Original: Seest thou not, I say, what a deformed thief this fashion is?
Modern: Don’t you see what I’m saying - that fashion is like a twisted thief?

Original: how giddily a’ turns about all the hot bloods between fourteen and five-and-thirty?
Modern: How it foolishly spins around all the passionate young men between fourteen and thirty-five?

Original: sometimes fashioning them like Pharaoh’s soldiers in the reeky painting, sometime like god Bel’s priests in the old church-window, sometime like the shaven Hercules in the smirched worm-eaten tapestry, where his codpiece seems as massy as his club?
Modern: Sometimes making them look like Pharaoh’s soldiers in some smoky old painting, sometimes like ancient priests in church windows, sometimes like a shaved Hercules in a dirty, moth-eaten tapestry, where his crotch piece looks as big as his club?

Original: Not so, neither: but know that I have to-night wooed Margaret, the Lady Hero’s gentlewoman, by the name of Hero:
Modern: No, that’s not it at all - but listen, tonight I courted Margaret, Lady Hero’s servant, calling her by Hero’s name:

Original: she leans me out at her mistress’ chamber-window, bids me a thousand times good night,.I tell this tale vilely:.I should first tell thee how the prince, Claudio and my master, planted and placed and possessed by my master Don John, saw afar off in the orchard this amiable encounter.
Modern: she leaned out of her mistress’s bedroom window and said goodnight to me a thousand times. I’m telling this story badly - I should first tell you how the prince, Claudio, and my master, all positioned and influenced by my master Don John, watched this loving meeting from far away in the orchard.

Original: Two of them did, the prince and Claudio; but the devil my master knew she was Margaret;
Modern: Two of them believed it - the prince and Claudio - but my devilish master knew it was really Margaret;

Original: and partly by his oaths, which first possessed them, partly by the dark night, which did deceive them, but chiefly by my villany, which did confirm any slander that Don John had made, away went Claudio enraged;
Modern: and partly because of his lies that first convinced them, partly because the dark night fooled them, but mostly because of my evil actions that backed up whatever lies Don John had told, Claudio left in a rage;

Original: swore he would meet her, as he was appointed, next morning at the temple, and there, before the whole congregation, shame her with what he saw o’er night and send her home again without a husband.
Modern: he swore he would meet her as planned the next morning at the church, and there, in front of everyone, humiliate her with what he saw that night and send her home without marrying her.

In Act III, Scene ii of Much Ado About Nothing, Don Pedro, Claudio, and Leonato gather and notice that Benedick has undergone a striking transformation in his appearance and demeanor. He has shaved his beard, taken unusual care with his grooming, and appears distracted and melancholy. The men tease him and speculate among themselves about the cause of his changed behavior, concluding that he must be in love. Benedick pulls Leonato aside to speak with him privately, and the others joke further about his lovesick state, with Don Pedro and Claudio trading witty observations about the signs of a man newly struck by affection.

Don John then enters and approaches Don Pedro and Claudio with troubling news. He tells them that Hero, Claudio’s intended bride, is disloyal and that he has proof of her unfaithfulness. He invites them to come with him that night to witness, from a distance, what he claims will be evidence of her dishonesty — a man climbing to her window. Don John frames the situation gravely, warning Claudio that if what he shows him proves true, he should call off the wedding scheduled for the following day. Both Don Pedro and Claudio are shaken and agree to accompany Don John, with Claudio vowing that if the accusation is confirmed, he will shame Hero publicly at the altar rather than go through with the marriage.

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.