Identify and explain dramatic conventions used to construct meaning in Much Ado About Nothing.Give specific examples.

The dramatic conventions of Much Ado About
Nothing, would have, when the play was written, conformed to the rules of
performance that were common in Elizabethan England.  In fact, these dramatic
conventions were the structure that helped "construct meaning" no matter which play of
Shakespeare's you might discuss.

The point here is that it
is important to understand that dramatic conventions are not created for individual
plays.  A director of the play, no matter when and where he/she lives and works, will
create a unique staging of Much Ado,
but he/she will follow a set of dramatic conventions or
theatrical rules that exists for him/her in the theatrical
world in which he/she works.

Some of the dramatic
conventions in place during Shakespeare's day that helped him to construct meaning
are:

• All actors were men or boys.  In
  Much Ado, this is interesting when considering a rather aggressive
  and somewhat "masculine" character like Beatrice.  It is also important to remember the
  irony of a line like "Oh, that I were a man," which is spoken by Beatrice after Hero is
  shamed by Claudio.  This line can be seen much more ironically when Beatrice actually
  is a man.


• There was no "fourth
  wall," or imaginary division between actors and audience.  Light came from the sun and
  fell on actors and audience alike, which implies that no one pretended that the actors
  were somehow "alone" in the play.  So, when Claudio asks everyone at the wedding to look
  at Hero and condemn her false-ness with him, he literally meant everyone, including the
  audience.  In this way, the audience is implicated in the scene along with the
  characters onstage.


• Clowns in a comedy provide some much
  needed low-brow humor.  Dogberry, Verges, and the Watch were the clowns of the play, a
  staple of Elizabethan comedy that audiences expected.  Not only was their humor found in
  the text, but they would have used a great deal of physical comedy as well.  This,
  today, cannot be seen in the words on the page, but is often re-created by theatrical
  companies presenting the play.

So, dramatic
conventions that Shakespeare used definitely came into play and had an effect on
Much Ado About Nothing in his day and time, but, today, it is the
specific staging of an individual production of the play that will have the most impact
upon "constructing meaning" in the play.