Much Ado about Nothing

✍ Scribed by William Shakespeare

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 189
• Series: The New Cambridge Shakespeare
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

For this updated edition Angela Stock has added a new section to the Introduction.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover
Title Page
Copyright
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations
1 An arbour in an Elizabethan garden, from the title page of Thomas Hill's The Second Part of The Gardener's Labyrinth (1577)
2 A stage-property arbour from the title page of Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy, 1615 edition
3 Alternative Elizabethan stagings for the arbour scene (2.3). Drawing by C. Walter Hodges
4 Claudio repudiates Hero in the church (4.1), from Rowe's edition, 1709
5 Ellen Terry as Beatrice, 1882
6 Johnston Forbes-Robertson's painting of the church scene (4.1) in Irving's Lyceum production, 1882
7 Edward Gordon Craig's sketch for the church scene (4.1) for his 1903 production
8 Edward Gordon Craig's design for Leonato's garden, 1903
9 John Gielgud as Benedick in the arbour (2.3), 1950.
10 Judi Dench as Beatrice (3.4), 1976. Photograph: Nobby Clark and the Shakespeare Centre Library
11 Sinead Cusack and Derek Jacobi as Beatrice and Benedick (5.4), 1982. Photograph: Chris Davies
12 David Garrick as Benedick in the arbour scene (2.3), 1777
13 Suggested Elizabethan staging for the overhearing of Conrad and Borachio by the Watch. Drawing by C. Walter Hodges
14 Suggested Elizabethan staging of the scene at Leonato's tomb (5.3) and the entry of the masked ladies (5.4). Drawing by C. Walter Hodges
15 Di Trevis' production for the Royal Shakespeare Company, 1988, with Clive Merrison as Benedick, Ralph Fiennes as Claudio, Antony Brown as Leonato and David Lyon as Don Pedro.
16 Janet McTeer and Mark Rylance as Beatrice and Benedick in Matthew Warchus' production at the Queen's Theatre, London, 1922.
Preface
Abbreviations and Conventions
1 Shakespeare's plays
2 Other works cited and general references
Introduction
Sources
The date of the play
Stage history
The criticism of the play
A note on the text
Postscript, March 1987
Recent stage, film and critical interpretations, by Angela Stock
Performance history
Criticism
List of Characters
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
Act 1
1
2
3
Act 2
1
2
3
Act 3
1
2
3
4
5
Act 4
1
2
Act 5
1
2
3
4
Supplementary notes
Textual analysis
The nature of the copy for Q and the problems of the text for editor and producer
Appendixes
1: The time-scheme of Much Ado About Nothing
2: Lewis Carroll's letter to Ellen Terry
3: Benedick's song, 5.2.18–22
Reading list