Unit 3 English: William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing
Character, Theme and Language Analysis Group Presentation Task
TASK: In pairs or a group of three, develop an analysis of your allocated theme, character and
question. Each section of your analysis must draw closely from the play, using key moments and
quotations.
Group 1:
Theme: DISGUISES and TRICKERY
Character: Benedick
Group 2:
Theme: The rules of courtship
Character: Don Pedro
Group 3:
Theme: Using language to ridicule/self-ridicule
Character: Beatrice
Group 4:
Theme: Warfare and Conflict
Character: Don John
Group 5:
Theme: Marriage
Character: Hero
Group 6:
Theme: Perception and Reality
Character: Claudio
Group 7:
Theme: Freedom and Control
Character: Leonato
Use the following questions to guide your discussion.
Character Analysis:
Provide a brief character portrait or summary of your character – who are they, what is their
relationship to key characters in the play and when is the audience forst introduced to them?
What are the audience’s INITIAL impressions of your character?
Why is (your character) vital to the play?
What is the function of their character in BOTH dramatic and comedic terms?
What they say v (in contrast) their actions.
Explore what they are told versus what they understand/interpret?
What are the audience’s FINAL impressions of your character?
What is the reminder/warning/lesson that Shakespeare is communicating through this character
to his Elizabethan audience?
Theme Analysis:
Select a key moment from EACH act that illustrates your allocated theme.
For each moment/event, explain WHAT is happening, WHO is speaking and to WHOM. This
detail provides the context of your analysis.
TWO brief quotations (3 to 4 words) need to be selected that act as evidence of the theme. For
each quotation, explain WHO is speaking and to WHOM.
What is revealed about the theme through the moment and the quotation you have selected?
What does the moment/quotation reveal about the world of the play? That is, the views and
values that the play is expressing?
What is Shakespeare attempting to communicate to his Elizabethan audience in relation to the
theme? That is, what lesson/reminder/warning is he trying to convey?
Language Analysis
Select THREE examples of language (similes, foreshadowing, repetition, imagery,
personification, characterisation, puns, metaphors, allusions, symbols) from three different
scenes in the play that reveal a connection to your allocated theme.
Present the Act and Scene number and context for each example and then offer an analysis of
Shakespeare’s intention. For example:
In Act 2 Scene 1, Beatrice comments on Don John’s demeanour, declaring “How tartly that
gentleman looks, I never can see him but I am heart-burned an hour after.” Here, Beatrice’s use
of the adverb “tartly” offers a perceptive insight into Don John’s character – he is bitter and
causes suffering for other characters in the comedy.