Summary

Act Five begins with Leonato fuming, wanting to challenge Claudio to a duel and kill him, though the older man may not be fit for it. Don Pedro, as well, believes that Claudio is full of villany; finally, Benedick arrives, also angry with his old friend and wanting to challenge him to a fight. However, Dogberry arrives, and is finally able to explain the plot that drove everybody apart. In penance, Leonato tells Claudio that (according to the Friar's plan), he will have to make public amends, mourn his daughter, and then marry another niece of his, who resembles Hero.

Beatrice and Benedick then meet in the garden, and reaffirm that they have feelings for one another. They are then summoned away. Claudio reads an elegy before what he thinks is Hero's grave, and claims that he will do so each year. He then...