Sensory Confusion and the Generation Gap in Much Ado About Nothing

Innes, Paul ORCID: 0000-0001-5375-5341 (2014) Sensory Confusion and the Generation Gap in Much Ado About Nothing. Critical Survey, 26 (2). pp. 1-20. doi:10.3167/cs.2014.260201

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Abstract

In Much Ado About Nothing, characters repeatedly stage moments designed to confuse other figures, a good example being the machinations aimed at Beatrice and Benedick. However, the play contains many more instances in which misrepresentation plays with truth. The supposed offstage seduction of Hero signals the audience that what this unseen (to them) event means will be crucial, making them focus upon the meanings given to the event by the characters. Critics have often noted that the young noblemen get it wrong, and that the play then ironically counterpoints this by making the useless constabulary get it right by apprehending the culprit; they also usually marginalise the older characters, especially the Friar, who is relegated to a plot-function. However, given the play's insistence on perception and misunderstanding, this article revisits their importance in performance as a group that avoids the mistakes made by the younger generation.

Item Type:	Article
Article Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Much Ado About Nothing; plays; Shakespeare; literature; psychology in literature
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PR English literature P Language and Literature > PR English literature > PR1 Literary history and criticism
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > School of Creative Arts
Research Priority Areas:	Culture, Continuity, and Transformation
Depositing User:	Anne Pengelly
Date Deposited:	15 Jul 2016 10:11
Last Modified:	31 Aug 2023 08:56
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/3626

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