Dramatic Techniques - Much Ado About Nothing

Climax

The point in the play where the tension and excitement reach the highest level.

The climax of the play is the wedding, with Claudio publicly rejecting Hero at the altar for her alleged infidelity.

Dramatic Irony

When the audience knows something that the others characters don’t.

Tricking Benedick and Beatrice to fall in love with each other.

Hyperbole

When Benedick tells Don Pedro that he will perform any service for him rather than be made to speak with Beatrice.

“I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.”

Soliloquy

A speech in which a character alone on the stage expresses their thoughts aloud, with no characters listening.

Beatrice expressing her feelings after overhearing Margaret and Ursula.

Exposition

The introduction to the situation and the characters when the play opens.

When soldiers, Claudio, Benedick and Beatrice arrive in Messina Sicily.

Rising Action

The intensifying of conflicts and complications as the play leads to its climax.

Don John plots to ruin Claudio and Hero’s wedding day