ because she is
obviously not very submissive? In what ways do Beatrice and Benedick challenge traditional sex roles? Would you consider this a healthy challenge?
9. Write a comic scene modeled on Much Ado About Nothing. Think about an episode that could happen at school between a boy and girl. What things might lead to
complications? Create a dialogue and some stage action.
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