Figuratively speaking, there are several ears propped to a door, eavesdropping on a conversation pivotal to Shakespeare’s comedy, Much Ado About Nothing; a story about love; real, new and pretended, that began before the messenger arrives with his news. Two very different couples cling to each other or push one another away during five acts of masked balls, sighing under balconies, hysterics, a make-shift death and resurrection, attempts to compose poetry and finally, a …showed first 75 words of 1543 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1543 total…of Messina as they were before the play began and we can infer how they will be when the last curtain closes; it could be a happy scene. Claudio has wronged Hero, killed her; out of her death and rebirth there might be a new love. Beatrice and Bene*censored* may very well talk themselves mad but they do share a real love, one that arose from the ashes of a pretended love. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**