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Dramatic Structure of Comedy

Much Ado About Nothing is a Shakespearean comedy, written c. 1598 - 99. The German playwright and novelist Gustav Freytag categorised the dramatic structure of a comedy utilising the following pyramid structure:

Dramatic structure of a comedy

Dramatic structure of a comedy

  • Much Ado About Nothing maps to Freytag's pyramid structure in the following way:
    • Act 1: Exposition
    • Act 2: Rising Action
    • Act 3: Climax
    • Act 4: Falling Action
    • Act 5: Resolution: denouement
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1

Key Terminology

2

Structure & Form

3

Act 1: Plot Summary

4

Act 2: Plot Summary

5

Act 3: Plot Summary

5.1

Act 3, Scene 1

5.2

Act 3, Scene 2

5.3

Act 3, Scene 3

5.4

Act 3, Scene 4

5.5

Act 3, Scene 5

6

Act 4: Plot Summary

7

Act 5: Plot Summary

7.1

Act 5, Scene 1

7.2

Act 5, Scene 2

7.3

Act 5, Scene 3

7.4

Act 5, Scene 4

8

Key Themes

9

Recap: Main Quotes

Practice questions on Structure

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