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

E X T E N S I O N ELIZABETHAN THEATRES, ACTORS, AND PLAYWRIGHTS Model of the Globe theatre The theatres The Elizabethan playhouses1 (at the time spelt  playehowses ) of London were the   rst permanent theatres ever built in Britain. They were public, and people from all ranks2 of society attended them. They were big wooden structures open to the sky, of circular or polygonal3 shape, which could contain as many as three thousand people. Inside, there was a yard   surrounded by galleries4   in a part of which stood the stage, united to the galleries by a wall, with doors for access. There was also an upper gallery with windows which was used for particular scenes (for example  the balcony scene  in Romeo and Juliet). There was no scenery and very few props5 but the stage was beautifully decorated, and even special effects were possible   like a hole on the stage, called the  trap , to make a character disappear when necessary. 1. playhouse: a theatre. 2. rank: the position someone has in society according to the importance they have. 3. polygonal: having many sides. 4. gallery: a raised area around the sides of a theatre where people can sit. 5. prop: an object used by an actor to play a certain scene. 82 

Since there was no scenery, the playwright could only use language to create situations and stimulate the imagination of the public. This is probably the reason why the poetry created in this period for the theatre is probably the richest ever produced in English literature. Through the dialogues and soliloquies, in fact, the audience had to understand not only the thoughts and feelings of the characters, but they also had to  see  where the action took place and who the people were. Not even the costumes worn by the actors could help to place the action in a certain time, because they were often old clothes of the aristocracy6 handed over to the company. Performances took place in the afternoon, and only from May to October, to make the most of daylight. There was, in fact, no arti  cial lighting   except for the use of candles to show that a scene took place at night. The companies were very careful to avoid the danger of   re, which, however, eventually destroyed most of the existing theatres. The poorer spectators paid one penny each to stand in the yard   and were called groundlings for this reason   while people who could spend two pennies were allowed to sit in the galleries, where, if they paid an extra penny, they could even have a cushion. There were no toilets and  incidents  were common. Like in modern stadiums, there was always someone passing through the public selling food and drink. The theatre was a lively and noisy place; it was common for the spectators to speak and comment loudly during the performances, and even to speak to the actors and receive their answers. The   rst theatre to be built, in 1576, was called simply The Theatre. It was followed by The Curtain, The Rose, and The Globe, which was Shakespeare s theatre. The interior of today s Globe in London By 1600, eight public theatres were active in London. Although the theatre was a very popular form of entertainment, there were many   especially the Puritans, who were extreme protestants   that considered it immoral. Therefore, the playhouses were built on the South bank of the river   a dirty, unpleasant part of the town in which illegal activities had always taken place   and outside the city walls so, out of control of the city of  cials.Theatres were frequently closed for certain periods for fear of the plague7 and later, in 1642, closed permanently by the Puritans, at the beginning of the Civil War. 6. aristocracy: people belonging to the highest ranks of society. 7. plague: a very serious and contagious disease, causing fever and usually death. 83 

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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