Episode 261: “Much Ado About Nothing” by William Shakespeare, Acts 1 & 2

The Literary Life Podcast

Angelina Stanford

Education, Selfeducation, Classicaleducation, Reading, Literature, Homeschool, Arts, Books, Charlottemason, Homeeducation, Homeschooling

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 28 January 2025

⏱️ 83 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Welcome back to The Literary Life Podcast and our series on Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare. This week Angelina and Thomas are discussing Acts 1 and 2 and will try to do that by talking about the story as a whole, not simply focussing on the characters. They talk about the roles of the anti-romantic and the ultra-romantic couples, as well as the place of poetic verse and plain verse in the dialogue of the play. Other topics they cover are the trickery for good and ill, the influence of the planets in Medieval and Renaissance thought, and the cosmology of music and dance in Elizabethan times.

To view the full show notes for this episode, including quotes and links to books and other resources, please visit https://theliterary.life/261/.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is not just another book chat podcast.
0:21.6	Lifelong reader Cindy Rollins joins teachers Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks for an ongoing conversation about the skill and art of reading well.
0:32.6	Explore the lost intellectual tradition and discover how to fully enter end to the great works of literature.
0:40.2	Learn what books mean while delighting in the sheer joy of imagination. Each week, we will rescue
0:47.1	story from the ivory tower and bring it to your couch, your kitchen, and your commute. The literary life is for everyone because in the
0:55.9	words of Stratford Caldecott, to be enchanted by story is to be granted a deeper insight into
1:02.2	reality. Join us for an ever-unfolding discussion of how stories will save the world.
1:09.7	This is the Literary Life Podcast.
1:12.6	Welcome back to the Literary Life podcast.
1:30.7	I'm Angelina Stanford, and here with me is the man that I like to think of as the
1:35.1	Benedict to my Beatrice.
1:36.7	Senior Montanto.
1:37.8	Signor Montanto.
1:39.2	At least I'm not Lady Distain.
1:40.7	No, no, I was thinking of calling you that, but no.
1:43.3	I appreciate the self-restraint. See,
1:45.5	that's what, that's what makes you, separates you from Benedict, this level of incredible
1:48.8	self-restraint that you have. I have a filter. You do, you do. I don't. I'm the one. Well,
1:55.5	maybe we have a filter between us and we just take... I'll let you borrow mine sometimes. Yeah. Sometimes you put it on me forcibly, like a muzzle.
2:01.6	See, look at this Benedict and Beatrice banter we've got going on here.
2:06.6	We are doing episode two here today of our series on William Shakespeare's Much Adieu
2:12.6	About Nothing.
	...

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