Much Ado about Nothing

Much Ado has always been popular on the stage, where, from the time of Garrick, famous actors have appeared as the sparring lovers Benedick and Beatrice. For this updated edition Angela Stock has added a new section to the Introduction in which she reviews the romantic and the darker, more cynical aspects of the play in the light of late twentieth-century stage, film and critical interpretations. She also tackles the critical fortunes of Hero and Claudio in terms of the play's interest in sexuality and misogyny, eavesdropping and deception.