What do we learn about the Society of Messina in "Much ado about Nothing"?

Shakespeare's romantic comedy Much ado about Nothing is set in the seaport town of Messina, in Sicily. The play tells the story of Claudio, a knight of Aragon, Hero whom he falls in love with, her sharp cousin Beatrice and her male counterpart Benedick. The comedy of Much ado about Nothing derives from the characters themselves and the etiquette of the highly mannered society in which they live. The social order of Messina is governed by respectability, convention, fashion and tradition.

Artificial gender roles, eavesdropping and fashion are the matter of which Messinan society is constituted, however frivolity, light-heartedness, flirtation and heroism are all also present giving Messina an altogether rather complex and multifaceted culture, and were it not for the deceit, lies and Denigrations of Don Jon, the antagonist of the play, and bastard brother of the regal Don Pedro, then the play would nothing but be a comedy, the plot itself being carried by a series of misunderstandings or 'notings'.

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These 'notings' are a prominent theme in the play, and provide the foundation for a great deal of the narrative of Much ado about Nothing, that in fact at the time would have been pronounced Much ado about Noting, which may be why the actions of observing, listening and overhearing to the brink of eavesdropping are participated in by so many of the character's of the play, in view of the fact that in order for a plot centralise on instances of deceit to proceed then the characters must note one another constantly.

Messina's situation as a seaport also allowed Shakespeare for a broader diversity of character to be introduced and established in the play, since historically seaports would have been viewed and regarded by Elizabethans as locales habituated by extensive varieties of people. The town seems very hospitable, welcomingly accommodating the returning soldiers with joy and enthusiasm

The hierarchy of the society is structured in such a way that the more respectable figures of the city are higher at the top of the social ladder than those who contribute little to the society or are lower ranked in terms of family, demeanour or jobs or duties. The governor of Messina Leonato is the highest ranked citizen of Messina and is responsible for being host to Don Pedro and his knights in their month-long presence in his city, with characters such as Dogberry and Verges towards the lower. The rank order of Messina itself is very similarly arranged to the feudal system of medieval England, with Leonato here assuming the role of a baron as governor of the locality.

Messina's depiction as a society of agreeable terms is furthered with the entertainment that is provided by the city, and the active participation of its participants in recreating in leisurely activities. The implementation of Balthasar's songs and the masked ball itself shows the happiness that the people of Messina allowed themselves to indulge in, and shows Messina to be a jocular, light-hearted locale, and in being so fits the criterion for the setting of Much ado about Nothing even better.

The assortment of character in the play in terms of their social standing and bearing ranging from the royalty of Don Pedro to the likes of the comic night-watch characters of Dogberry and Verges And immediately, this miscellany of character presupposes a mixture of moral principles and complexity of ethics. Shakespeare uses this idea to embody each of the characters in 'Much ado about Nothing' with dissimilar and different personalities and traits unique only to them and as such each character symbolises and portrays different aspects of Messinan society, whether it be conventional or not.

The gender conflict is also strongly present throughout controlling much of the action and dialogue and unveiling characteristics of the society that otherwise would have remained undetermined. The continuous battle between Beatrice and Benedick is a battle of the sexes and provides one of the prominent themes of the play. This revolves around gender roles and the differences between man and woman. Through Beatrice and Benedick, this theme is enacted in playfully antagonistic terms. At the very start of the play Leonato says to the messenger bringing word that Benedick will soon arrive in Messina's court:

"You must not mistake my niece. There is a kind of merry war betwixt Signor Benedick and her; they never meet but there's a skirmish of wit between them."

Beatrice's non-conformist character and the fact that she plays does not play an important role only within the play but also in Leonato's court shows that Messina situates itself in a position to accord importance to people like Beatrice who are the exceptions rather than the rule, thus the society in a way leaves itself open to possibilities and as such may be perceived as tolerant.

In Historical context men of the time were expected to be chivalrous and also abide by codes of honour as well as other unspoken rules of social demeanour. Men were seen as higher than women as is evidenced in the play with the giving away of Hero to Claudio as though she were property and her ownership merely exchanged hands, and women weren't supposed to get involved in the purported affairs of men and were instead meant to keep to themselves and maintain a maiden-like image. When Antonio says -

"Well, niece, I trust you will be ruled by your father"

- in regards to gender roles and relationships in the 16th Century we are reminded that women were the recessive of the two genders and were controlled by the leading male figures in their lives. Either their fathers of their husbands. Save Beatrice who is the main exception to these social conducts, everybody conforms in the play to these mannerisms, thus exemplifying the fact that a person's appearance and fa�ade in Messina were of great importance.

This changed however when the two sexes were segregated for the gulling of Beatrice and Benedick. In particular Hero becomes a far more dominating character within an all-female environment and her previous image is shown to be an act. To a lesser extent also Don Pedro and Claudio converse much more freely and unreservedly when they are alone in contrast to when they are in public view. It is only when alone that Claudio professes his love for Hero.

The register of characters when they talk to one another varies greatly from the two ends of the spectrum from the overly formal and cordial in Leonato's case - almost to an artificial extent - to the common and coarse amongst characters more familiar with one another.

Imagery is made much use of in the language of the Messinans, with metaphors and similes being used frequently in their speech, notably with the men of the play using hunting and fighting descriptions in much of their dialogue, evidencing (in the case of the gentry of the play) Their leisure pursuits as knights and noblemen.

These pursuits in fact would have been parallel to those of an individual of equivalent rank in Elizabethan England and as such would have conformed to the expectations that the audience of the era would have had of each of Shakespeare's characters. The gentry of the play recreate in 'manly' interests, shown by the fact that they have all just returned from war, and also that the ideas of chivalry and honour are embodied and exemplified in all the returning knights. (Don Jon and Borachio being the two exceptions) in particular, Benedick's challenge to Claudio for a duel in response to Hero's disgrace illustrates these ideas.

Religion also plays an integral role in the culture of the Messinans. Although the society in which Much ado about Nothing is set cannot be described as religiously strict, religion is nonetheless highly regarded amongst the people of the city, particularly when its rules or conventions are broken. Hero's disgrace at the altar is the perfect example of this, when under the false pretence that she was not a virgin Claudio, instead of marrying, dishonours and humiliates her in public. Her shame is portrayed as not only hers to bear, but also a burden upon her family as is evidenced with her father's, Leonato's, disgust at his own daughter and his acute inclination that in her infidelity she would be better off dead.

"Hence from her, let her die"

His speech in blank verse (which also shows his degree of edification) following his daughter's incorrect humiliation illustrates his immediate and sincere aversion to his own flesh and blood at the thought of Hero's discourtesy, even in lack of sufficient evidence, and in way also demonstrates his duplicity as a father.

Leonato appears to be a kind, loving father throughout the play, however with the disgrace of Hero a whole other side is brought out of him. In his speech (Act 4, Scene 1, lines 118-141) he is presented as egotistical and self-absorbed (repetitive use of "I" and "My/Mine") which contrasts heavily with what was perceived of him before. His angst uncovers another face to him and it is a similar sort of multi-facetedness to this that is shown - though to a lesser extent - when characters' personas alter under different circumstances. An instance of this is the way Hero changes from being seemingly quiet and conserved at the start of the play, to being quite frivolous, light-hearted and less hushed under the company of those that she is familiar with. The gulling of Beatrice and Benedick also shows how differently characters act when under false beliefs; each acting for what they believe would be their best interests under different situations.

The very idea of honour itself is an important initiative in the society of Messina. The aborted wedding ceremony, in which Hero is ultimately vindicated, rejected by Claudio as being unchaste, displays that a woman's honour and repute in Messinan society is principally governed by the fact that she is a virgin. The loss of premarital virginity for a woman in the context of the play and the era in which it was written, meant the loss of all societal standing and communal regard, irrecoverably, since virginity could never be restored, and was seen as a sign of the woman's innocence. Moreover this loss of honour blemished the standing of an entire household, thus when Leonato believes Don Pedro's and Claudio's slanderous attack on Hero he endeavours to destroy her entirely. Her standing irreparably damaged under the accusations made against her:

"O she is fallen into a pit of ink that the wide sea hath drops too few to wash her clean again".

On the contrary, the honour and footing of the men and their families within the ethnicity of Messina is defendable, albeit on more militaristic terms, in the form of a duel or battle. It is this kind of duel that Beatrice persuades Benedick into avenging Hero's honour by fighting Benedick to the death, since as a woman Hero cannot do it for herself; but as a man Benedick is in a position to do so. This motif of female helplessness and submissiveness to the will of men is evident throughout the course of the play, and further suggests that Messinan society is one of patriarchal values and ideals, much similar to those already present in Elizabethan England.

Shakespeare conveys the society of Messina as one where its characters belong to and are part of a highly stylised, highly conventional world, in which the mundane parts and requirements of everyday life weaken into the backdrop. Shakespeare's characters are self-confident, happy, warm-hearted and affectionate, but their naivet� leaves them vulnerable to deception. His society is insecure and so concerned with outward appearances that the people are easily deceived and fail to comprehend the truth, yet at the same time however Shakespeare manages to maintain a certain level of familiarity amidst the focal characters of the play, and keeps the atmosphere relatively light-hearted, providing an adequate establishment for the comedy aspect of the play, with the rhythm of the Messinans' lives set by the seasons and the timeless patterns of birth, Marriage and death.

References

• CliffsNotes - Much Ado About Nothing Play Summary
• SparkNotes - Much Ado About Nothing
• The Complete Works of William Shakespeare - Much Ado About Nothing