notes worth noting (or, the wordplay of "much ado about nothing.")
During a scene of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, the character Balthasar is about to begin a song, but first gives fair warning regarding his vocals: “Note this before my notes: there’s not a note of mine that’s worth the noting.” His companion Don Pedro replies “Why, these are very crotchets that he speaks. Note notes, forsooth, and nothing [noting].” (2.3)
It doesn’t take much reading to notice (see what I did there?) that this story is packed with serious-sounding jokes - Shakespearean puns, really. Shakespeare was a master of wordplay and made use of this in several forms throughout Much Ado About Nothing, most notably (pun intended) within the speaking styles of characters Beatrice and Benedick, and the title of the play.
Although the major characters in Much Ado About Nothing utilize some form of wordplay, their methods are distinct. Beatrice’s tendency is to throw puns left and right like Cupid’s arrows which are so often mentioned. Oftentimes, she responds to a figurative expression by taking it literally. This is obvious from the very first scene of the play, during her conversation with the messenger who brings news to Leonato’s house. The messenger observes “I see, lady, the gentleman is not in your books.” In this case, “in your books” is a phrase meaning “in your favor,” but Beatrice takes it a step farther with her reply of “No. An he were, I would burn my study.” (1.1) A similar instance occurs later on, in Act 2, Scene 1, at the masquerade ball, when Beatrice makes a shrewd comment about marriage:
LEONATO:
Well, niece, I hope to see you one day fitted with a husband.
BEATRICE:
Not till God make men of some other metal [or mettle, as in strength of character] than earth. Would it not grieve a woman to be overmastered with a piece of valiant dust? To make an account of her life to a clod of wayward marl? No, uncle, I’ll none.
This manner of speaking does not change much after she reconciles with Benedick at the end of the play, but becomes more playful than callous.
Another method of wordplay is to make the most of metaphorical meanings, and this is where Benedick specializes. His words, when considered, paint mental images that are almost cartoon-like. Take his creative description in Act 1, Scene 1 of what will happen if he marries:
DON PEDRO:
In time the savage bull doth bear the yoke.
BENEDICK:
The savage bull may, but if ever the sensible Benedick bear it, pluck off the bull’s horns and set them in my forehead, and let me be vilely painted, and in such great letters as they write “here is good horse to borrow” let them signify under my sign “Here you may see Benedick the married man.”
With these words, Benedick paints a vivid and hilarious mental image of himself as a married man. It’s almost a challenge. As the story progresses, Don Pedro decides to take up this challenge, exercise his matchmaking skills, and cause Benedick and Beatrice to fall in love with each other. Later on, these trademark words return as payback. “But when shall we set the savage bull’s horns on the sensible Benedick’s head? Yea, and the text underneath: ‘Here dwells Benedick, the married man?’” (5.1) Claudio and Don Pedro tease, once they realize their friend has fallen in love. Beatrice herself had a point when she called him “the prince’s jester,” for his comic descriptions and romantic blunders really do become a source of entertainment - that is, for everyone but him.
Now for the most profound pun of all, if any can be called profound: the title of the play. Much Ado About Nothing is a double pun. During the Shakespearean era, English words were not always pronounced like they are in modern-day England: “nothing” would have been pronounced “noting,” and “to note” has a double meaning. The first meaning is “to eavesdrop.” A great deal of the characters’ time is spent eavesdropping and from eavesdropping the conflict stems. When we address the other definition, it adds even more understanding: the word “nothing” can be thought of as what could be, the realm of possibility, and the realm in which the characters’ hopes and fears originate. For instance, Claudio is deceived into believing Hero is unfaithful because he overhears someone wooing another woman and calling her “Hero,” While Hero could have been the woman being wooed, she was not. Likewise, Benedick and Beatrice fall in love because they overhear their friends talking about the other’s love for them - a very realistic possibility, though exaggerated. Both of these deceptions were framed in such a way as to be believable, and while what could be is not actually real, it’s real enough to affect the main players’ decisions.
It undoubtedly requires great talent, brilliance, and skill to build a complete storyline around wordplay. But this is exactly what William Shakespeare managed to do - and do well. With each passing scene, with each of Beatrice’s figurative expressions taken literally, with each of Benedick’s exaggerated metaphors, Much Ado About Nothing layers pun on pun, jest upon jest. Don Pedro described Benedick as “from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot… all mirth.” (3.2) These words also describe the play in its entirety. What else can one expect from a play whose very title contains a double meaning? From the opening banter to the closing wedding, Much Ado About Nothing truly is “all mirth,” and unlike Balthasar’s singing, it's every note of theirs that’s worth the noting.
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