Click on any scene below for a side-by-side translation from the original Shakespeare into modern English.
Act 1, Scene 1
Leonato is chatting with a messenger about a recent battle. Don Pedro, the Prince of Arragon (and Leonato's friend), has been on the war front and is on his way home. He plans to stay at Leonato’...
Act 1, Scene 2
Leonato chats with his brother, Antonio, who is bursting with gossip. Antonio reports that one of his men overheard Prince Don Pedro and Claudio talking in the orchard.Antonio reports that his man...
Act 1, Scene 3
Act 2, Scene 1
Leonato, Antonio, Beatrice, Hero, and their attendants have finished dinner and are preparing for the postprandial (= after a meal) masquerade ball.Leonato notes that the sour Don John wasn’...
Act 2, Scene 2
Don John and Borachio are sulking over the news of Hero’s wedding to Claudio. Borachio says he’s figured out a simple and fool-proof way to ruin the marriage, which would make Don John rea...
Act 2, Scene 3
Benedick is about to take a walk in Leonato’s garden (which we like to call the Garden of Eavesdropping).He laments that he remembers a time when Claudio was a solider instead a lovesick guy that...
Act 3, Scene 1
Hero gets the wheels turning on her part of Don Pedro’s scheme. She asks Margaret to lure Beatrice to the garden by saying that Hero and Ursula are talking about her, and Beatrice...
Act 3, Scene 2
Prince Don Pedro, Claudio, Benedick, and Leonato are all hanging out, shooting the breeze.Don Pedro says he’s only sticking around until Claudio is married, and then he’s off back to Arragon. C...
Act 3, Scene 3
Dogberry, a constable with an awesome name, is selecting a few new men to help stand watch over Messina. Dogberry may not be the most qualified person to perform this task. His vocabulary...
Act 3, Scene 4
It’s the morning of the wedding, and the scene is set in Hero’s bedroom.Hero has sent Ursula off to go get Beatrice, and Margaret is helping Hero get dressed. They go back and forth fondly over...
Act 3, Scene 5
Dogberry and Verges arrive at Leonato’s house to tell him something very important.Leonato says he's busy, but asks them what's up.Dogberry and Verges spend some time talking about how honest the...
Act 4, Scene 1
Everyone is gathered for the wedding. Leonato recommends they get down to business, and the Friar gets off to a false start when he asks if Claudio has come to marry the lady.Claudio says, "No...
Act 4, Scene 2
At the prison, Dogberry and Verges, along with a sexton (who will take notes on the interrogation) prepare to examine Borachio and Conrade.Dogberry does his usual mangling of the English language,&...
Act 5, Scene 1
Leonato's Brother, Antonio, confronts the grieving Leonato and pleads with him not to be so suicidal.Leonato claims his brother can say nothing to make him happy again—he can only be consoled by...
Act 5, Scene 2
In Leonato’s orchard, Benedick jokes with Margaret, asking her to help him write love poems to Beatrice. Margaret suggests that if she does, he should then write a poem in praise of her (Margaret...
Act 5, Scene 3
Claudio and Don Pedro meet in the churchyard at Hero’s family tomb.Claudio has brought with him the epitaph that Leonato asked him to write. He reads it aloud, and it basically says—in simplist...
Act 5, Scene 4
The folks gathered at Leonato's for the wedding are happy with the way things have turned out. Hero, Prince Don Pedro, and Claudio have all been proven innocent of their "crimes," and Margaret's be...