Over the weekend, I finished my March read for Girls in White Dresses Book Club.
I’d read Much Ado About Nothing years ago but if memory serves me right, I watched the 1993 film starring Emma Thompson before I read the play. That film was one of my favorites when I was younger. It brought the play to life for me in such a way that no other production has done. I was curious to see how my reread would go, since it had been years since I’d last read it.
In short, I loved it! The witty banter between Benedick and Beatrice grabbed my heart again. Though the central plot revolves around the relationship between Claudio and Hero, and Don John’s wicked plan to ruin Hero and break up the couple, Benedick and Beatrice are often thought of as the main characters. I’d argue that Dogberry and his watchmen are perhaps the true heroes of the tale, as they ultimately save the day and clear Hero’s name. However, Benedick and Beatrice are my favorite characters.
As with previous readings and viewings of this play, I was much more invested in Benedick’s and Beatrice’s relationship than Hero’s and Claudio’s. Despite the fact that the two lovers were tricked into admitting their feelings for each other, they are a stronger couple than Hero and Claudio. If I had been Hero, I wouldn’t have wanted anything to do with Claudio after he showed so little faith in her.
Around the time I was reading this play, an amazing synchronicity occurred. My current freelance writing job is transcribing a diary from the 1800s. The author of this diary jotted down several quotes in the back of the diary, including a quote from Hero. How incredible to read a quote in a diary from the 1800s that just so happens to be from the very play I was reading! It just shows how powerful words can be — that someone from around 150 years ago was moved by a play written at the end of the 1500s, and that I am reading that same play today.
The quote this person scrawled in his diary just so happens to be one of my favorites from Much Ado About Nothing too.
HERO If it prove so, then loving goes by haps: Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.
Do you have a favorite quote from this play? There are so many good ones to choose from. If you haven’t read Much Ado About Nothing yet, I urge you to add it to your reading list, or to watch the 1993 film which is truly excellent.
Thank you for reading.
Bio: Caitlin Gemmell is a poet living in a woodland in upstate New York. Her poems have been published by Rue Scribe, One Sentence Poems, Minison Zine, Querencia Press, and Capsule Stories. She is the author of the chapbook True North and a contributor to The Wistful Wild. She believes in living a life of enchanted simplicity.
I saw the film first and loved it, but I agree, Hero should've dumped him. Still, I want to rewatch the film. It's just so much fun.
I want to read it! I haven't read any Shakespeare in a long time. But I definitely saw the movie.