Reviews

It is kind of funny even if it must have been dramatic back then. So many of the probably genuine insults just fall flat and seem sarcastic and ironic nowdays (to me)

kheman1317's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

colin_cox's review against another edition

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5.0

I have probably written this before, but I have an asymmetrical proclivity toward Shakespeare's tragedies. That is to say, I disproportionately read, much to my chagrin, his tragedies not his comedies. Returning to Much Ado for the first time since my days as an undergraduate, was a thoroughly rapturous experience.

There is much to say about this play, but I will focus briefly on surveillance as a theme. Comparatively speaking, it is my contention that readers would be more inclined to inhabit the worlds and environments of Shakespeare's comedies rather than his tragedies. Save a little civil unrest and romantic high-jinxes, Messina from Much Ado is preferable to Hamlet's Denmark or Macbeth's Scotland. Yet, upon rereading Much Ado, I'm not sure I still agree. From they beginning, Shakespeare establishes a world where trust ostensibly doesn't exist. Characters are always spying on one another to the point that privacy is unattainable. Frivolous gadflies co-opt moments of peace and reflection to the point that solitude is impossible. Hidden behind the laughter is a dark, pernicious undercurrent of distrust manifest through surveillance.

As always, Shakespeare's position on this theme is hard to locate because surveillance produces both civil unrest and ultimately civil unity. Nevertheless, reading Much Ado through the theme of surveillance creates another layer of "problem" to one of Shakespeare's most celebrated "problem plays."