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Assess the influences of Italy and Spain on 'Much Ado About Nothing'
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- Mon Jun 19 2006

... Assess the influences of Italy and Spain on 'Much Ado About Nothing' It has been estimated that at least one third of the plays performed between 1549 and 1640 had either Italian sources or locations. In most cases it was both. The influence of Italian literature on<+"> Much Ado About Nothing<-"> is reasonably clear. Even bearing in mind the freedom and licence which Renaissance adapters brought to their work, it seems likely that Bandello's version, ">La Prima Parte de la Novelle del Bandello"> (1554) was the one which Shakespeare used. The Sicilian setting for ">Much Ado"> is probably the most convincing evidence for this judgement. Bandello's story has a number of main themes: class conflict, the role of Fortune and the rival claims of male friendship and marriage. These themes, particularly the last one, certainly form a part of ">Much Ado">. Yet the play is more concerned to explore the power













