William Shakespare

Level B2+
 volume + audio mp3
 
 Much Ado About Nothing is one of Shakespeare’s most famous and brilliant comedies. Set in Messina, it is a tale of love, jealousy, deception, and misunderstanding. The reader is soon caught in a net in which humour and pathos alternate, following the stories of the main characters, Hero and Claudio, Beatrice and Benedick, but also the prince of Aragon and his wicked step-brother. The language will also appeal to the readers: the noble characters have clever, witty conversations, while lower class characters result irresistibly funny by saying paradoxical things. Readers will be both amused and moved and will have the chance to learn something new about the complexities of the human soul.
 
 Teacher's Resources available online: Answer Key - Audioscripts - Key to Summing-up Activities.
 
 Much Ado About Nothing è una delle commedie di Shakespeare più brillanti. Ambientata a Messina, è una storia d’amore e gelosia, di inganni ed equivoci. Il lettore viene subito catturato dallo humour e dal dramma nelle vite di Claudio e Hero, sua cugina Beatrice e Benedick, del principe di Aragona e del suo perfido fratellastro. Leggendo le conversazioni brillanti e spiritose dei personaggi nobili e ridendo dei paradossi comici dei personaggi di classe inferiore, ci si divertirà, ci si commuoverà e si imparerà qualcosa di nuovo sulla complessità dell’animo umano.

William Shakespeare

Chapter 1 – Someone falls in love

• Extension: The Elizabethan era

Chapter 2 – One love is declared and another one is in the air

Chapter 3 – A wicked plot

• Extension: Shakespeare’s themes and sources

Chapter 4 – A ruined wedding

Chapter 5 – Not one, but two weddings

• Extension: Elizabethan theatres, actors, and playwrights

SUMMING-UP ACTIVITIES

GLOSSARY

The Author William Shakespeare LIFE William Shakespeare, who is considered the greatest writer and playwright1 in the English language, was born in Stratford upon Avon, in central England. Not much is known about his life; what we know for certain comes from the parish2 registers of Stratford   which have records of baptism3, marriage, and burial4   his will5, the comments of his contemporaries, and the registers of the court. These contain the records of all the performances of his company in front of Queen Elizabeth I, and later of King James I. He was baptised in Stratford on 26th April 1564 and was buried there on 25th April 1616. Traditionally, however, the date of his birth is taken to be 23rd April 15646. He was the son of John Shakespeare, a wealthy maker of gloves and merchant, and of Mary Arden, the daughter of a rich farmer in a nearby village. At the time, Stratford was an important commercial centre with a good Grammar School whose teachers were all Oxford graduates. This was free for all male children from the age of seven to fourteen, although the poor ones, who generally had to work, rarely attended it. Even though there are no records of it, it is reasonable to think that Shakespeare was a pupil there. Grammar Schools mainly taught Latin, Rhetoric7, Logic8, and the works of the most important Latin authors, such as Virgil, Horace, and Ovid. The influence of the classical authors a new birth, and parents were instructed to ensure that their children were baptised no later than the first Sunday after birth. So it s unlikely that Shakespeare was born any earlier than the previous Sunday, 23 April. Three days is a reasonable interval between birth and baptism, so 23 April has come to be celebrated as his birthday. 7. Rhetoric: the art of using language effectively. 8. Logic: the study of reasoning in the correct way. 1. playwright: a person who writes plays. 2. parish: a small administrative district having its own church and priest. 3. baptism: a religious ceremony in which people have water poured on their head to show that they have become part of the Christian Church. 4. burial: the act and ceremony of putting a dead body into the ground. 5. will: an official document in which a person declares what should be done with his property after his death. 6. 23rd April 1564: baptisms usually took place within three days of 4 

is clearly evident in Shakespeare s works, so he must have known them well. On the contrary, he probably knew little or no Greek, and never went to university. When he was eighteen, in 1582, he married Ann Hathaway, who was eight years older than him. He probably married her because she was pregnant; in fact, six months after their marriage they had their first child, Susan, followed three years later by twins, Judith and Hamnet. Hamnet died when he was only eleven years old. After this, nothing is known for certain about Shakespeare s life until 1592, when he was already at the centre of London theatrical life. We can be sure of it because, in that year, Robert Greene, another playwright who was evidently jealous of him, attacked him in a pamphlet9. Why he left Stratford and what he did during those years is unknown. A common story, however, is that he had to escape in order to avoid punishment for poaching10 deer11 on the land of a local landowner. According to another story, he left in order to follow a company of actors who had performed in Stratford. It seems that in London he did many jobs, from schoolmaster to actor. What is certain is that in 1593 he published a poem, Venus and Adonis, dedicated to his patron12, the Earl of Southampton. The poem was successful, and he became a well-known poet. In 1595 he joined the Lord Chamberlain s Men, both as an actor and a playwright. That was one of the most important companies of actors in London which performed also at court, in front of the queen and nobles. His fame and importance as a dramatist grew with time. Unlike the other playwrights of the moment, he also grew rich by becoming a shareholder13 in the Globe Theatre, where the company performed. He was able to buy lands and properties in Stratford and, in 1611, when he retired, he went to live there, in  New Place , the finest house in town, where he died in 1616. 9. pamphlet: a very small book containing information or opinions about something. 10. to poach: to hunt and kill animals on somebody else s land without their permission. 11. deer: a large animal with four legs who eats grass and leaves. The males have big horns which look like branches. 12. patron: someone who supports a person, an activity, or an organisation, especially by giving money. 13. shareholder: someone who owns some of the parts a company is divided into, so that they also get some of its profits. 5 

Commedia di Shakespeare con testo in inglese, glossario e attività. Ideale per studenti di livello B2.

Much Ado About Nothing – English Graded Readers, Level B2

Level B2 • Intermediate - Collana Rainbows

Much Ado About Nothing

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