Act 1
Act One, Scene One
We that Leonato has receive a letter which informs him that the men will be returning from war. We learned that on of his men of high rank lost their lives. Beatrice was asking about Benedick who she was always arguing with which we see leads to love. Claudio is in love with Hero but is afraid to tell her so he asked Don Pedro to woo her for him.
Act One, Scene Two
Leonato and Antonio, his elder brother, meet and discuss Leonato's guests. Antonio informs Leonato that a servant of his overheard Don Pedro and Claudio speaking together in his peach orchard. The man reported that Don Pedro told Claudio he loved Hero and would acknowledge it that night at the dance, intending to go to Leonato if he found Hero consenting. Leonato is excited by this news, but tells Antonio to keep it a secret until Don Pedro actually comes to him. He only decides to tell Hero so that she may prepare an answer.
Act One, Scene Three
Conrade approaches Don John and asks him why he is so sad looking. Don John tells him that there is not reason merely that he prefers to be the way he is. When Conrade points out that since Don John only recently was reconciled with Don Pedro, he should try to seem happy, Don John exclaims, "I had rather be a canker in a hedge than a rose in his grace" (1.3.21-22).
Borachio, another friend of Don John, arrives and informs Don John that he has overheard his brother and Claudio plotting a marriage with Hero. He hid behind a wall hanging and listened to them discuss how Don Pedro would woo Hero and then give her to Claudio. Don John tells them to come with him so that he can figure out a way to thwart Claudio.
Act 2
Act Two, Scene One
Leonato has noticed that Don John did not attend the dinner, but Hero tells them he is melancholic. Beatrice says that a combination between Don John and Benedick would create the perfect man, one who spoke just enough. Leonato tells Beatrice she will never get a husband if she continues to make such "shrewd" remarks. Beatrice acknowledges that she is happy without a husband and plans to die a spinster.
Antonio turns to Hero and tells her he hopes she will obey her father, but Beatrice interrupts him and mocks his expectation that Hero will curtsy to her father's every demand. Ignoring her, Leonato orders Hero to accept the Prince's offer if he comes to her. Beatrice gives Hero some advice about how to accept, telling her how to make the Prince wait for an answer and comparing wooing, wedding and repenting to various dances. Leonato tells Beatrice, "Cousin, you apprehend passing shrewdly"
Benedick meets up with Beatrice and refuses to reveal who he is. She starts to talk about Benedick, calling him, "the Prince's jester, a very dull fool". Benedick assures her he will inform Benedick what she has said about him. Don John and Borachio figure out who Claudio is by his bearing. Don John approaches him and asks him if he is Benedick, and Claudio plays along, claiming he is. Don John tells Claudio that he should separate Don Pedro and Hero because she is not equal to his brother's birth. Borachio chimes in as well, telling Claudio that he heard Don Pedro swear his affection for Hero and plan to marry her that very night.
Don Pedro chastises Beatrice for having been so harsh to Benedick, but she replies that Benedick once won her heart and toyed with her. He then turns to Claudio, who is still jealous of him, and informs Claudio that he wooed Hero successfully and spoke with Leonato who consented to the marriage. Neither Claudio nor Hero are able to speak to one another, and finally Claudio says, "Silence is the perfectest herald of joy".
Beatrice remarks that everyone is getting married and leaving home except she herself. Don Pedro gallantly offers to marry her but she refuses, telling him he is "too costly to wear every day" .She leaves after Leonato reminds her of some work she needs to take care of. Claudio and Leonato agree to hold the wedding in one week, and in the meantime Don Pedro tells them they will contrive to get Benedick and Beatrice to fall in love. Claudio and Hero agree to participate in the plot.
Act Two, Scene Two
Don John is furious over the fact that Claudio is marrying Hero. Borachio, his friend, offers to thwart the marriage. He tells Don John that he is a good friend of Hero's servant-gentlewoman Margaret and that he can get her to look out at Hero's chamber window. Borachio proposes that Don John get Don Pedro and Claudio to watch the chamber window at an appointed time, and he will then meet Margaret in the room, thereby making them think that Hero has another lover. Don John promises Borachio a thousand ducats if the plan succeeds.
Act Two, Scene Three
Benedick is walking in Leonato's garden contemplating the change in Claudio since he fell in love with Hero. He decides that he will never fall in love the way Claudio did. He sees Claudio and Don Pedro coming and hides so he can listen to them.
Don Pedro arrives with Claudio and Leonato. Don Pedro asks them if they saw where Benedick hid, and Claudio tells him they will give Benedick more than he bargained for. Balthasar is brought onstage to perform a song for them that he duly sings. The men leave, with Don Pedro hinting in an aside that the same net must be spread for Beatrice by Hero and Ursula. Benedick comes out of hiding and remarks that he cannot sit idly by and be censured for not returning Beatrice's love. He determines to be kind to Beatrice and consider marrying her. She comes out and bids him come to dinner, unaware that Benedick thinks she loves him. Beatrice is as unflattering as ever, making Benedick's attempts to be polite even more comical.
Act 3
Act Three, Scene One
Hero tells her servant Margaret to fetch Beatrice and tells her that she overheard Hero and Ursula gossiping about Beatrice in the orchard. Hero then orders Ursula to talk about Benedick as if he were madly in love with Beatrice. She agrees, and they wait until they see Beatrice hide herself in the orchard before walking towards the hiding spot.
They arrive where Beatrice is hiding and Hero informs Ursula that Benedick is madly in love with Beatrice, but that she will never tell Beatrice because she is afraid her cousin would only ridicule Benedick. Ursula agrees, and Hero then mentions that Beatrice is so sharp tongued that she often finds faults in men that are not really there. Ursula then praises Benedick as a man, saying he is one of the best men in Italy and would be an excellent match for Beatrice. After they leave, Beatrice steps forward and comments that rather then be condemned for her pride and scorn she will requite Benedick's love and marry him.
Act Three, Scene Two
Claudio, Don Pedro and Leonato find Benedick to be acting sadder than usual, and make fun of him as if he is in love. He does not deny their charge, but finally asks Leonato if he could have a word with him in private. Don Pedro tells Claudio that Benedick must want to discuss Beatrice with Leonato.
Don John arrives and informs Claudio and Don Pedro that Hero is unfaithful. He offers to prove it to them, telling them to go with him that night and look into Hero's chamber window. Claudio states that if he sees any reason not to wed Hero that night, he will shame her in the church before the wedding ceremony the next day. Don Pedro supports him and they promise to meet Don John that night.
Act Three, Scene Three
Dogberry and Verges , both fools in charge of the watchmen, get one of their men and make him the constable of the watch for the night. He agrees, but asks what he should do if he orders a man to stop and the man refuses. Dogberry tells him to ignore the man, and good riddance of a knave, because they can only stop loyal subjects of the Prince. Verges then orders the man to keep silence throughout the town. They leave the man to his job as constable, and Dogberry orders him to wake him up only if something important comes up.
Borachio and Conrade arrive and accidentally stand within hearing distance of the watchman whom Dogberry appointed constable. Borachio tells Conrad that he earned a thousand ducats from Don John that night because he wooed Margaret in Hero's room and called her Hero. Meanwhile, Don John had brought Don Pedro and Claudio to orchard where they watched this whole scene and became convinced that Hero was committing infidelity.
One of the night watchmen, having overheard this story, arrests Borachio and Conrade for villainy. They agree to go peacefully and are taken to be judicially interrogated.
Act Three, Scene Four
Hero is getting dressed by Margaret for her wedding that day. She sends Ursula to fetch Beatrice, who arrives but has lost her wittiness and has also caught a cold. Margaret makes severally sexually explicit puns before mentioning to Beatrice that Benedick is now in love. Margaret then implies that perhaps Beatrice will someday decide to fall in love much the Benedick has. Ursula interrupts her and informs Hero that the men are all gathered to take her to the church.
Act Three, Scene Five
Dogberry has gone to Leonato to inform him that two suspicious men were arrested the night before. He asks Leonato to examine the men, but since the wedding is that day, Leonato refuses and orders Dogberry to conduct the examination himself. Dogberry orders Verges to bring one of his men who knows how to write so that they can write down the entire examination and bring it to Leonato.
