Shakespeare Blog Post #2

Wikipedia is a great website to visit in terms of starting off research and getting the basis of what the topic is, but it is not entirely accurate. I learnt this by going through Wikipedia and other websites that relate to my play by William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing. I saw a various amount of information that was either incorrect or misleading. Some of the pieces of information that I came across was:

Wikipedia’s information: “However, Dogberry, a Constable who is a master of malapropisms, discovers the evil trickery of the villain, Don John.”

It is true that Dogberry was the constable that discovered the “evil plan” and proved Hero’s innocence, but it was through Borachio and Conrad which lead to Don John but it was not directly through Don John himself. I found that to be slightly misleading.

Wikipedia’s information: “The earliest printed text states that  Much Ado About Nothing was prior to 1600”

The date of which Much Ado About Nothing was first printed may not have much importance however this piece of information is very slightly inaccurate in terms of just one word. That one word is “prior”. This play was not prior to 1600 but in fact was first printed in 1600.

Wikipedia’s information: “Shakespeare’s immediate source could have been one of the Novelle (“Tales”) by Matteo Bandello of Mantua, dealing with the tribulations of Sir Timbreo and his betrothed Fenice in Messina after King Piero’s defeart of Charles of Anjou…”

This is very inaccurate especially because of the fact that Shakespeare’s immediate source was not Novelle. He originally found the story of Much Ado About Nothing in Orlando Furioso, which was an epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto.

In terms of characters, there was not that that was misleading or inaccurate but still was a couple things that I found to be off. Things such as:

Wikipedia’s information: Benedick, of Padua;  He is said to be very good in battle and there is hinting at a past relationship with Beatrice, though they do nothing but fight when the story opens

First thing that is off is the fact that nowhere in the play does it say where exactly Benedick is from. All that is said is Don Pedro and his men have come back from a successful war. Second was the fact that it says that there was a hint at a past relationship with Beatrice. Again there is no mention of Benedick and Beatrice having any sort of relationship aside from their constant quarrels between one another. They do nothing but humiliate each other and make horrible remarks. It makes absolutely no sense to say that there was any sort of a “past relationship”.

Wikipedia’s information: Claudio, of Florence; 

Again just as it was with Benedick, it is the fact that there was no mention of Claudio being from Florence in the play.

Wikipedia’s information: Borachio, who is in a relationship with Margaret, gets her into Hero's clothes and makes love to her on the balcony window.

Borachio and Margaret were not in any sort of a relationship. Borachio did however know Margaret fancied him but there was no actual relationship between them. That being said, Margaret did not get into Hero’s clothes. She was mistaken to be Hero because one, she was in her room, two Borachio was yelling out Hero’s name, and three it was very dark to see anything clearly. The fact that she was in her clothes is inaccurate.

Wikipedia’s information: Margaret, . It is not known if she was tricked or was in on the ploy.

It was known because in the play it mentioned near the end of the play I believe possibly in act 5 that she was confronted and in fact was concluded that she was not in on the plan. She did not even know there was any sort of a plan, she just happened to go along with it, which therefore concluded that she was tricked.

            Under the synopsis there was a couple of things that did not seem entirely accurate to me such as: “a Spanish prince from Aragon”, “Margaret, who is attending the wedding, does not speak up in Hero's defense”, “Benedick is horrified and denies her request”, and lastly “during Claudio’s second wedding as the dancers enter”. I personally read the play and listened to an audio while reading it, and from my understanding the play never mentioned Don Pedro’s nationality. This was why I was thrown off slightly when it said “a Spanish Prince from Aragon”. In terms of Margaret being or not being at the wedding I am not entirely sure, but I do know that she was not aware of the fact that her lady was being falsely accused and or set up. Therefore it would not have made sense for her to speak of something of which she has no knowledge of. When it is talking about Benedick being horrified and denying a request it is talking about when Beatrice asks him to kill Claudio. Yes he was horrified but he did not deny her request,  in fact he agreed and challenged him to a duel. Lastly, I believe that there is a misunderstanding with whom entered. There was no mention of dancers entering Claudio’s wedding. When they say dancers what is meant to be said is women who are masked.

According to Wikipedia, noting was a slang word for the Elizabethans which somehow had to do with the female genitals. According to them, it was derived from the pun of a woman having “nothing” between her legs. Websites outside of Wikipedia however perceive noting to be where the characters seen to be listening, and writing, and therefore were seen to note one another constantly. For an example Beatrice listening in on Hero’s conversation whilst hiding. What she was doing was noting them. Another example would be near the end where Hero and Claudio prove Beatrice and Benedick’s love for one another simply by pulling out a piece of paper which expressed their undying love. Both of these are examples of noting, which clearly Wikipedia failed to convey.