Welcome back, again!
• Please take the handout from the table and READ
the attached letter. Don’t lose it!
• One-pager #2 is due Friday by 2. Make sure to fill
it out COMPLETELY and FOLLOW the directions
on it! Incomplete one-pagers will only get
PARTIAL credit. I don’t take late one-pagers and
this is the only one I will take.
• We will begin our study of Much Ado About
Nothing today. You will have your first
SUMMATIVE quiz on Friday!
• Attendance will be vital. If you are absent, check
the website for summaries and notes. You are
responsible for getting yourself caught up!
Created 12/2009
McComb
Much Ado About Nothing
By William Shakespeare
Created 12/2009
McComb
Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,
Men were deceivers ever,
One foot in sea and one on shore,
To one thing constant never:
Then sigh not so, but let them go,
And be you blithe and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe
Into Hey nonny, nonny.
Sing no more ditties, sing no mo,
Of dumps so dull and heavy;
The fraud of men was ever so,
Since summer first was leafy:
Then sigh not so, but let them go,
And be you blithe and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe
Into hey, nonny nonny.
Created 12/2009
McComb
Constant: faithful
Mo: more
Blithe: joyous, merry, or gay in disposition; glad;
cheerful
Bonny: British Dialect. pleasingly; agreeably;
very well; smiling; bright
Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,
Men were deceivers ever,
One foot in sea and one on shore,
To one thing constant never:
Then sigh not so, but let them go,
And be you blithe and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe
Into Hey nonny, nonny.
Sing no more ditties, sing no mo,
Of dumps so dull and heavy;
The fraud of men was ever so,
Since summer first was leafy:
Then sigh not so, but let them go,
And be you blithe and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe
Into hey, nonny nonny.
Created 12/2009
McComb
Don’t cry anymore, ladies, don’t cry anymore
Men have always been deceivers,
One foot on a ship and one on the shore,
Never devoted to anything.
So don’t cry like that, just let them go
And be happy and carefree forever,
Turning all your sad sounds around
When you sing “Hey, nonny nonny” instead.
Don’t sing more sad songs
About being down in the dumps
For men have been committing this kind of
fraud
Ever since the first summer trees had leaves.
So don’t cry like that, just let them go
And be happy and carefree forever,
Turning all your sad sounds around
When you sing “Hey, nonny nonny” instead.
Leonato: A respected, well-todo, elderly noble at whose
home, in Messina, Italy, the
action is set. Leonato is the
father of Hero and the uncle of
Beatrice. As governor of
Messina, he is second in social
power only to Don Pedro.
Created 12/2009
McComb
Beatrice: Leonato’s niece and Hero’s
cousin. Beatrice is “a pleasant-spirited
lady” with a very sharp tongue. She is
generous and loving, but, like Benedick,
continually mocks other people with
elaborately tooled jokes and puns. She
wages a war of wits against Benedick and
often wins the battles. At the beginning,
she appears content never to marry.
Created 12/2009
McComb
Hero: The beautiful young daughter of
Leonato and the cousin of Beatrice.
Hero is lovely, gentle, and kind. She
falls in love with Claudio when he falls
for her, but when Don John slanders
her and Claudio rashly rakes revenge,
she suffers terribly.
Created 12/2009
McComb
Claudio: A young soldier who has won
great acclaim fighting under Don
Pedro during the recent wars.
Claudio falls in love with Hero upon
his return to Messina. His
unfortunately suspicious nature make
him quick to believe evil rumors and
hasty to despair and take revenge.
Created 12/2009
McComb
Benedick: An aristocratic soldier who
has recently been fighting under Don
Pedro, and a friend of Don Pedro and
Claudio. Benedick is very witty,
always making jokes and puns. He
carries on a “merry war” of wits with
Beatrice, but at the beginning swears
he will never fall in love or marry.
Created 12/2009
McComb
Don Pedro: An important nobleman
from Aragon, sometimes referred to
as “Prince.” Don Pedro is a longtime
friend of Leonato, Hero’s father, and is
also close to the soldiers who have
been fighting under him—the younger
Benedick and the very young Claudio.
Don Pedro is generous, courteous,
intelligent, and loving to his friends,
but he is also quick to believe evil of
others and hasty to take revenge. He
is the most politically and socially
powerful character in the play.
Created 12/2009
McComb
Don John: The illegitimate brother of
Don Pedro. Don John is melancholy
and sullen by nature, and he creates a
dark scheme to ruin the happiness of
Hero and Claudio. He is the villain; his
evil actions are motivated by his envy
of his brother’s social authority.
Created 12/2009
McComb
Dogberry: The constable in charge
of the Watch, or chief policeman, of
Messina. Dogberry is very sincere
and takes his job seriously, but he
has a habit of using exactly the
wrong word to convey his meaning.
Dogberry is one of the few middle
class characters, though his desire to
speak formally and elaborately like
the noblemen becomes an occasion
for parody.
Created 12/2009
McComb
Margaret: Hero’s serving woman,
who unwittingly helps deceive
Claudio into thinking that Hero is
unfaithful. Margaret is lower class.
Though she is honest, she does have
some dealings with the villainous
world of Don John.
Created 12/2009
McComb
You should take notes as you view the film. You will need these notes to
study for the quizzes and essays. After each act, we will review as a class
together, but you will only get out of this what you put into it. Write down
questions that you need answered as well. I am NOT going to feed this to
you.
Here are things I would take notes about in each act:
•How do the characters treat each other?
•How do the characters feel about marriage?
•What kind of deception is being planned and executed? By whom? To
whom? Why? Is it for good or bad? (These will help prepare for the essay
on quiz.)
•How are men and women treated differently?
•What do you think is the message of the act?
WARNING: If you are absent for any part of this film, you may come in after school the following day to make it up.
See board for schedule. Otherwise, you are on your own.
Created 12/2009
McComb