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At the end of Much Ado About Nothing the story ends on a very happy note, but there is still a remaining cliffhanger, WHAT HAPPENED TO DON JOHN THE BASTARD? Here are some theories: 1. A happily ever after ending, Don John brings his army but it is easily crushed by the might of Don Pedro and John is then punished for his treasonous acts. 2. A tragedy. Don John brings his armies and wages a years long war against those of Don Pedro. Claudio and Benedick fight bravely trying to save their kingdom, but eventually there own bravery takes their lives. Beatrice and Hero mourn for the loss of their husbands and could commit suicide. Leonato sees his own territory annexed into that of Don John and he is immersed into a land of poverty and eventual death. Don Pedro barely wins against his brother, but stares at a kingdom of destruction and personal loss. Since the story has no epilogue it, what happens after is entirely up to imagination of the reader.

Explain why the ending of the play proves that it is a comedy, and give specific examples from the play. What would have had to happen instead were this play a tragedy? Whether the play is a tragedy or comedy can be determined by numerous characteristics, but the most simple way to tell the difference is by the ending. In a comedy the ending usually has a wedding, a new birth, the antagonist changes their ways or is punished and leaves the audience with a reminder that life is good. In a tragedy the ending is more tragic, usually with death and the opposite of a comedy. Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy by Shakespeare and is a comedy because it is a fairly lighthearted play. There are jokes inserted throughout all the lines and the ending especially proves it. The antagonist is assumed to be dealt with at the end ( pg98 line 121-128 Messenger: My lord, your brother John is ta'en in flight, And brought with armed men back to Messina. Benedick: Think not on him till to-morro

Dramatic Irony: When the audience knows something that the characters in the story do not. Dramatic Irony is extremely present in the Much Ado About Nothing. A motif in the play is deception, and the case where the reader knows who is behind the mask but the character does not occurs frequently. An example of dramatic irony is on page 20 line 80-93. Pedro is deceiving Hero and pretending to be Claudio. The audience knows whom Pedro is pretending to be, but Hero does not. The second example of dramatic irony is on page 48-49. Don John creates a plan for Claudio to see Hero being disloyal and being with another man. Claudio believes it to be true, but as the reader you know that it is simply just Borachio and Margaret.  The third example of dramatic irony is on page 22 when Beatrice and Benedick are talking at the ball. Benedick is masked and believes that his identity is unknown, but the audience and Beatrice know who he is. Beatrice then cons Benedick knowing it is him by saying

The Prompt: We will have finished Acts I and II by the end of the week. As we know from the 5-act plot structure, we should have had an inciting incident at the end of Act I or beginning of Act II which will start off the rising action of the play. What was that inciting incident? Explain your answer and provide an example from the play (meaning a quote). The inciting incident of Much Ado About Nothing is when Claudio announces his love for Hero (Line 179-180 "In mine thine eye she is the sweetest lady that ever looked upon"). This is the inciting incident because once this is said arrangements are made for his wedding and the story is mostly around the events to this event. Don John the Bastard becomes the antagonist when, after overhearing his brother/prince is going to help Claudio , creates trouble and manipulates others for his own gain (Line 58-62 Come, come, let us thither: this may prove food to my displeasure. That young start-up hath all the glory of my overt