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Much Ado About Nothing

By William Shakespeare - Stage play

Stage playStageACT V, Scene 2

Roles

  • Benedick
  • Beatrice

About this piece

Benedick and Beatrice admit being in love with one another

Summary

The play takes place in Messina at the house of Leonato, a wealthy nobleman. He lives with his daughter Hero, his niece Beatrice and his brother Antonio. Leonato welcomes at his house some friends who are returning from a war. They are Don Pedro, a prince, Claudio, a shy nobleman, Benedick, a witty and playful character, and Don John, Don Pedro's illegitimate brother. Claudio instantly falls in love with Hero and Don Pedro decides to help him court her at a masked dance that will take place the same night. Benedick and Beatrice, on the other hand, swear they will never marry and that love is a foolish thing. They seem to hate each other and constantly play games of wit where they insult each other about anything. With the help of Don Pedro, Claudio wins Hero's heart and they decide to marry in a week. To pass the time before their wedding, they decide to play a game, that is to get Benedick and Beatrice to fall in love with each other. Their trick work and they soon fall in love with one another. In this scene they finally confess their love to each other.

Tone

FlirtingHaving an argumentI wanted to tell you... I love you

Use cases

classrehearsal
View on Actorama

Library metadata only. SceneFiend never includes script text here - pick up the published version to rehearse.

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