Comedies • c. 1598
Much Ado About Nothing: Modern English Translation & Study Guide
Witty adversaries Beatrice and Benedick are tricked into admitting their love while Hero and Claudio face malicious slander.
Read Much Ado About Nothing Side by Side
Every scene pairs the public-domain original with a line-matched, original modern-English paraphrase. Choose a scene below to begin reading.
- Act 1, Scene 1 line-by-line translation — SCENE I. Before LEONATO'S house.
- Act 1, Scene 2 line-by-line translation — SCENE II. A room in LEONATO's house.
- Act 1, Scene 3 line-by-line translation — SCENE III. The same.
- Act 2, Scene 1 line-by-line translation — SCENE I. A hall in LEONATO'S house.
- Act 2, Scene 2 line-by-line translation — SCENE II. The same.
- Act 2, Scene 3 line-by-line translation — SCENE III. LEONATO'S orchard.
- Act 3, Scene 1 line-by-line translation — SCENE I. LEONATO'S garden.
- Act 3, Scene 2 line-by-line translation — SCENE II. A room in LEONATO'S house
- Act 3, Scene 3 line-by-line translation — SCENE III. A street.
- Act 3, Scene 4 line-by-line translation — SCENE IV. HERO's apartment.
- Act 4, Scene 1 line-by-line translation — SCENE I. A church.
- Act 4, Scene 2 line-by-line translation — SCENE II. A prison.
- Act 5, Scene 1 line-by-line translation — SCENE I. Before LEONATO'S house.
- Act 5, Scene 2 line-by-line translation — SCENE II. LEONATO'S garden.
- Act 5, Scene 3 line-by-line translation — SCENE III. A church.
- Act 5, Scene 4 line-by-line translation — SCENE IV. A room in LEONATO'S house.
Much Ado About Nothing study pathways
Original text source: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, MIT HTML edition. MIT states that its HTML versions of the plays are placed in the public domain.