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Author Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616, author

Title Much ado about nothing / edited by Claire McEachern
Published London : Arden Shakespeare, 2006

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Description 1 online resource (xix, 345 pages) : illustrations
Series The Arden Shakespeare. Third series
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. Works. 1995.
Contents Building a play: sources and contexts -- Structure and style -- Staging Much ado -- Criticism -- Text -- Much ado about nothing
Summary "Much Ado About Nothing boasts one of Shakespeare's most delightful heroines, most dancing wordplay, and the endearing spectacle of intellectual and social self-importance bested by the desire to love and be loved in return. It offers both the dancing wit of the "merry war" between the sexes, and a sobering vision of the costs of that combat for both men and women. Shakespeare dramatizes a social world in all of its vibrant particulars, in which characters are shaped by the relations between social convention and individual choice. This edition of the play offers in its introduction and commentary an extensive discussion of the materials that informed Shakespeare's compositional choices, both those conventional sources and other contexts, from cuckold jokes to conduct books, which inform the ideas and identities of this play. Particular attention is devoted to Renaissance understandings of gender identity and social rank, as well as to the social valences of Shakespeare's stylistic choices. Among the elements of structure and style discussed are the two concurrent plots, the recurrence of verbal handshakes, and the use of music. A treatment of staging possibilities offers illustrations drawn from the earliest and recent theatrical practices, and a critical history examines the fate of the play in the changing trends of academic scholarship. A casting chart and a list of abbreviations and references are includes as appendices."--Publisher's description
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 324-338) and index
Notes Print version record
Subject Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. Much ado about nothing.
SUBJECT Much ado about nothing (Shakespeare, William) fast
Subject Courtship -- Italy -- Messina -- Drama
Courtship
Italy -- Messina
Genre/Form comedy (general genre)
Comedy plays
Drama
Literary criticism
Comedy plays.
Drama.
Literary criticism.
Théâtre.
Critiques littéraires.
Comédies.
Form Electronic book
Author McEachern, Claire, 1963- editor