The Title In Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing exemplifies a kind of deliberately puzzling title that seems to have been popular in the late 1590s (compare, "As You Like It0/00). Indeed, the play is about nothing; it merely follows the relationships of Claudio and Hero, and in the end, the play culminates in the two other main characters falling in love, which, because it was an event that was quite predictable, proves to be much ado about nothing. The …

…of the play observing, or noting, the actions, words and behaviour of each other (and also of Don Pedro, Claudio, Leonato and Hero, who set up a trick to try to unite them), and music plays an important role in this. Considering the close link between the three meanings of the word "nothing," particularly in the late 16th Century, I think that the title is an excellent description of the main events of the play.