Much Ado About Nothing

Chapter One: Theory

The story is more of a derogatory or an amusing jest that usually reoccurs with variations. An example is a regular moving gag in Shakespeare, like a cuckold, for example, a man whose wife is unfaithful in Shakespeare’s story. So this word is also known as a cuckoo, meaning a bird that is fond of laying its eggs in the other one’s nest. So, the cuckold was identified as growing horns on Shakespeare’s head, meaning symbols and words used in this short story suggest the cuckolding, such as bulls, horns, and rams. When Shakespeare initially acted in the play “Much Ado About Nothing,” the word “nothing” was also referred to as “noting.” In this regard, the word “noting” was central to all the actions of Shakespeare. In fact, some people refer to. At the beginning of the film appears a kind of special observation where Claudio Benedick noted and looked at Beatrice. However, the notes failed to end there as they went on popping up through the music; for example, when Benedick jokes about the sheep’s guts while stringing on an instrument, Balthasar also plays his notes. Moreover, the love between Beatrice and Benedick has also been revealed in the film through written notes called letters. The aim of this thesis is to explore Shakespeare’s short play “Much Ado About Nothing” as well as to compare it with its two play adaptations written by Whedon and Kenneth Branagh.

Chapter Two: Problem Statement

The big problem presented in the film by Shakespeare is the dilemma trouble uses a lot of troubles to Beatrice (Hero) as she is loved by two half-brothers (Munich et al. 50). The two half-brothers’ love to promise their love for the maiden whose father is intimidating and the love’s cousin sounds like as lot is right as well as being in the middle of her woes.  The young officer Benedick faces such a problem in the film. The film “Much Ado About Nothing” puts a lot of emphasis on the problem of observing wrongly since observation is always concerned with the interpretation of a subject or argument that is still incorrect (Munich et al. 55). However, misnoting can sometimes bring about a positive outcome as Benedick and Beatrice are observed to have got together because of misnoting even though Shakespeare’ is seen ridiculing the outcomes of misnoting in the play.

Chapter Three: Results

In this film, it was found out that Shakespeare’s battle of wits does not cease here, but it goes on with Beatrice and Claudio Benedick center and fronts the film. The merry conflict that dominates the film sets a tone for various elements to emerge in the movie as audiences are directly revealed by the actions that follow them. On the other hand, Kenneth Branagh understands the full significance of language as far as Much Ado is concerned, and due to that, Kenneth Branagh maintains several of such lines in his film adaptations. Consequently, a similarity between Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” and Kenneth Brenastops film adaptations stops when Shakespeare’s and Kenneth Brenagn’s film adaptations put a lot of emphasis on the visual image with the aim of acquiring the full attention of audiences as well as ensuring shaping of the story’s tone.

In fact, the visual imagery used in Kenneth Brenagn’s “Much Ado About Nothing” cannot be disregarded, even whether Kenneth Brenagn uses props or includes good-looking men and women dressed in white lace and satin. However, this film does not start by putting a lot of emphasis on Beatrice as compared to the majority of Shakespeare’s opening lines that are left out of the film. Instead, Kenneth Brenagn’s film starts with Beatrice as she recites a kind of song. The song is later on found in the middle of the movie as it describes men’s deceitfulness.

Joss Whedon’s film cast Riki Lindhome as a Conrade. The Conrade is a character that was traditionally played by a male actor. In his play, Josh Whedon argued that nothing could bar him from casting Riki Lindhome as Conrade.  Joss Whedon is the one who slotted the Oates & Garfunkel as well as taking the role of guest star referred to as Buffy the Vampire Slayer onetime. Another aspect that influenced Josh Whedon’s film is the gender swap, which also impacted his staging of Don John’s soliloquy. Whedon used it to recast a kind of speech that Don John issues as he tries seducing Conrade.

Moreover, Whedon’s film is distinguished from Shakespeare’s movie when one of his core pieces of original staging comes from the era of Hero’s funeral, where Benedick was one of the attendees, though he failed to realize that Hero was not dead. The hero is observed watching the ceremony from far in the “Much Ado About Nothing” film while at the same time he witnesses Benedick mourning his death. Overall, Josh Whedon’s “Much Ado About Nothing” is resolutely determined to the original text of Shakespeare.

Whedon has indeed managed to turn Benedick’s antiquated and rowdily to get married to his unique spouse as if she were an Ethiope. Whedon refers to this as pure Michael Scott within one of the play’s funniest lines. Whedon also tries his best to tone done some of Hero’s tricky characters and ridiculous qualities even though she is one of the crafty actresses in the play. According to Whedon, he was supposed to twirl a lot because Hero does not have many lines in his play as compared to Beatrice in Shakespeare’s play.  All in all, Whedon wanted audiences to understand the extent to which Hero loves Benedick in his play “Much Ado About Nothing.”

Shakespeare’s film “Much Ado About Nothing” and its film adaptations present the story of the two lovers and the challenges they had to encounter and overcome to be together as spouses.  The two spouses had their shortcomings, flaws and malicious plans put against them before they finally emerged victoriously and then found happiness as spouses. The play “Much Ado About Nothing” was performed by three artists, Shakespeare, Kenneth Brenagn and Josh Whedon, but the theme of the story remained the same as its setting and plot changed according to the taste of the performer.  However, some critics of the play have indicated some darker moments of the story; for example, Don John almost succeeded in destroying the marriage between Claudio Benedick and Beatrice (Hero) because most men in the play are portrayed as being too fast in judging women to be naturally cunning. In summary, Shakespeare’s play “Much Ado About Nothing” and its adaptations of Kenneth Brenagn and Josh Whedon attracted several audiences because of the kind of emotive themes the story has like emotive themes of love and dilemma.

The scene of Kenneth Brenagn’s “Much Ado About Nothing” film adaptations begins in Italian Tuscany, which is also described as the beautiful hills (Cammà et al. 861). This is one of the wonderful play adaptations of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” that he originally performed and then later performed by Kenneth Branagh and Josh Whedon. This was one of the funniest and most entertaining comedies of the tribulations and trials, talking about two lovers, Claudio Benedick and Beatrice (Hero) (Munich et al. 50). The humble townsfolk are observed basking in the grassy slope in the sunshine, and her sound is heard saying sigh no more, sign no more ladies. Indeed, this kind of dreamlike scene is the opening setting of the core film picture of Kenneth Branagh’s “Much Ado About Nothing” as opposed to Shakespeare’s film, whose setting is different (Davidsson, Per, and Scott, 941).

The film and its adaptations indeed attracted several audiences primarily when it was first acted by Shakespeare because of the strong message of love and dilemma presented by the play (Munich et al. 50). The love between Benedick and Beatrice was observed by many audiences as a true love that a woman should give to her spouse. Regardless of the kind of dilemma and other challenges that Benedick and Beatrice went through, the latter still managed to give Benedick true love, making them end up together as a couple (Munich et al. 60). Indeed, this was a positive motivation to couples who sometimes might be experiencing similar challenges as the one’s Benedick and Beatrice went through though they finally thrived amidst all those challenges and became active couples.

Kenneth Brenagn’s film has got a feeling and a look all of its own as well as being a far cry compared to Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing.”  Kenneth Brenagn’s “Much Ado About Nothing” film attempts to appeal to its audiences with visual majesty as the setting and characters are transformed with the aim of revealing Kenneth Brenagn’s fantastic performance of the romantic comedy performed by Shakespeare (Martin, Geoffrey, et al. 999). Nonetheless, the vision of Kenneth Brenagn is nothing more than a kind of cinematic genius that neglects some sort of the deeper meaning of what it means to observe incorrectly.

Watching a film always brings about more touch in audiences as compared to reading the film (Komatsu et al. 249). When watching the movie, the audience will be able to understand the meaning of the play even if they were not able to comprehend similar lines when they were reading. In this regard, a well-directed, well-cast and well-produced film achieves most of the actions that take place in the theater alongside the integration of realism scenes, close-ups, greater variety and speech amplification. Bearing this in mind, Josh Whedon’s “Much Ado About Nothing” film adaptations take several liberties with Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” (Munich et al. 50). In fact, some can make an assumption that the writer of this play might not have imagined that the play’s 16th-century Messina scene was just a modern mansion that is filled with fizzy cocktails, cars, snazzy suits and guns (Martin, Geoffrey, et al. 1000). Or constables Verges and Dogberry to be dumb-guy cops that could not rightly fit with Reno 911! Crew.

Works Cited

Cammà, Calogero, Giuseppe Cabibbo, and Antonio Craxì. “Direct antiviral agents and risk for HCC early recurrence: much ado about nothing.” Journal of Hepatology 65.4 (2016): 861-862.

Davidsson, Per, and Scott R. Gordon. “Much ado about nothing? The surprising persistence of nascent entrepreneurs through macroeconomic crisis.” Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice 40.4 (2016): 915-941.

Komatsu, Yoshihiro, Rodney Landreneau, and Blair A. Jobe. “Buried Barrett Metaplasia After Endoluminal Ablation: a Ticking Time Bomb or Much Ado About Nothing?.” Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery 21.2 (2017): 249.

Martin, Geoffrey, et al. “Conflict between controlling family owners and minority shareholders: much ado about nothing?.” Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice 41.6 (2017): 999-1027.

Munich, Stephan A., et al. “Neck Remnants and the Risk of Aneurysm Rupture After Endovascular Treatment With Coiling or Stent-Assisted Coiling: Much Ado About Nothing?.” Neurosurgery (2018).

Shmoop Editorial Team. “Noting in Much Ado About Nothing.” Shmoop. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 11 Apr. 2018.