Shakespeare - Much Ado About Nothing

[KittyGirl]

what was this about?

[Catso]

Nothing.

[crete]

but there was a terrible to do

[tictactoe]

Hi Kitty,

http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:pFM9JeOf5 TMJ:www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/muchado/+mu ch+ado+about+nothing&hl=en&gl=uk&ct=clnk&cd=2

Scroll to Plot Overview - it will give a brief outline of the plot.

[KittyGirl]

oh thank u so much!

<3 muchluv <3
=^.^=

[Quizmonkey]

What most people don't realise is that 'nothing' was Elizabethan slang for the female genitalia - so it was a title full of innuendo. There's a similar play on the word 'nothing' in one of Hamlet's lines to Ophelia (about putting his head in her lap).

Shakespeare's full of bawdiness - just a shame that so much of it is lost on modern audiences.

[KittyGirl]

it is a shame, but i think ive got my head around it, i mean we read the entire romeo and juliet book, and had to translate every page! but i didnt kno thats what nothing meant! ew

[maxi29]

The example that QM mentions is rich wih sexual imagery as it starts by Hamlet saying (referring to Ophelia's lap) "Do you think I meant country matters?" Modern productions put the emphasis on the first syllable of country to show exactly what Hamlet's talking about.

I agree that you have to consider the sexual imagery present in Shakespeare's plays - nearly every play is rich in it: he best productions bring it out, the worst stifle it.