Much Ado about Nothing (Cambridge School Shakespeare) by William Shakespeare Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $2.62 You Save: $7.38 (74%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $1.44 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Much Ado about Nothing (Cambridge School Shakespeare)
Book Review: Tremendous
Summary: 5 Stars
It is wonderful to see the actors so obviously enjoying being in this film.Denzel Washington manages to single-handedly destroy my long-held belief that American actors should not be allowed to be in the same time zone as a Shakespeare play. He really is excellent, a very very memorable performance.
The whole film is sheer joy.
Book Review: Much ado about nothing
Summary: 4 Stars
A brilliant version of one of shakespeares underrated plays. The cast list is fantastic, and this was clearly a labour of love for Branagh. Yet I must give this 4 stars because of the appalling Keanu Reeves, who luckily does not speak often. Claudio is also mis-cast. What a dreadful actor, every scene he was in made me cringe. However, his eyebrows are marvellous. unfortunately, his amazing acting eyebrows could not save his dire performance. However, Branagh has created a fantastic film, and most of the acting is wonderful.
Book Review: Much ado...
Summary: 5 Stars
Now that I think of it, this was the movie which introduced me to Kenneth Branaugh and Emma Thompson. The chemistry between the cast members in general was simply amazing and was a joy to watch. In particular, the scenes showing the whole lot "gossiping" within earshot of Benedick and Beatrice and spying on the both of them afterwards had me in stitches!If I had to point out a flaw, it was Keanu Reeves. (Sorry, Keanu, but you know...people noticed.) He didn`t have enough of a presence to make me feel one way or the other towards his character-neither disgust nor sympathy. In the company of so many talented actors, his weakness is obvious. In truth, I would give it a rating of 4.5 stars just for that. There are too many things likeable about this film, however, for me to knock off more than that.
Definitely a keeper!
Book Review: This really is a feel-good film
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a such a wonderful, light-hearted comedy that when it is finished you will want to rewind it and watch it all over again. The setting is light and beautiful, the script is brilliant, and the humour is wit-filled and sharpened to perfection. It also includes some of the best actors and actresses, including Kenneth Branagh (who is wonderfully young and charming in this film) and Emma Thompson as the lead roles. Denzel Washington plays Don Pedro, which I didn't expect to work, but he surprised me with some great acting.A wonderful film for summer. I would recommend it to anyone, even those who do not like Shakespeare. (And if you don't, then why ever not?).
Book Review: Not one of Shakespeare's best known plays
Summary: 5 Stars
By no means a well-known play compared to Shakespeare's tragedies, or even many of his history plays, "Much Ado About Nothing" remains a popular theatrical production, a play which offers dynamic, meaty parts and provides actors with challenging vehicles for the display of their talents. In a sense, it is a play driven by its players, its text bristling with wit and energy, its themes and concepts regularly re-interpreted and re-presented by the great actors and producers of succeeding ages."Much Ado" is a play about courtly society and its preoccupation with love and marriage, with 'form', and with the appropriateness of suitors and matches. Love is one thing, but marriage involves power, money, and property rights and succession. It's a play about rules - often unwritten, usually unspoken, but which are learned by social osmosis and which appear in the niceties of etiquette, manners, and social trivia, providing fragile bastions to status and breeding. Despite their apparently ephemeral nature, these are rules which are very real, and not without severe sanction.
But "Much Ado" is also a play about the breaking of rules, about their use and transformation, obeying, instead, the demands and commands of love. Much of the dynamic of the play lies in the contrast between the two couples, Beatrice & Benedick and Claudio and Hero. The former are the liberated archetypes, the latter a more classical pairing.
It's a play which has been repeatedly interpreted and reinterpreted in the light of changing social mores and tastes. Much of the difficulty in studying the play lies in teasing out Shakespeare's intent from the layers of meaning and interpretation with which it has been lacquered.
There are numerous editions of the text available - Amazon doesn't seem to enable individual reviews to appear (indeed, the book section of "Much Ado" seems to be dominated by comments on a film version). However, for the student, there are distinct advantages in getting the right text.
Of the various versions available on the market, I have to say that the Arden edition presents an authoritative text and extensive set of notes - notes on context and language also appear at the foot of each page of the play, itself. The long introduction is extremely rewarding and informative, and further notes on the play are included in appendices. Overall, I'd rate this the best edition for the serious scholar.
The New Cambridge Shakespeare is a sophisticated resource - it provides some sixty pages of an Introduction, analysing the play and providing the sort of intellectual baseline sixth form and first year university students need. It offers further analysis at the end of the play. The text, itself, is beautifully printed, with tight little notes at the foot of each page (you may find you need glasses to follow these, however). Still, an edition to be recommended.
The Cambridge School Shakespeare provides lots of ideas for groupwork and class analysis of text and themes, and must provide teachers with an excellent practical resource with which to engage their class. The text appears on the right hand page, notes and commentary are kept to the left hand page - making it very accessible and readable. There is also a quality feel to the paper and printing.
The Longman's School Shakespeare also provides notes on the left hand page, text on the right. The text is, perhaps, better presented than the Cambridge 'School' edition - it is slightly more expansive and lucid. The notes, however, don't feel as robust as in the Cambridge edition - they're more limited and less comprehensive.
The Oxford School Shakespeare is, I feel, the weakest of the 'school' editions. Overall, I didn't find it as dynamic or thought-provoking as the others. It provides a brief synopsis, a scene by scene analysis, and some useful notes. But text and notes run together on the same page, giving it a congested, claustrophobic feel which I found disconcerting.
The New Penguin version bears the imprimatur of the Royal Shakespeare Company. It's the most portable version - it'll fit in a pocket or bag. The text is presented without benefit of notes on the page - you have to keep referring to the back of the book to find these. The notes are comprehensive and thought provoking. Given that the play is largely written in prose, there can be dense blocks of dialogue on the page and, with the smaller size of the Penguin, it can make it look more daunting than needs be. The introduction can also be a touch dense and academic in places - it is worth persevering with it, for it does have some excellent points to make. The Penguin edition is an excellent, portable one, but it has its drawbacks.
The Dover Thrift edition, meanwhile, is precisely that. The bare bones of the text, no notes to speak of, and a very 'economical' feel to print and paper quality.
For school work, I'd go for the Cambridge or Longman's, for the keen student, the Arden edition is my top recommendation, followed by the New Cambridge. However, if you are studying the play, it is worth collaborating with some of your fellow students - you each acquire a different edition of the text, then you can compare and contrast the notes and commentaries.