Much Ado About Nothing

Here are the quizzes we have done so far, with answers. Act I and II were covered by the midterm test, so we started with Act III. The quizzes cover some of the main plot points, but there are many other things you need to know.

ACT III

 

1. After overhearing Hero and Ursula speak about her, what does Beatrice decide to do?

 To stop being so disdainful towards men, and to return Benedick's love.

 

2. Why do the men make fun of Benedick?

 Because he used to be critical of romance and claimed he would never be a "fool" for love, and now he is acting as though he is in love (he has shaved and is wearing perfume).

 

3. What instructions does Dogberry give the Watch?

 To stop any suspicious people they see on the streets in the Prince's name (but to let them go if they don't answer), and to keep an eye on Leonato's house because of the wedding the next morning.

 

4. What habit makes Dogberry an amusing character?

 He uses the wrong words, often with the opposite meaning to what he intends.

 

5. How do the Watch find out about the trick played on Claudio?

 They overhear Borachio telling Conrade about what he has just done with Margaret ("I have tonight wooed Margaret, the Lady Hero's gentlewoman, by the name of Hero")

  

6. As Hero and her friends are getting ready for the wedding, what does Margaret say she has noticed?

 That Beatrice is showing signs of being in love, or at least being capable of being in love, unlike before.

 

7. What does Dogberry ask Leonato to do, and what is Leonato’s reply? (2 points)

 He asks Leonato to come and question the two men the Watch have captured (Borachio and Conrade). Leonato is busy preparing for the wedding, and is impatient with Dogberry's confused explanation, so he tells Dogberry to question them himself and then report back.

8. Which characters say the following lines? (1 point each)

 

“Stand I condemned for pride and scorn so much?” - Beatrice, III.ii.114

 

“Brief, I pray you, for you see it is a busy time with me.” - Leonato, III.v.4-5 

ACT IV

1. What question does the friar ask everyone at the start of the wedding?

 Whether they know a reason that Claudio and Hero should not be married.

2. What exactly do the men accuse Hero of?

The say she was talking to a man at midnight the previous night, and that they talked about the many times they had been together before.

 

3. How does Leonato misunderstand Claudio’s accusation at first? 

 He thinks that it was Claudio himself who was with Hero the night before the wedding.

 

4. Why can’t Beatrice prove that Hero is innocent?

Because she was not sleeping with Hero that night, although she had done so for the last twelve months. 

 

5. What is the friar’s plan, and what effect does he say it will have? (2 points)

 He says Leonato should hide Hero away, and the news should be spread that Hero died from the shock of the accusation. When Claudio and the other men hear this, they will remember Hero's good character, and regret their accusation and her death.

6. What fact does Beatrice regret, a fact that prevents her from helping Hero?

She regrets that, as a woman, she cannot fight to defend Hero's honour, and wishes that she were a man.

  

7. What news does the Sexton announce to Dogberry and the Watch?

 That Hero has died, and that Don John has run away from Messina.

  

8. Which characters say the following lines? (1 point each)

 

“Give not this rotten orange to your friend.” - Claudio, IV.i.32

 

“The practice of it lives in John the Bastard” - Benedick, IV.i.198

ACT V

1 Why are the Prince and Claudio surprised when they meet Benedick?

He does not joke around as usual, but is instead very serious. He then talks down to Claudio, tells the Prince that he will not be his companion any longer, and challenges Claudio to a duel for shaming Hero.

2 What makes the Prince and Claudio realize that they were wrong about Hero’s behaviour?

Dogberry arrives with Conrade and Borachio, who confesses again to pretending that Margaret was Hero.

3. What punishment does Leonato give Claudio for causing Hero’s “death”? (2 points)

He has to tell everyone in Messina that Hero was virtuous, and write an epitaph which he must sing at Hero's tomb.

4. To whom is he now to be married?

Leonato's niece, who is just like Hero (since it is really her...)

5. What request does Benedick make before the wedding?

To marry Beatrice at the same time as Claudio's new wedding - he asks for Leonato's blessing and for the Friar to perform the ceremony.

6. When Benedick and Beatrice publicly deny that they love each other, how is the truth revealed?

Claudio and Hero show love poems and letters that Benedick and Beatrice have written to each other.

7. What news is delivered at the very end of the scene?

Don John has been captured and brought back to Messina.

8. Which characters say the following lines? (1 point each)

“Runs not this speech like iron through your blood?” - Prince, V.i.255

“Did I not tell you she was innocent?” - Friar, V.iv.1