William Shakespeare 
Much Ado About Nothing [PDF ebook] 
A Comedy

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. <i>Much Ado About Nothing</i> is one of Shakespeare’s great comedies – a love story that takes place during Medieval times. The protagonist is Count Claudio, who has returned victorious from war and falls instantly in love with Hero, the daughter of his friend. But as Shakespeare famously said in <i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i>, the course of true love never did run true. The play features several hilarious episodes as Claudio and Hero try to make it to the altar, alongside the subplot about a second pairing, who stubbornly swear off love entirely, vowing to never marry. The story follows the friends and family of the two couples, as they conspire to put them together.<br><br>The edition is published with an introductory essay by William Watkiss Lloyd, an English writer and scholar. Lloyd contends that <i>Much Ado About Nothing</i> was originally written in blank verse, and that this edition is now first published in fully recovered metrical form. Lloyd clearly knows his subject, but his style could be said to be overly complicated and of course the real star of the edition is obviously the play itself.<br><br><i>Much Ado About Nothing</i> is beloved because it established romantic comedy elements that are still seen today in movies, plays and television. There are classic tropes at work here, like the love-at-first-sight couple who meet cute, or the sparring couple who hate each other but may actually be meant for each other. Shakespeare’s mastery of language is on full display, as the text is packed with innuendos, double entendres and puns. <br><br><i>Much Ado About Nothing</i> was written as Shakespeare was approaching the middle of his career, and he was at the height of his powers. The play is first and foremost entertaining and its characters and machinations will be recognizable to modern audiences. If you are a fan of Shakespeare or a lov