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

Sources For a writer to borrow from contemporary or previous authors was a very common practice at the time, and Shakespeare was no exception. Shakespeare, in fact, did not invent his plots14, but took them from various sources, though he worked on them and made them his own by transforming and developing them, creating characters which are never   at   i.e. who have few distinctive15 qualities and never change during the play   but are real individuals with complex personalities. His sources include Plutarch s Lives, which had recently been translated from Greek and was the inspiration, among others, for Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra, Boccaccio s Decameron, which is the source for the comedy All s Well that Ends Well, but above all Holingshed s Chronicles. These, which had   rst been published in 1577, were a sort of description of British history from the origins to the 16th century, and reported tales about English, Scottish, and Irish kings. The Chronicles were the inspiration for almost all Shakespeare s history plays and also contained the legends of Macbeth and King Lear. To mention other sources, the plot of Hamlet was taken from a Norse16 legend written down in Latin by a Danish author, Saxus Gramaticus, around 1200 AD, while other plays were inspired by Roman writers like Ovid and Seneca. 14. plot: the story of a book, film, or play. 15. distinctive: characteristic of a person or thing which distinguishes them from others. 16. Norse: relating to the people who lived in Scandinavia in ancient times. 52 

A ruined wedding 4 BEFORE READING Chapter 1 Describe this picture by Marcus Stone (1840-1921) which was inspired by Much Ado About Nothing. Then guess what future situation it may refer to. 2 Choose the correct option. a. Benedick has / does not have a good reputation. b. When Beatrice hears that Benedick is in love with her, she decides that she will / will not return his love. c. Benedick is / is not angry with his friends for joking about him. d. Don Juan tells Claudio and Leonato / Don Pedro that Hero has a lover. e. Don Pedro agrees / disagrees with Claudio who wants to disgrace Hero in church if she is guilty. f. The chief of the constables is called Dogberry, while his second in command is called Seacole / Verges. g. Margaret is Borachio s / Conrad s lover. h. Leonato / Dogberry will question the two men who have been arrested. 53 

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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