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

1 Someone falls in love 1 BEFORE READING Chapter 1 You are going to read an adaptation in prose of a play which was probably written between 1598 and 1599. Now listen to the beginning of the story and answer the questions. a. Who is Leonato? b. How are Beatrice and Hero different from each other? c. Who is Leonato waiting for? d. How far is Don Pedro from Messina when the messenger arrives? e. Who is Don Pedro bringing with him? f. How does the messenger describe Sir Benedick s character? g. Are Beatrice and Benedick kind to each other every time they meet? h. Who is Sir Benedick s best friend? i. Who is Don Juan? j. Was he always a good friend of his brother? 2 The picture you see here is the title page of the   rst quarto edition of Much Adoe about Nothing, which was published in 1600. Go online to look for the following information. a. What does the phrase quarto edition mean? b. What is the meaning of Adoe? c. The subtitle to the page quotes:  As it hath been sundrie times publikely acted by the right honourable, the Lord Chamberlains his servants.  Translate this sentence from 16th century English into modern English. d. Who was the Lord Chamberlaine and why is he quoted on the page? e. Who do you think his servants are? 8 

MuchSomeone Ado About Nothing falls in love 2 Chapter 1 Leonato, the governor of Messina, lived with his daughter Hero, his brother Antonio, and his niece, called Beatrice. Beatrice was very lively, clever, and witty1, and liked to make jokes about people. Hero, on the contrary, was more serious, gentle, and quiet. Leonato was waiting for the Prince of Aragon and other noblemen2 to return from a war they had won. He was outside his house with his daughter and his niece when a messenger3 arrived and gave him a letter. He read it quickly and said,  Don Pedro, the Prince of Aragon, writes that he s coming to Messina tonight.   Oh, he must be very near by now. When I left him, he was only about five kilometres away,  the messenger said.  Did you lose many men in this war?  Leonato asked him.  No, only a few,  the messenger replied.  Ah, that s good news. It s a double victory when all your soldiers come back! The letter also says that Don Pedro is bringing with him a young man from Florence called Claudio, someone he respects and loves very much.   Respect and love which he has well deserved. He is so young that no one would have expected him to do the great things he has done. He looks like a lamb, but fights like a lion,  the messenger said. At that moment, Beatrice interrupted them.  Excuse me, please, has also Sir Boastful4 returned from the war?  she asked.  Who?  Hero laughed and said,  My cousin is joking. She means Sir Benedick of Padua.  message from somebody to somebody else. 4. boastful: quality of someone who praises themselves and what they have done. 1. witty: a person who speaks in a clever and funny way. 2. nobleman: someone belonging to a high social class by birth. 3. messenger: someone who takes a 9 

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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