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

In addition to the public theatres, there were private theatres, such as Blackfriars, which had been set up in existing buildings and could hold fewer spectators, usually from the aristocracy. Plays were also performed at Court or at some nobleman s home. Queen Elizabeth loved the theatre and Shakespeare s plays in particular, and she often made requests for speci  c plays she liked. The actors Actors did not have a good reputation either. They were considered  vagabonds 8 and as such could be punished by the law. To avoid that, they had to be registered as  servants  to a nobleman, who thus became their protector9 and gave the name to the company they formed. Women were not allowed to act, and their parts were played by young boys. Shakespeare wrote his plays for, and belonged to, The Lord Chamberlain s10 Men. They later became The King s Men, when the company enjoyed the protection of King James I. It was one of the two major companies of actors, the other one being The Lord Admiral s Men, led by the famous actor Edward Alleyn. The playwrights Shakespeare is certainly the most famous of the Elizabethan playwrights, but others should be mentioned as well, in particular the group of the so-called University Wits, a group of writers who had graduated from the universities of Cambridge and Oxford and who looked down on Shakespeare, who had not received a university education. The greatest of them all was certainly Christopher Marlowe, but also Robert Greene, Thomas Nashe, and Thomas Kyd. 8. vagabond: a person without home or job, and who usually travels from place to place. 9. protector: a person who protects someone or something. 10. Lord Chamberlain: a nobleman, member of the Privy Council, in charge of the Queen s indoor entertainment. 84 

SUMMING-UP ACTIVITIES WORKING ON THE TEXT 1 The characters. Complete the sentences with the correct name. a. .................................................. is the governor of Messina. b. .................................................. is the prince of Aragon. c. .................................................. is a young count from Florence. d. .................................................. is Leonato s niece. e. Claudio falls in love with .................................................. . f. .................................................. is the prince s friend who eventually falls in love with Beatrice. g. .................................................. is the prince s evil brother. h. .................................................. is the chief of the constables. Erin Shield s adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing 2 FIRST Complete this summary of the text with a word that best   ts each space. Leonato is the governor of Messina, a. where the play is set. At the beginning, a messenger gives him a letter from Don Pedro, the prince of Aragon, who announces a b. ......................................... The prince arrives with his c. .........................................., Don Juan, and his friends Claudio and Benedick. Benedick is well-known at Leonato s house. He is brave and brilliant, and always engages in d. .......................................... 85 

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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