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honor-bound, and masculine world dominated by the ethos of the
mafia crime organization. Hemming
contends that Doran's interpretation was unable to adequately
link the dark and comic aspects of
Shakespeare's drama. Patrick Carnegy (2002) offers a more
positive review of Doran's dark vision ofMuch
Ado about Nothing, suggesting that the director crafted a
delicate balance between the drama's urbane comedy
and sinister undertones. Also reviewing Doran's production,
Russell Jackson (2003) admires the director's
handling of the drama's bleaker moments, in which he staged the
unhappiest scenes of the play forcefully but
without melodrama. In the United States, Mark Lamos directed a
much different staging ofMuch Ado aboutNothing for the Shakespeare
Theatre in Washington, D.C. Gabriella Boston (2002) comments on
Lamos's
charming fulfillment of Shakespeare's work, here set at the
height of the Jazz Age, noting that the production
underscored the play's comic rather than its menacing elements.
Freddi Lipstein's (2003), however, gives a
less favorable review of Lamos's staging, noting that the
director relied on low comedy to carry the play.
Martha Tuck Rozett (2003) reviews director Daniela Varon's
Shakespeare and Company production ofMuch
Ado about Nothing staged at the Founders' Theater in Lenox,
Massachusetts. Rozett praises Varon's fine
realization of the play's festive qualities and comic
virtuosity.
Much Ado about Nothing is an immensely entertaining comedy that
confronts a wide range of issues,
including themes of deception and social responsibility. In his
overview ofMuch Ado about Nothing, G. K.
Hunter (see Further Reading) describes the drama as a
tragicomedy concerned with the themes of
self-deception, self-dramatization, self-love, and
self-awareness. Michael Taylor (see Further Reading)
explores the conflict between individualism and social
responsibility depicted in Much Ado about Nothing,
with particular regard to the figures of Don John, Claudio,
Beatrice, and Benedick. In his 1982 study, Philip
Traci examines the motif of meddling in the affairs of others,
particularly with respect to the romantic
relationship between Beatrice and Benedick. Traci suggests that
the play can be seen as either Shakespeare's
happiest comedy or one of his most cynical, depending on the
view one holds of the relative merits of
intervention and Providence. Morriss Henry Partee (1992) probes
the thematic conflicts ofMuch Ado about
Nothing by exploring the play's structural tensions between
comedy and tragedy. In addition, Partee examines
the function of the Beatrice-Benedick subplot as a device that
steers the story away from its more disturbing
concernsincluding adultery, illegitimacy, and sexual
transgressionin order to highlight the play's themes of
reconciliation, joy, and matrimony.
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Shakespearean Criticism: Much Ado about Nothing (Vol. 88) -
Introduction
INTRODUCTION 2
