Much Ado About Nothing, Act 5 Scene 3 runs 35 lines of dialogue, spoken by 3 speakers. That is shorter than the play’s average scene length of about 152 lines. This scene is part of Act 5 of Much Ado About Nothing.
Full Dialogue
Claudio ♂
Is this the monument of Leonato?
Lord ♂
It is, my lord.
Claudio ♂
[Reading out of a scroll]
Done to death by slanderous tongues
Was the Hero that here lies:
Death, in guerdon of her wrongs,
Gives her fame which never dies.
So the life that died with shame
Lives in death with glorious fame.
Hang thou there upon the tomb,
Praising her when I am dumb.
Now, music, sound, and sing your solemn hymn.
SONG.
Pardon, goddess of the night,
Those that slew thy virgin knight;
For the which, with songs of woe,
Round about her tomb they go.
Midnight, assist our moan;
Help us to sigh and groan,
Heavily, heavily:
Graves, yawn and yield your dead,
Till death be uttered,
Heavily, heavily.
Now, unto thy bones good night!
Yearly will I do this rite.
Done to death by slanderous tongues
Was the Hero that here lies:
Death, in guerdon of her wrongs,
Gives her fame which never dies.
So the life that died with shame
Lives in death with glorious fame.
Hang thou there upon the tomb,
Praising her when I am dumb.
Now, music, sound, and sing your solemn hymn.
SONG.
Pardon, goddess of the night,
Those that slew thy virgin knight;
For the which, with songs of woe,
Round about her tomb they go.
Midnight, assist our moan;
Help us to sigh and groan,
Heavily, heavily:
Graves, yawn and yield your dead,
Till death be uttered,
Heavily, heavily.
Now, unto thy bones good night!
Yearly will I do this rite.
Don Pedro ♂
Good morrow, masters; put your torches out:
The wolves have prey'd; and look, the gentle day,
Before the wheels of Phoebus, round about
Dapples the drowsy east with spots of grey.
Thanks to you all, and leave us: fare you well.
The wolves have prey'd; and look, the gentle day,
Before the wheels of Phoebus, round about
Dapples the drowsy east with spots of grey.
Thanks to you all, and leave us: fare you well.
Claudio ♂
Good morrow, masters: each his several way.
Don Pedro ♂
Come, let us hence, and put on other weeds;
And then to Leonato's we will go.
And then to Leonato's we will go.
Claudio ♂
And Hymen now with luckier issue speed's
Than this for whom we render'd up this woe.
Than this for whom we render'd up this woe.
35 lines rendered verbatim from the dialogue corpus.
Who’s On Stage
Speaking characters in this scene
| Character | Lines | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Claudio | 27 | 77.1% |
| Don Pedro | 7 | 20.0% |
| Lord | 1 | 2.9% |
Line distribution
The top speaker in this scene delivers 27 lines, while the scene’s average per speaker is about 12 lines.
Total speakers on stage
3 named characters speak in this scene.
Scene in Context
Position within Act 5
This is Scene 3 of 4 in Act 5 of Much Ado About Nothing.
Scene length vs. play average
At 35 lines, this scene is shorter than the Much Ado About Nothing average scene in Much Ado About Nothing (~152 lines).
Adjacent scenes
Previous: Act 5 Scene 2 · Next: Act 5 Scene 4