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Shakespeares Much Ado about Nothing
A graphic novel adaptation of Shakespeare's rom-com play about 4 young people, and how their friends and enemies interfere in their love lives.
112 pages, Paperback
Published February 8, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 26, 2024
A graphic novel adaptation of Shakespeare's play about Hero and Claudio who fall in love quickly and are soon to be married, but a vengeful relative who was defeated in his rebellion attempt by Hero's father chooses the couple as a method of revenge and starts hurtful rumors about Hero. Meanwhile, their best friends, Beatrice and Benedick, who love to use each other as verbal sparring partners, have their friends conspire to set up the two avowed singles who seemingly despise each other.
This is the best adaptation of this play I've seen/read. It conveys Shakespeare's original plot and snarky humor with English that's been brought up a couple centuries in relevancy. I like the graphic novel format too because so much can be added to convey tone with body language in the illustrations. There's extensive notes in the back of the book on Shakespeare, the history of theater, themes in this play, how this play has impacted modern language and arts, and more. With original Shakespeare needing extensive translation now, this is a much more approachable way to introduce teen readers to the Bard.
Notes on content:
Language: About 8 minor swears.
Sexual content: Nothing beyond a kiss. Hero is accused of being unfaithful when others see a man kissing someone dressed in her clothing but is proven wrongly accused.
Violence: There's talk of a duel, but nothing comes of it.
Ethnic diversity: The characters are from various places in old Italy. Illustrations show them with a variety of skin tones.
LGBTQ+ content: None specified
Other: A young woman being wrongly accused of an affair. A faked death. (What was it with Shakespeare and faking death??? He would have had such a hard time writing his plots with modern medical knowledge and equipment.) A couple being manipulated (mostly lovingly) to fall in love.
This is the best adaptation of this play I've seen/read. It conveys Shakespeare's original plot and snarky humor with English that's been brought up a couple centuries in relevancy. I like the graphic novel format too because so much can be added to convey tone with body language in the illustrations. There's extensive notes in the back of the book on Shakespeare, the history of theater, themes in this play, how this play has impacted modern language and arts, and more. With original Shakespeare needing extensive translation now, this is a much more approachable way to introduce teen readers to the Bard.
Notes on content:
Language: About 8 minor swears.
Sexual content: Nothing beyond a kiss. Hero is accused of being unfaithful when others see a man kissing someone dressed in her clothing but is proven wrongly accused.
Violence: There's talk of a duel, but nothing comes of it.
Ethnic diversity: The characters are from various places in old Italy. Illustrations show them with a variety of skin tones.
LGBTQ+ content: None specified
Other: A young woman being wrongly accused of an affair. A faked death. (What was it with Shakespeare and faking death??? He would have had such a hard time writing his plots with modern medical knowledge and equipment.) A couple being manipulated (mostly lovingly) to fall in love.
May 11, 2025
Amazing graphic novel of Shakespeare play
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews