Original: O, she misused me past the endurance of a block!
Modern: Oh, she insulted me beyond what even a piece of wood could bear!

Original: an oak but with one green leaf on it would have answered her; my very visor began to assume life and scold with her.
Modern: Even a nearly dead oak tree would have talked back to her; even my mask seemed to come alive and argue with her.

Original: She told me, not thinking I had been myself, that I was the prince’s jester, that I was duller than a great thaw; huddling jest upon jest with such impossible conveyance upon me that I stood like a man at a mark, with a whole army shooting at me.
Modern: She told me, not realizing who I really was, that I was the prince’s fool and that I was more boring than a long winter thaw; she piled joke after joke on me so skillfully that I felt like a target with an entire army shooting arrows at me.

Original: She speaks poniards, and every word stabs:
Modern: She speaks daggers, and every word she says cuts deep:

Original: if her breath were as terrible as her terminations, there were no living near her; she would infect to the north star.
Modern: If her breath were as deadly as her words, no one could live near her; she would poison everything all the way up to the North Star.

Original: I would not marry her, though she were endowed with all that Adam bad left him before he transgressed:
Modern: I wouldn’t marry her even if she had all the riches that Adam possessed before he sinned in Eden:

Original: she would have made Hercules have turned spit, yea, and have cleft his club to make the fire too.
Modern: She would have made even Hercules work as a kitchen servant turning the roasting spit, and even split his mighty club for firewood.

Original: Come, talk not of her: you shall find her the infernal Ate in good apparel.
Modern: Come on, let’s not talk about her: you’ll find she’s like the goddess of chaos dressed in fine clothes.

Original: I would to God some scholar would conjure her; for certainly, while she is here, a man may live as quiet in hell as in a sanctuary;
Modern: I wish to God some magician would cast a spell on her; because truly, while she’s around, a man could live more peacefully in hell than in a church;

Original: and people sin upon purpose, because they would go thither; so, indeed, all disquiet, horror and perturbation follows her.
Modern: And people would sin on purpose just to escape to hell; so really, all chaos, terror, and trouble follow wherever she goes.

In Act II, Scene 1 of “Much Ado About Nothing,” the scene opens with Leonato preparing his household for the evening’s masked ball, speaking with his brother Antonio, his daughter Hero, and his niece Beatrice. Beatrice engages in her characteristic witty banter about marriage and men, particularly expressing her disdain for matrimony and her sharp opinions about various suitors. When Don Pedro, Claudio, Benedick, and their company arrive as guests, the characters don masks for the evening’s entertainment.

During the masked dancing that follows, several key plot developments unfold through paired conversations between masked partners. Don Pedro, disguised, woos Hero on behalf of Claudio as previously planned. Meanwhile, Beatrice, not recognizing the masked Benedick (or pretending not to), speaks disparagingly about Benedick to his face, calling him the prince’s jester and criticizing his wit. After the dancing concludes and the masks are removed, Don Pedro successfully presents Hero to Claudio as his promised bride, and Leonato gladly consents to their engagement. However, Benedick appears wounded by Beatrice’s harsh words, and the scene establishes the contrasting romantic trajectories of the two couples while advancing Don Pedro’s successful matchmaking scheme.

Much Ado About Nothing takes place in Messina, where Don Pedro, Prince of Aragon, arrives with his companions Claudio and Benedick after a military victory. Claudio immediately falls in love with Hero, daughter of Leonato (the governor of Messina), and Don Pedro arranges their engagement. Meanwhile, Benedick and Beatrice, Leonato’s niece, engage in a battle of wits, trading insults and declaring their mutual disdain for love and marriage. Don Pedro, Claudio, and Leonato conspire to trick Benedick and Beatrice into falling in love by staging conversations where each overhears how the other is supposedly lovesick for them.

Don John, Don Pedro’s illegitimate brother and the play’s villain, plots to destroy Claudio’s happiness by making him believe Hero is unfaithful. With his accomplices Borachio and Conrad, Don John arranges for Claudio and Don Pedro to witness what appears to be Hero meeting with another man at her window the night before her wedding. In reality, it is Hero’s waiting-gentlewoman Margaret being wooed by Borachio in disguise.

At the wedding ceremony, Claudio publicly accuses Hero of infidelity and rejects her. Hero faints from shock, and Friar Francis suggests they pretend she has died from the shame while they investigate the truth. Benedick, now in love with Beatrice, promises to challenge Claudio to a duel when Beatrice demands he prove his love by defending Hero’s honor. Meanwhile, the bumbling constable Dogberry and his watchmen accidentally overhear Borachio boasting about the deception to Conrad and arrest them both.

Through Dogberry’s interrogation, the truth emerges about Don John’s plot. Claudio learns of Hero’s innocence and agrees to make amends by marrying Leonato’s “niece” (actually Hero in disguise) the next day. At this second wedding ceremony, Hero reveals herself, and she and Claudio are reconciled. Benedick and Beatrice finally admit their love for each other and agree to marry as well. The play concludes with news that Don John has been captured while trying to flee, and the couples celebrate their double wedding.