Tuesday, April 5, 2022

 


What pace is this that thy tongue keeps?

 -Beatrice

Much Ado About Nothing                  Act III Scene iv, Line 86

 

This line is preceded by fourteen lines of Margaret (one of the serving women) going on and on about pretty much nothing. I read the whole scene earlier this morning and there didn’t seem to be a whole lot of anything in it. So, much ado about nothing, right?

I’m not sure why this is just now occurring to me, but this is a highly usable line. At least for me it is. Haven’t you ever been listening to someone talking to you that you couldn’t understand because they were talking too fast? This would be the perfect line. I think I’d be hard put to remember the line, but if I could, I would definitely use it. Wouldn’t you?

Instead of slow down; I can’t understand you it would sound so much better to say What pace is this that thy tongue keeps? It’s a fabulous line!

1 comment:

Squeaks said...

I was hoping after you said she goes on and on about nothing, you'd make a small joke to "Much ado about nothing".

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