Much Ado About Nothing Lesson Plan

When the messenger arrives, Leonato asks how many men have died in the war campaign that Don Pedro is coming from. The messenger says, "But few of any sort, and none of name" (I.1.6). "Sort" here means "rank," and "name" means "distinction," or class. Leonato celebrates this by saying, "A victory is twice itself when the achiever brings home full numbers" (I.1.7-8). What kind of tone does this set for the play? What can the reader glean from this exchange about the social dynamics of this play?

This exchange between the messenger and Leonato primarily gives the reader a sense of how class operates in Messina, and possibly Italy writ large. The messenger says only a...