Much Ado About Nothing: Literary Touchstone

To make Much Ado About Nothing more accessible for the modern reader, our Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Press™/American Shakespeare Center Edition includes a glossary of the more difficult words, as well as convenient sidebar notes to enlighten the reader on aspects that may be confusing or overlooked. In doing this, it is our intention that the reader may more fully enjoy the beauty of the verse, the wisdom of the insights, and the impact of the play. Much Ado About Nothing is a different type of Shakespearean comedy, admired primarily for the brilliant wordplay of its principal characters, Beatrice and Benedick; their witty exchanges and the events that occur within their extended group are part of Shakespeare’s pointed commentary on the workings of human social behavior. Written shortly before 1600, Much Ado About Nothing beautifully displays Shakespeare’s ability to accurately capture honest human qualities and feelings. Beatrice and Benedick have complex emotional motivations that they themselves do not fully understand, and they speak to modern audiences with intelligence and humor.