4.5

Really liked this one. My favorite character is Beatrice, definitely.

3.25*

This was really fun! I had to read and watch the play for my English class, and going into it, I had very low expectations. I don't usually read plays or Shakespeare in general for that matter, so I wasn't that excited about it. But as I kept reading, it really grew on me, and I found myself anticipating the next segment of the play each day (we read and watched a little everyday). I think watching the recording of the play while reading definitely helped me enjoy the play more; I don't think I would have liked it as much if I wasn't watching it.

My English class read this play through the lens of Feminist criticism, which basically analyzes gender roles of characters, who has agency in the story, and how characters reinforce or critique certain stereotypes for men and women in society. Using this lens, I was able to look into the characters even further and the play became a lot more interesting to me. Just the concept of honor alone and how that differed between characters really intrigued me, because I could see our society reflected through this play, despite it being written hundreds of years ago. That's why I think behind all drama and comedy, this is such a relevant play.

All in all, I was surprised to see myself enjoying this play! Since miscommunication is a recurring theme in the story, there were a lot of laughs and the interactions between characters were very funny. If you can, I recommend watching the play while reading because the actors really made the characters their own and they did a great job! My class watched a recording of it from the Globe Theatre, but I'm not sure if anyone can just have access to that version (since I got the link through my teacher). Anyway, if you're looking to get into Shakespeare or just try it out, Much Ado About Nothing is a perfect play to start with!

I liked this a lot! I was expecting a lot of overly dramatic characters and weird humour and that is pretty much what I got! I liked Beatrice and her mean jokes so much lol some parts were not as interesting as others but overall very entertaining!

3.5 and honestly I don't think it's leaning towards a 4 or a 3, just a 3.5. This play was a prescribed text for my English class and we listened to a recording alongside reading it which definitely enhanced the experience! It was entertaining and pretty concise compared to other Shakespeare plays, but some parts were better than others. The blatant problematic issues are obviously just plain gross and not good (like it's really not up for debate).

I just really loved this play.