“Much Ado about Adaptation: Modern Engagements with Premodern Texts”

Bryanna Rodriguez

With every Shakespearean adaptation comes another form of translation: one that reflects the current moment in time — one that speaks directly to an audience located within said moment. By placing Shakespearean characters in environments that an audience not well-versed in classic literature has experienced or are currently experiencing, adaptation creates a means for newfound understanding of the narratives conveyed within the original plays. By adapting Shakespeare to reflect what is relevant in the current moment, both cinematic and literary adaptations become accessible pieces of media that academic and non-academic audiences can perceive, analyze and (most importantly) be entertained by. Presenting themselves as a metaphorical bridge to Shakespeare’s work, adaptations highlight Shakespeare’s overall importance and cultural significance to and within English literature. The point of adaptations’ existence ultimately being to get Shakespeare’s stories across; they are necessary pieces of media that preserve and keep the spirit of Shakespeare alive through this act of remediation. These adaptations bring their own value (as pieces of entertainment) to the literary value of Shakespeare in a way that facilitates a conversation of communal understanding for a wide-ranging audience.

Within this essay, I will be discussing how Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing has been adapted into modern works of fiction and film— my two adaptations of interest being Lily Anderson’s young adult novel The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You (2016) and Will Gluck’s 2023 film Anyone But You— and their significance in opening the (metaphorical) door to Shakespeare for those not familiar and/or deterred from engaging with classic Shakespearean literature. Anderson’s novel is a loose retelling of Shakespeare’s Much Ado, molding the world of Messina, Italy to that of a high school for gifted children, placing its teen and young adult audience in an environment that they are intimately familiar with. This setting is not only relevant to the demographic but also appeals to adolescent readers as they simultaneously experience the epic highs and lows of high school life — exploring themes of identity, romantic love and friendship, as some prominent examples — alongside the characters within the novel. Focusing primarily on Shakespeare’s own Beatrice and Benedick, Anderson cleverly creates a 2010s rendition of the classic cast within Much Ado, keeping their exuberant personalities alive and altering certain aspects of their adult counterparts in order to resemble and appeal to her target demographic: adolescents. Wanting to be referred to as ‘Trixie’ Watson and ‘Ben’ West respectively, Anderson’s characters align with their Much Ado counterparts aptly; they maintain their relentless banter towards one another and seemingly cannot find anything better to do than torment each other. From being childhood rivals turned friends and then evolving into romantic partners, Trixie and Ben navigate through a similar plotline to that of Shakespeare’s Beatrice and Benedick: they find themselves to be more alike than they choose to believe, and ultimately learn to accept and enjoy being in each other’s company. However, the exploration of this budding romance is translated in a way that feels authentic and relatable to adolescents. One of the methods Anderson uses to translate Much Ado in a way that appeals to her younger demographic is the incorporation of pop culture within her narrative. Anderson references popular media (for 2016, at least) such as Star Wars, Marvel and DC Comics and Doctor Who as a means to  accessibility. Through this introduction of popular culture within her novel, Anderson creates a space in which those interested in the pieces of media mentioned could easily understand and apply to the narrative, especially considering the main cast’s infatuation and overall love for comics and all things nerdy. Reviews from young adult novel readers and Shakespeare fans alike (even if they are not one and the same) reflect the same message: this adaptation is fun for everyone involved. Goodreads user SophieReadsYA (also known as Sophie), a member of the site and avid YA book blogger states: 

 I’m not exactly a fan of classics, except Jane Austen. However, adaptations of Shakespeare are right up my street, as was this book […]it’s the perfect kind of contemporary retelling for me, and I wish I’d had it in my life earlier […] I’d recommend you pick this up, even if you’re not a fan of Shakespeare, because you don’t need to be for this retelling. (Goodreads)  

By utilizing common interests of a demographic who may not be interested in classic literature, Anderson’s novel provides entertainment among its wit while also enlightening her audience of the types of characters and worlds that Shakespeare has created — worlds that can easily be molded into something contemporary.  

Though Anderson alters certain aspects of the Shakespearean original (changing the language to modern-day English and incorporating slang that was considered popular in 2016) there are certain details from Much Ado that remain present within the adaptation — an example of this being Trixie’s overall strong, assertive character. Considering that young adult novels are characteristically told in first-person, Anderson abides by this rule and presents Trixie as the novel’s first-person narrator; Trixie often has a word (or several) to say about most things that occur in her day-to-day life. An example of her character resembling that of her Much Ado counterpart comes from a scene in which Trixie’s best friends suddenly become more interested in being in relationships than being nerds for the sake of being nerds, to which Trixie dramatically exclaims: 

It appeared my beloved best friends were on the fast track to becoming utterly antifeminist. Instead of comparing notes on our classes or comic books or which Joss Whedon show was the best— Firefly, obviously— they’d start this secret campaign to get boyfriends…I was seventeen. I had eyes and girl parts and functional hormones. I was aware that we went to school with a few not-ugly boys. But I didn’t want to date them. I just wanted to get into a decent college and escape the Mess with as little emotional baggage as possible. Was that so much to ask? (Anderson 17) 

Reminiscent of Act 2 Scene 1 in Much Ado, Anderson presents a more juvenile take on Beatrice’s character that allows for a comical, yet familiar experience among many adolescent readers — the language within presenting a relatable scenario to readers, who likely have been in a situation where their friends have priorities different from their own. Anderson utilizes modern humor and wit to entertain her audience and grab their attention by creating dramatic situations for every character involved, while also reinforcing Trixie’s character accurately to Shakespeare’s Beatrice, making sure her ideals stay consistent. Trixie is not interested in doing conventionally womanly things: whether that be getting married and tending to a man or simply having a high school boyfriend, she will not budge on her conviction of not needing a man to live happily. As Carol Cook states, “Beatrice tacitly accepts her culture’s devaluation of “feminine” characteristics— of weakness, dependence, vulnerability— and sees conventionally masculine behavior as the only defense against them. She usurps the masculine prerogatives of language and phallic wit, speaking poignards as an escape from feminine silence or inarticulate expression of emotion” (Cook 190). Much like Beatrice’s character within Much Ado allows for her to be a sort of commentary on the societal ideals and values of those within the Elizabethan era, Trixie’s character serves as a catalyst for conversations about identity, and societal and gender norms within modern-day culture. Anderson captures the intensity and range of emotions adolescents experience at this stage of their lives through Trixie, reflecting the same motifs and themes present within Shakespeare’s Much Ado on the same topics, all while preserving the most important attributes of Beatrice’s character in a refreshingly new fashion. Being able to translate classic pieces of literature into modern-day editions is an effective way to educate younger audiences on these narratives, as Mark Letcher argues, “given that Shakespeare’s language is perhaps the biggest obstacle for young readers, it can help if teachers can employ bridge texts, which share similar themes and characters as the Shakespearean works, but are more easily accessible and (perhaps) engaging” (Letcher 88). In this way, Anderson’s novelization of Much Ado could be viewed as an aid to studying Shakespeare — a supplemental text to use within a pedagogical context. Though it may not be exactly as the source material reads, this adaptation acts merely as a guide to help students understand classic literature, while also creating interest for younger audiences by providing them with a source of entertainment. Most young adult adaptations of Shakespeare could be considered a new way to interpret the source text, providing a more engaging environment than one within the sixteenth-century. 

Keeping engaging, entertaining media in mind, I’d like to move on to our next medium: film. Considering there have been over 400 film adaptations of William Shakespeare’s plays, it seems safe to say that Shakespeare has had quite the influence on the film industry and cinematic adaptation as a whole. Many of these Shakespearean plays-turned-films are often successful in the box office with many examples to boot: Gil Junger’s 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) and Andy Fickman’s She’s the Man (2006) being prime examples for the romantic comedy genre, which grossed worldwide over $53 million and $57 million respectively (10 Things… IMDb; She’s the Man IMDb). This success for Shakespearean romantic comedy adaptations does not stop here, however, as newly released 2023 film Anyone But You starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell grossed $100 million worldwide within the first three weeks of its winter release (Lee). Anyone But You is, like Anderson’s novel, another loose retelling of Shakespeare’s Much Ado— also geared towards a young adult audience. Starting out as a meet-cute in a local coffee shop in Boston, Anyone But You’s Bea and Ben form a connection through their witty banter and seemingly hit it off, until they don’t. After spending the day together post-first meeting, Bea leaves Ben’s apartment without saying a word, causing a domino effect of misunderstandings from here on out within the film. It is only until six months later that the pair see each other again, crossing paths when Bea’s sister Halle (Hero) and Pete’s (Don Pedro) sister Claudia (Claudio) announce their engagement and destination wedding, located in Sydney, Australia instead of Much Ado’s Messina, Italy. Taking several creative liberties, such as the alteration of setting, along with the incorporation of more adult humor, director Will Gluck and screenwriter Ilana Wolpert create an adaptation that allows their younger audience to experience an entertainingly raunchy interpretation of the Shakespearean play, which they may have been deterred from reading or did not enjoy reading prior to indulging in Gluck’s adaptation. As screenwriter Ilana Wolpert states in an interview with Kyra Kaufer, social media manager of Super Yaki: 

Taking a familiar story and making it happen in the present because the situation could happen in the present, that’s just really appealing. I think that’s why people get so excited about it, because it’s like “Oh! Here’s the story I know that I was maybe forced to read, or felt like a chore to read. Now it feels really fun and exciting because I’m watching it in a movie and can relate to these characters.” (Letterboxd) 

Considering this film’s target audience is that of a younger generation, who could have been exposed to Shakespeare at some point within their academic careers, the narrative becomes familiar; there is a sort of lingering effect to the Shakespearean counterpart of this adaptation when realizing one has been exposed to the narrative earlier on in their lives. This reinforces the notion that Shakespeare remains culturally significant and relevant. Through this adaptation, Gluck takes on the challenge of reflecting the experiences and complexities of adulthood in an entertaining way that appeals to a younger generation of people, creating a rendition of the classic Beatrice-Benedick love story that is a bit more fast-paced and unrestrained from overt censorship of physical sexuality.  

Much like Anderson’s novel, there are aspects of Anyone But You that align with its Shakespearean counterpart aptly. Specifically, I’d like to discuss the characterization of Beatrice once again to prove the consistency between both mediums. Within Anyone But You, Bea is a law student at Boston University who is engaged. She seemingly has her life together, until she realizes both being a law student and a married woman are not outcomes for her life that she desires, so she ends up secretly dropping out of law school and breaking up with her fiancé — all while her sister is getting married. Faced with the uncertainties of adulthood and backlash from her parents (at least along the lines of marriage), Bea is constantly being put under pressure to be a lawyer and a happily married woman, while she confirms that she is content with her life as it is throughout the film. As Ilana Wolpert states in an interview with Vanity Fair’s Savannah Walsh: “One of the things that we talked about is this pressure in your mid-to-late 20s to have your life look a certain way, to know what your career is going to be, who you’re going to be with” (qtd. in Walsh). Gluck creates a space where those experiencing adulthood alongside the film’s characters could understand and relate to watching their own friends and peers hit these milestones of life around them while they may or may not feel stuck in place, much like Bea does. In creating this familiar experience cinematically, viewers are able to visually perceive the ways in which Bea processes the many confusing emotions that going through adulthood brings. Through various scenes (usually behind closed doors), her own vulnerability is showcased, which she refuses to publicly show in order to preserve her strong-willed, (newly) independent image.
There are many important details left out from the original play within the film— references to greater disasters outside of the social sphere within Much Ado along with some characters never being fully fleshed out being most prevalent — though this is mostly for the sake of entertainment value. What Gluck mirrors about Much Ado within his 2023 adaptation is mostly the slow-burn love story between Bea and Ben’s characters. Considering it is an adaptation through and through, certain details are expected to be nullified, however, it is within reason: by undermining these issues, audiences may begin to understand the context of Much Ado as an integral part of the romantic comedy genre, essentially being a sort of metaphorical blueprint that paved the way and introduced many (now considered classic) tropes utilized in other films within the genre. As Much Ado is more concerned with the overall social performance of each of its characters, Shakespeare creates an environment that seems calculated in its movements (considering most of the characters tend to act accordingly to what societal standards in the sixteenth century are), being played off as entirely natural. Many of the more pressing issues in Much Ado (war, violence, etc.) are brushed aside for the same reason Gluck’s Anyone But You leaves out certain details present in the original play: to fulfill the play’s purpose of being a form of entertainment. 
Remediating Shakespearean narratives through film and young adult literature provides audiences of different ages with a new mode of perceiving and understanding classic narratives through the eyes of the creators that take on the challenge of adapting text to screen, or classic literature into modern literature with cultural aspects that reflect the time in which the film/novel is being released — each containing a new perspective. Both The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You and Anyone But You are quite enjoyable pieces for their representation of Shakespeare’s Beatrice, but also for their interpretation of Much Ado as a whole. Though a bit more dramatic in their behaviors — possibly to fit the stereotypical mindset of high schoolers and relatively lost twenty-somethings — these narratives and characters aren’t altered so much that they are rendered unrecognizable as Shakespeare’s own characters. Anderson and Gluck realize that changing any vital traits of their personalities would alter the way in which Shakespeare characterized them within his plays, and make sure to keep their characters consistent, altering the language and humor as a sort of modern-day update in order to stay relevant to the modern-day audience. In terms of using these adaptations as bridge texts, both Anderson’s novel and Gluck’s film implore new audiences to become enthralled with the arrangement of Shakespeare’s romantic comedy narratives, thus creating a connection between entertainment and education, allowing for the two to coexist and aid in the preservation of Shakespeare in modern-day culture. By creating more accessible means to digest classic literature in this rapidly changing fashion, young adult audiences who are just experiencing Shakespeare for the first time or are already knowledgeable about Shakespeare’s work are given the opportunity to be exposed to his plays in a way that is easily and universally understood by utilizing language and references that they would be familiar with. Though these methods taken by the adapters may not perfectly mirror the source text exactly, the point of their existence is to ultimately get these stories across, as they are important gateways to Shakespeare. If these classic pieces of literature aren’t learned about in some way, shape or form, and preserved in new ways for modern audiences to be able to enjoy, we could potentially lose an essential part of English literature if not altered for all to be able to understand and appreciate. 

 

Works Cited 

10 Things I Hate About You. IMDb, IMDb.com, 1999. 

Anderson, Lily. The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You. St. Martin’s Griffin, 2016. 

Anyone But You. Directed by Will Gluck, performances by Sydney Sweeny & Glen Powell, Sony Pictures Releasing, 2023. 

Cook, Carol. ““The Sign and Semblance of Her Honor”: Reading Gender Difference in Much Ado about Nothing.” PMLA, vol. 101, no. 2, 1986, pp. 186-202. 

Lee, Chris. “The Secrets of Anyone But You’s Unexpected Box-Office Success.” Vulture, 29 Jan. 2024, vulture.com/article/the-secrets-of-anyone-but-yous-surprise-box-office-success.html. Accessed May 2024. 

Letcher, Mark. “Off the Shelves: Old Tales Made New Again: Shakespeare’s Place in Young Adult Literature.” The English Journal, vol. 101, no. 5, 2012, pp. 88-92. 

Shakespeare, William. Much Ado About Nothing. The Norton Shakespeare. Edited by Stephen Greenblatt et al. 3rd edition. W.W. Norton, 2016, pp. 1395-1462. 

She’s the Man. IMDb, IMDb.com, 2006. 

SophieReadsYA. Re: The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You. Goodreads. 6 May 2016. goodreads.com/book/show/26114524-the-only-thing-worse-than-me-is-you. Accessed May 2024. 

Walsh, Savannah. “Anyone But You Is an Ode to Rom-Com Classics.” Vanity Fair, 22 Dec. 2023, vanityfair.com/hollywood/anyone-but-you-screenwriter-interview?srsltid=AfmBOoofrn5fWrnu8jJA58WiYrWxfMuvlfu6pEUAu_ZGnIYul3RnXRYt. Accessed May 2024. 

Wolpert, Ilana. Interview by Kyra Kaufer. “The Art of the Rom-Com: A Q&A with Ilana Wolpert.” Letterboxd. 14 Feb. 2024, letterboxd.com/superyaki/story/the-art-of-the-rom-com-a-qa-with-ilana-wolpert/. Accessed May 2024.