Messina

The Italian city of Messina, in Italy, is the larger world in which the action of the play takes place. In Sicily, the city is remote enough to give Shakespeare's audience a sense of the exotic, and character names such as "Leonato" reinforce this aspect of the foreign (however, some names, such as "Don John" have been partially Anglicized). Messina is important as a town in that it provides the larger social institutions that eventually aid the protagonists in resolving their problems. The constable, however clumsy he may be, gets a confession from Borachio. The Friar provides the plan that allows Hero to maintain her honor and even marry the man she wants. Specific action takes place in very few locations within Messina, limited to a single street, Leonato's estate, a church, and a prison.

Leonato's House

Leonato's estate establishes his position in the social hierarchy. When the...