THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA
William Shakespeare
Act I, scene i
Summary
The Two Gentlemen of Verona opens on a street in Verona as Valentine bids an emotional farewell to his dearest friend, Proteus. Valentine explains to Proteus that he must leave Verona for Milan because he believes that young gentlemen remain simple if they do not venture out to see the world. Proteus responds that his passion for Julia keeps him at home in Verona. Valentine chides Proteus for being so consumed with love, and hints that Proteus' devotion to love will ultimately make him a fool. Proteus promises to pray for his friend, and Valentine departs. Proteus muses that Valentine has set out to find honor, and that Valentine honors his friends by becoming more dignified himself. With melancholy in his voice, Proteus notes that he has abandoned his friends, his studies, and his rational thoughts, all for his love of Julia.
Proteus' mournful thoughts are interrupted by the entrance of Speed, Valentine's punning page. After a long, silly discussion about whether Speed is a sheep and Valentine a shepherd, Proteus asks Speed if he has delivered Proteus' love letter to Julia. More punning ensues, until Speed finally confesses that while he did indeed deliver the letter, he could discern no particular response from Julia since she simply nodded her head when she received the letter. Speed notes that Julia did not tip him for delivering the letter, from which he infers that Julia will be hard and withholding toward Proteus' as well. Proteus angrily sends Speed after Valentine's ship, worrying himself over Julia's cold reception to his love letter.
Commentary
Proteus' musings after Valentine's departure summarize the main issue of The Two Gentlemen of Verona--whether a gentleman should value love or friendship more highly. Valentine, despite the amorous connotations of his name, seems to honor friendship first, whereas Proteus devotes himself to love. This tension between prioritizing either friendship or romantic love persists throughout the play. Many theorists are quick to note the homoerotic tension of Shakespeare's works, and The Two Gentlemen of Verona is certainly subject to such analysis. One can read the emotional farewell of Valentine and Proteus as hinting at a love that exceeds mere friendship; alternatively, one can read their friendship as being so profound as to surpass romantic love, ascending to the level of platonic love so highly-esteemed by the classical Greeks, and by extension, the thinkers of the Renaissance.
The opening act of The Two Gentlemen of Verona also introduces the play's chief flaws. Compared to his later comedies, this early work relies on a paltry number of comedic techniques. Rarely do more than two characters speak at a time, rendering the play a sort of endless duet. The structure is relatively uncomplicated, as the play slides into easy dualisms: love versus friendship, Proteus versus Valentine, and later, Julia versus Silvia. Additionally, with the later introduction of Proteus' own servant Launce, it makes little sense for Proteus to rely on Speed (Valentine's servant) to do his bidding. Critics surmise that Launce was a late addition to the cast, and that the unpolished Shakespeare, working on one of his first forays into drama, was not terribly concerned about introducing him logically.
THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA
William Shakespeare
Act I, scenes ii-iii
Summary
Julia sits alone with Lucetta. Julia asks Lucetta to counsel her on how to fall in love. Lucetta replies that she should fall in love carefully, and not be caught by surprise. Julia lists all of her suitors for Lucetta, and asks Lucetta to pick for her the one she thinks most worthy of her love. Lucetta tells Julia that her womanly instincts draw her to Proteus more than to any of the other suitors. Lucetta's choice surprises Julia--Proteus has never confronted Julia about his love for her. Lucetta replies that the "Fire that's closest kept burns most of all"--secret loves are the most passionate (I.ii.30).
Lucetta confesses to Julia that she accepted a letter from Proteus delivered by Speed, and that when she did so, she was pretending to be Julia. Julia's temper flares, not at this usurpation of her identity, but rather at Lucetta for harboring this scandalous letter. Julia says that all modest, proper maids would refuse to read such a letter, and angrily sends Lucetta away. Julia immediately regrets her decision and calls Lucetta back with silly questions about what time they will eat dinner. Julia requests that Lucetta sing her Proteus' letter. But after another squabble with Lucetta, Julia is so irked that she tears up the letter. Lucetta exits, and Julia mourns the torn pieces of paper, reading words of love on separate scraps.
Antonio and his manservant, Panthino, discuss Proteus' future. Antonio asks Panthino if he thinks it wise to send Proteus to the emperor's court in Milan, where Valentine lodges. Panthino advises Antonio to send his son away, explaining that Proteus will fulfill his noble birth by partaking in courtly society. Antonio likes Panthino's idea so much that he resolves to send Proteus to Milan the next day.
Antonio seeks out Proteus to tell him the good news, and discovers him reading a letter. The letter is from Julia, confessing her mutual love for Proteus and her desire to marry him. Proteus, however, lies to his father, telling him that the letter is a joyous report from Valentine expressing Valentine's wish for Proteus to join him in Milan. Antonio announces that Proteus will depart the next day for the emperor's court in Milan. Proteus is devastated by this development, but his father will not be dissuaded. Proteus laments that he was not brave enough to show Julia's letter to his father, and agonizes over leaving his beloved.
Commentary
Shakespeare designed his plays to appeal to both the upper and lower classes, and his exploration of the close master-servant relationship allows him to portray characters at opposite ends of the spectrum of social status. The heavy reliance of Julia and Antonio on the wisdom of their respective servants would have bolstered the egos of his proletarian audience. Although the play may be about two gentlemen, their servants are crucial to these gentlemen and their families. Julia's dependence on her maid is similar to that of Juliet on her nurse in Romeo and Juliet . Another parallel between The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Romeo and Juliet is the role that the whims of unrelenting and demanding parents play in determining the lives of their children.
Julia's indecision over whether or not to read Proteus' letter reflects the rigid social structure of the Elizabethan era. As will become clear later in the play, it is acceptable for men to behave badly and transgress social expectations, whereas such behavior in women meets with strong disapproval. Women must vigilantly guard their respectability so as to maintain their status as pure maidens. Consequently, Julia's desire for Proteus is in conflict with her desire to conform to standards of socially acceptable behavior. Julia's soliloquy represents one of the most beautiful speeches in the play, and offers a lovely glimpse of Shakespeare toying with his own concepts of literary criticism and the writer's craft. Just as Julia pieces together the scraps of Proteus' note, sighing over the bits of a lover's language, so too does the playwright piece together rich words so that plot strands may take shape and grow into a cohesive whole (I.ii.101-126).
THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA
William Shakespeare
Act II, scenes i-ii
Summary
Speed helps Valentine put on his gloves, only to realize that there is one glove too many. The third glove, we quickly realize, belongs to Silvia, the object of Valentine's affection. Valentine, however, is shocked when Speed refers to Silvia as "[s]he that your worship loves" (II.i.15). Valentine interrogates Speed on the source of this knowledge. Speed humorously rattles off a long list of Valentine's lovesick behavior: he adores love songs; sighs; weeps; has no appetite; and crosses his arms discontentedly. Speed says that these love-struck traits are as clear in Valentine as "water in a urinal" (II.i.39-40). Valentine confesses that Silvia has entreated him to write a love letter to an unnamed recipient. Silvia enters, and when Valentine gives her the letter, she coldly replies that it is written in a very scholarly fashion, and insists that he take the letter back. She wished Valentine to write the love letter to her; by misinterpreting her request, he has displeased her. Valentine is disappointed, but Speed chides him for not being overjoyed at receiving a letter from Silvia, even though it is the letter that Valentine originally wrote for Silvia's anonymous "friend." Valentine tries to convince Speed that Silvia is the fairest maid of all, but Speed refuses to be swayed, saying that Valentine's love has blinded his ability to judge rationally.
Proteus and Julia bid a tearful goodbye and exchange rings as a pledge of their devotion to one another. Proteus vows that the ring Julia has given him will remind him eternally of her, his true love. Julia departs wordlessly and Panthino arrives to hasten Proteus aboard the ship to Milan.
Commentary
Shakespeare was fond of implementing a theatrical aside to establish a miniature play-within-a-play, which served to unite the audience with the actors. Speed's gleeful aside upon Silvia's entrance ("O excellent motion! O exceeding puppet! Now will he interpret to her.") invites the reader to judge Valentine and his stuffy love letter (II.i.84-85). The theme of the play-within-a-play recurs throughout Shakespeare's plays, from the foolish Pyramus and Thisbe in A Midsummer Night's Dream to the play in Act III, scene ii of Hamlet , in which Hamlet determines Claudius' guilt by his reaction to the murder on stage. The play-within-a-play illustrates that daily life contains many moments of a dramatic nature. Shakespeare seems to suggest that if one stands back from life with a detached eye, like Speed leaning out into the audience, one comes to see all human interaction as a drama. This forces the reader to consider that the characters in the play (and real people, by extension) may perhaps be mere puppets in a larger plan, whether the plan is divine or Shakespearean (and whether or not there is a difference).
Speed's criticism that love has impeded Valentine's ability to perceive the world rationally introduces an important Shakespearean theme--that of appearances and disguises. Throughout The Two Gentlemen of Verona, characters disguise their appearances (as Julia does later in the play) and their intentions (as Proteus does in his pursuit of Silvia's affection). The layers of disguise in this comedy are somewhat simple, particularly when compared to Shakespeare's masterful tangle of disguises in Twelfth Night . Yet again, the reader can see The Two Gentlemen of Verona as an incubator for Shakespeare's favorite themes, which he develops more fully and with much greater complexity in his later works. /PARAGRAPH
THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA
William Shakespeare
Act II, scenes iii-iv
Summary
Proteus' servant Launce, dragging his dog, Crab, and dilly-dallying en route to his master's departing ship, complains that Crab is the surliest dog that ever lived. He laments that his family cried bitterly when he bade them farewell upon his departure for the emperor's court, while the dog has continued neither to speak a word of sorrow nor to shed a tear of sympathy. Launce enacts the entire farewell scene with his shoes and apparel: the shoe with the hole in the toe stands in for his mother, and the shoe without the hole for his father; his staff stands in for his sister, and his hat for the family's maid. Confusion ensues as Launce debates whether he or Crab should play Launce. Panthino arrives to fetch Launce, interrupting his production.
Valentine and Thurio, a boorish admirer of Silvia's, show off in front of Silvia. Speed stands by, trying to start a fight between the rivals by encouraging Valentine to punch Thurio. Silvia commends the men for their witty dialogue as the Duke enters.
The Duke marvels at the number of admirers clustering around Silvia, and asks Valentine about his friend Proteus. Valentine praises Proteus, calling him a perfect gentleman. The Duke announces that Proteus will arrive momentarily. When Proteus arrives, Valentine introduces him to Silvia. Silvia and Thurio exit promptly. Valentine admits to Proteus that he has fallen in love, despite his past criticism of Proteus for succumbing to a woman's sweet ways. Valentine presses his friend to admit that Silvia's beauty is divine and exceeds that of any living woman, but Proteus refuses to concede. Valentine confesses that he and Silvia are betrothed and that they plan to elope that night; he has a ladder made of cords and plans to climb to Silvia's window and ferry her away. Valentine asks Proteus to advise him about the plan, but Proteus weakly invents some pressing business. After Valentine exits, Proteus admits that he, too, has fallen in love with Silvia, having all but forgotten Julia in the face of this more beautiful competitor. Proteus ominously says that because he loves Silvia so much, he cannot love Valentine at all.
Commentary
The difference in style of speech between Launce and Proteus reflects the opposite social statuses of the two. Launce, a rudimentary precursor to the witty, amoral Falstaff (see Henry IV Part I , Henry IV Part II , and The Merry Wives of Windsor ), speaks entirely in prose. The inferiority of Launce's diction, in addition to the rather unpoetic quality of his speeches, illustrates the "low" nature of his character: he is a member of the serving class rather than the nobility. Proteus, on the other hand, ends his soliloquy with the flourish of a rhyming couplet, exemplifying his refined, gentlemanly nature (compare II.iv.206-207 to II.iii.26-28).
Launce's departure from home parallels Proteus' arrival at the Duke's court. The juxtaposition of Launce's melodramatic laments concerning his farewell, despite their seeming irrelevance, and Proteus' hungry musings on love establishes Launce as a foil for Proteus. Launce provides an honest emotional commentary, his departure being a source of great sadness; Proteus, however, whose namesake is a sea god in Greek mythology capable of appearing in various forms, supplants his love for Julia with a love for Silvia, putting the sincerity and depth of his emotions in question. The contrast between these two scenes demonstrates that nobleness of birth does not necessarily equate with nobleness of character. Further, it suggests that the stylized and romanticized loves for which both Valentine and Proteus suffer contain neither the depth nor the endurance of Launce's relations: though his reenactment with ratty shoes is foolish, Launce proves himself more warm and caring than Proteus.
One can pair this soliloquy of Launce's with his later one, both of which are seemingly silly commentaries about his relationship to his dog, and read them as Shakespeare's own comments on life as a playwright, with the dog representing a fickle public or an elusive muse (II.iii.1-28, IV.iv.1-33). In the humorous naming of a dog "Crab," Shakespeare comments on the ephemeral nature of language, and, since language is the chief means by which humans communicate, the difficulty in connecting to others (the failure of Proteus' letter to reach Julia directly can be seen as a literalization of this difficulty). One can interpret Shakespeare's exploration of the flexibility of language as a frustration at language's inability to fully explain true friendship and affection, or as the manifestation of a pessimistic belief that the possibility of true friendship and affection (Proteus claims to be a trustworthy friend and lover) is as ridiculous as someone naming a dog Crab.
THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA
William Shakespeare
Act II, scenes v-vi
Summary
Speed welcomes Launce to Milan. Launce replies that no one can truly feel welcome in a town until someone buys him a shot of liquor at the local tavern. Speed offers to do so, but first inquires after the status of the relationship between Proteus and Julia. Launce confuses Speed, implying through a series of puns that they are simultaneously broken up and engaged. The interchange ends with Launce's traditional dirty joke about how when Proteus is "stand[ing]" well, Julia is happy too. Speed, who is not so speedy at comprehending Launce's jokes replies, "What an ass art thou! I understand thee not" (II.v.19-21). Launce tells Speed to ask Crab if Julia and Proteus are engaged, saying that if the dog talks or wags his tail, the answer is "yes." Speed boasts that his master Valentine has become a "notable lover" (II.v.36). Launce, feigning to have misheard him, replies that he has always known that Valentine was a "notable lubber" (II.v.39). Launce finally convinces Speed to buy him a drink, like a good Christian.
Proteus debates whether or not to pursue his infatuation with Silvia. He says that to stay true to the impulse of love, which previously compelled him to promise himself to Julia, he must betray both Julia and Valentine, and worship Silvia. Prizing his amorous desires over friendship, Proteus devises a plot to snatch Silvia from Valentine's arms while simultaneously gaining favor with her father. He will notify the Duke of Valentine's plans to elope with Silvia; the Duke will then banish Valentine and encourage Thurio, Silvia's family-appointed betrothed, to continue his courting. Proteus plans, however, to trick Thurio out of his path, leaving Silvia with no choice but to love him. His soliloquy ends with the couplet, "Love, lend me wings to make my purpose swift,/As thou hast lent me wit to plot this drift" (II.vi.42-43).
Commentary
Proteus's weighing of passionate love against devoted friendship situates him in a literary debate already well-established at the time Shakespeare wrote The Two Gentlemen of Verona. In Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales , written at the end of the fourteenth century, the Knight in the "Knight's Tale" learns the painful lesson that blind love must always win over rational friendship. Francis Bacon, a contemporary of Shakespeare, wrote essays purporting that friendship was far more important than the dangerous, ever-changing whims of passionate love. Additionally, Shakespeare would certainly have been familiar with John Lyly's 1591 play, Endymion, in which the protagonist chooses friendship over love, and is rewarded with love as well in the end.
Proteus emerges as the play's villain because of his inability to understand that friendship and love can exist simultaneously. Shakespeare presents a moral vision that progresses past the moral visions of Chaucer and Lyly at times; just as Launce revels in double-talk, Shakespeare envisions a world of doubles. Friendship and love can coexist and complement each other; they do not need to be confined to the black-and-white realm of arbitrary moral decisions. In the development of Proteus' character, Shakespeare both presents his clear dislike for simple-minded moral decision-making and introduces his own morality to rival the morality of his well-established predecessors.
THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA
William Shakespeare
Act II, scene vii
Summary
Julia asks Lucetta to help her devise a plan to travel to Milan to visit Proteus. Lucetta warns Julia that it is a long and dangerous journey, counseling her to wait for his return. Julia insists that a "true-devoted pilgrim is not weary" (II.vii.9). Lucetta responds that she wants only to ensure that Julia's love does not exceed the bounds of rationality.
Julia reveals that she plans to disguise herself as a boy for the journey, so as to avoid the unwanted advances of lecherous men. She requests that Lucetta design her a costume befitting a high-class page. Julia fears that her reputation will be tarnished if her unladylike behavior is discovered. She believes, however, that Proteus is so pure, sincere, and immaculate that seeing him is worth any risk. Lucetta is skeptical of Proteus' alleged faultlessness, but Julia chides Lucetta, instructing her to love Proteus just as Julia herself does.
Commentary
Lucetta puts forth the idea of rational love as a counter to passionate love. As a servant, she is aware of the practical nature of marriage as social necessity, financial security, and religious sanctification of sexual relations. Because of her low status, she views passionate love as a luxury of characters in romances, and marriage as an arranged business transaction in which the woman's desires are ignored. Her concept of rational love is thus realistic, taking into account, on a grand scale, man's failings, and on a practical scale, the failings inherent in men.
Lucetta's understanding of how maleness functions in society positions her as a foil to Julia. When Julia praises Proteus' oaths, tears, and "instances of infinite... love," Lucetta responds that these words and actions are all "servants to deceitful men," implying that Julia has been fooled by the same tactics that all men use to trick their innocent sweethearts (II.vii.70-72). Lucetta's blunt stance on love accentuates Julia's naïveté, especially when Julia compares her impending journey to Proteus to a pilgrimage, believing the love she shares with him to be pure and immaculate. Lucetta is far more aware of the practical issues of the masculine world: she is suspicious of Proteus' promises, knowing that he is wont to stray. Her insistence that Julia wear a codpiece (a covering for the male genitalia) with her disguise is a crude but nonetheless practical suggestion for a woman hoping to act as freely as a man. It epitomizes Lucetta's understanding that social freedom (in the Elizabethan world) derives from maleness, the most recognizable aspect of which is strong sexuality.
Cross-dressing permeates Shakespeare's work, in both the writing and the performance. On the most fundamental level, women were not permitted to act on the Elizabethan stage, so all female characters were played by men in women's attire. Cross-dressing becomes an important plot device throughout Shakespeare's plays, with one of the most famous examples being that of Viola donning a man's clothes to travel throughout Illyria, in Twelfth Night . By blurring gender lines, Shakespeare confronts his audience with the fact that much of its judgment of male and female behavior is tied to preconceived notions of how each gender should behave, rather than to each character's individual needs and motives. While this tactic may not be novel to a twenty-first-century audience, it unquestionably challenged the way gender roles were perceived in the Elizabethan era.
Throughout Shakespeare's works, the use of disguise offers characters the opportunity to gain access to things normally kept secret from them, such as others' attitudes toward them. Such insight into an unsuspecting individual's mind gives the disguised a power over that individual. Julia, like all of Shakespeare's women, is inherently afforded very little power by Elizabethan society. Pretending to be a man allows Julia access to the male sphere, and enables her to pursue her love in an active, male manner previously unavailable to her.
THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA
William Shakespeare
Act III, scenes i-ii
Summary
Proteus alerts the Duke of Valentine's plan to elope with Silvia. Proteus explains that were it not his "duty" to notify the Duke of this development, he would not betray his friend in such a manner. Proteus is, of course, lying, as his true motivation is his desire for Silvia. The Duke admits that he has known for some while that Valentine has been visiting his daughter's room by means of a ladder, but that he did not want to challenge Valentine and appear ungentlemanly. Proteus begs the Duke to foil Valentine's plot without identifying Proteus as his source.
Valentine rushes through the courtyard, past the Duke, who asks him to stop a while and chat. Valentine is perturbed by this request, but nonetheless stays patiently. The Duke confesses to Valentine that he is frustrated with Silvia for ignoring his wish that she marry Thurio. The widower Duke makes up a story, telling Valentine that he is searching for a new wife to replace the love he once felt for his disobedient daughter. The Duke plans to "turn [Silvia] out to who will take her in./Then let her beauty be her wedding dower,/For me and my possessions she esteems not" (III.i.77-79). The Duke asks Valentine for his advice on how to woo a coy lady from Milan. Valentine embarks on a love lesson befitting of his name. He explains that all women love jewels and that when a woman frowns upon a suitor, it is not out of hatred but out of a desire to make him love her even more. Valentine advises the Duke to visit his ladylove by night, using a "ladder made of cords" to enter her locked chamber. At the Duke's request, Valentine promises to procure such a ladder.
Valentine begins to lose patience as the Duke pesters him with more questions. He asks Valentine how he should convey the ladder to the scene. Exasperated, Valentine says that the Duke could hide it under any cloak. The Duke insists on trying on Valentine's cloak, claiming that he needs to get used to wearing one. While trying on Valentine's cloak, the Duke discovers a letter in the pocket that outlines Valentine's plans to escape with Silvia. The enraged Duke banishes Valentine from his court, leaving Valentine distraught. Proteus comforts Valentine with an exaggerated description of Silvia's mourning and kindly accompanies him out of the Duke's palace.
Launce tells the audience that his master Proteus is a knave. Launce then announces that he himself is in love, though no one knows about it, and shows a letter to Speed listing his beloved's characteristics: she can fetch, carry, milk, sew, brew good ale, knit, wash and scour. She is not without her detriments: she is toothless, and overly fond of liquor, and has illegitimate children and "... more hair than wit, and more faults than/hairs, and more wealth than faults" (III.i.339-340).
The Duke asks Proteus to convince Silvia to fall in love with Thurio. Proteus feigns unwillingness to slander Valentine, but the Duke tells him that since nothing Proteus can say will help Valentine, no words can hurt him either. Proteus asks, "But say this [slandering] weed her love from Valentine,/It follows not that she will love Sir Thurio," hatching his plot to divert Silvia's affections directly to himself (III.ii.49-50). Proteus advises Thurio to gather musicians to sing a sonnet under Silvia's balcony that evening.
Commentary
The juxtaposition of the respective love pursuits of Proteus and Launce contrasts Proteus' passionate rashness and Launce's methodical practicality. Proteus' pursuit of Silvia is marked by disingenuousness: he claims to act out of a sense of duty, though in reality is motivated solely by his sexual appetite. He not only betrays both Valentine and Julia, but also presents a false front of honor to the Duke. Launce, on the other hand, is straightforward about his reasons for loving his milkmaid: his milkmaid has valuable workwoman's skills and a large dowry. He verbally expresses the same motivations for falling in love that drive the forging of marriages among the upper classes.
THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA
William Shakespeare
Act IV, Scenes i-ii
Summary
A group of outlaws overtakes the recently banished Valentine and Speed, who are traveling in the forest between Milan and Mantua. Instead of robbing Valentine on the spot, the outlaws listen to his tale of woe. Valentine wisely adds in a few spicy details about slaying a man in a fierce confrontation. The outlaws are much impressed. They ask Valentine if he is fluent in many languages, to which he replies affirmatively. The outlaws, who, like Valentine, are banished gentlemen, tell Valentine that if he refuses to become their leader, they will kill him. Valentine commits himself to leading the outlaws, but only on the condition that the bands do "no outrages/On silly women or poor passengers" (IV.i.69-70).
Meanwhile, back in Milan, Proteus lays his plans to double-cross Thurio. He meets up with Thurio and a band of musicians under Silvia's window. As the musicians begin to play an ode to Silvia, Julia arrives, dressed in a page's clothes and going by the name of Sebastian. Sebastian's host asks why Sebastian appears sad, and Sebastian replies that the musicians are out of tune. The host informs Sebastian that Proteus is so smitten with Silvia that he has ordered Launce to give Crab to her. As the music stops, Proteus shoos Thurio away from the scene, telling Thurio to leave him to plead Thurio's case with Silvia. When Silvia appears at her window, she believes that Proteus has been the one wooing her.
Silvia rebuffs all of Proteus' loving advances, calling him a "perjured, false, disloyal man" (IV.ii.89). She warns him that she will not be swayed by the false vows he used to trick Valentine and Julia. Proteus tells Silvia that his betrothed is dead. Julia, in the shadows, is quite surprised to hear this, but does not speak out. Proteus begs Silvia to give him a picture of her; strangely, he knows that one hangs in her bedchamber. Silvia is loath to give it to him, but stingingly says that since Proteus worships shadows and false shapes, the falsest version of a person (i.e., a picture) would be a fitting idol for him. Julia, after hearing the entire exchange, returns with a heavy heart to the host's lodgings.
Commentary
In Shakespeare's forests, the social norms of courtly life are suspended. Class structure and sexual morals fall away, and characters' social identities change. In the greenwood of A Midsummer Night's Dream , for example, Titania, Queen of the Fairies, falls in love with a mechanic whose head has been transformed into that of an ass. In the forests of The Two Gentleman of Verona, Valentine is reborn a king. This transformation does not involve the social formalities of class and rank; rather, Valentine's intelligence (he speaks many languages), cleverness (he tricks the outlaws with a false tale of bravery), and honorableness (he insists that the outlaws harm no women or poor people) gain him his new social status. Just as he does with the issue of gender, Shakespeare presents an individual whose status does not conform to socially-accepted standards of gentlemanliness, though he exhibits gentlemanly behavior, thus forcing the audience to examine that individual on his own terms.
Modern, gender-based analysis points to Valentine's banishment from society as aligning him with the outlawed Other. After his betrayal by Proteus, Valentine has found a new group of male companions, hiding out in the woods--a place symbolic of the suspension of social rules. The Duke and Proteus have forced Valentine to abandon the world of courtly, heterosexual love for an all-male realm. The homoerotic implications of this relocation to the forest resound through the rest of the text. At the play's conclusion, when faced with the choice of keeping his friendship with Proteus or winning Silvia's hand, Valentine chooses his male companion. Shakespeare would have invoked public condemnation had he espoused a flagrantly homosexual character, a fact that perhaps contributed to the tidy, heterosexuality-affirming (Proteus reunites with Julia, Valentine with Silvia) conclusion of the play. Yet Valentine's favor of his male friend is an important detail in the play's fabric, hinting that Shakespeare felt constrained by the narrow-minded sexual norms of Elizabethan society.
The truly faithful characters in The Two Gentlemen of Verona are those on the margins of society--women and those beneath the nobility on the social ladder. Launce is faithful to his master, his dog, and his toothless betrothed. Julia is faithful to Proteus even after she learns of his treachery. Silvia stands up to the Duke, Proteus, and Thurio (the three characters highest up in the play's hierarchy), remaining steadfast in her love of Valentine. Valentine remains loyal to Proteus, and overcomes class barriers in winning Silvia. Critics note that The Two Gentlemen of Verona marks the beginning of Shakespeare's pattern of imbuing his female characters with more sound reasoning than his male characters.
THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA
William Shakespeare
Act IV, scenes iii-iv
Summary
Silvia calls upon Sir Eglamour, a friend, to help her escape her "most unholy match" to the detested Thurio (IV.iii.30). She yearns to reunite with Valentine but knows she cannot travel to Mantua alone. Eglamour is a safe chaperone for Silvia, as he has taken a vow of chastity since the death of his beloved wife. Silvia and Eglamour make plans to meet the following day at Friar Patrick's cell.
Launce describes his visit to the Duke's dining chamber to deliver Crab as a gift to Silvia. Launce and Crab are in the room not longer than a "piss-/ing while" when Crab urinates on the floor (IV.iv.16-17). The Duke calls his servants to beat the dog, but because Launce loves the dog so dearly, he claims that he himself urinated on the floor, and takes the beating in place of Crab.
Proteus meets Sebastian/Julia and takes an immediate liking to the seeming page. He asks Sebastian to deliver a ring to Silvia--the ring that Julia gave Proteus at his departure. Greatly vexed at Proteus' infidelity, Julia sighs that she "cannot be true servant to my master/Unless I prove false traitor to myself" (IV.iv.97-98). Sebastian goes to Silvia's chamber to deliver the ring and collect Silvia's portrait. Silvia expresses her dislike for Proteus, especially when she realizes that the ring originally belonged to Julia. Sebastian thanks Silvia for being sympathetic to Julia's wronged love. Intrigued, Silvia asks Sebastian if he knew Julia. Sebastian replies that he was very close to Julia, and even once wore one of her dresses for a pageant at Pentecost. Silvia departs, and Julia compares herself to the picture of Silvia, believing that her looks are better Silvia's.
Commentary
Launce's devotion to his dog, though humorous, provides an important foil to the unfeeling attitudes of Proteus and the Duke. Proteus seeks only to satisfy his own desires, at the expense of others' emotions; likewise, the Duke ignores his daughter's protestations, wanting to marry her off for the greatest financial advantage possible. For Launce, on the other hand, his friendship with Crab entirely outweighs any cares about himself or his social status, enabling him to humiliate himself publicly.
Though Launce's diction is neither elegant nor poetic, his speeches represent the most developed use of language in the play. Whereas the other characters' monologues seem stilted, Launce's words flow naturally in the form of bawdy tales and hilarious encounters with his dog. Launce's gleeful speech about Crab's urinating in the dining room instances Shakespeare's ability to contain a cacophony of storytelling voices in one monologue: three servants, the Duke, and Launce all have a voice in Launce's story.
The encounter between Silvia and Julia is significant in that it marks the first time that two characters express and share concern about others: both are simultaneously outraged at the philandering Proteus and worried about the abandoned Julia. In discussing such important concepts as friendship and romantic love, the two women are able to relate to each other, despite the fact that Julia views Silvia as her rival.
Silvia and Julia trade objects (Julia's ring and Silvia's picture) and stories just as Valentine and Proteus will ultimately trade women. The interaction between these two women is far more meaningful than the slapdash rush of the play's ending, in which the play's intended couples are hastily paired up again, allows. A feminist reading of the play would interpret the bond of female friendship (despite Julia's disguise) as the most important, enduring, and under-developed aspect of the play. Silvia and Julia are both resourceful women who take risks in order to be reunited with the men they love. Neither betrays her man (Julia sublimates herself in order to be true to her love, forcing herself to withstand the discomfort of helping the man she loves woo another woman), and each remains true to the other woman as well: Silvia in her sympathy for Julia, and Julia, as Sebastian, in her unwillingness to drag Silvia into Proteus' web of treachery and betrayal.
THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA
William Shakespeare
Act V, scenes i-iii
Summary
Eglamour and Silvia rendezvous at Friar Patrick's cell. Proteus is interrogating Sebastian about his interaction with Silvia when the Duke interrupts them, announcing Silvia's disappearance. Proteus, Sebastian, and the Duke form a search party with Thurio and ride off to find Silvia.
Meanwhile, Silvia is captured by the outlaws as she rides through the forest. Her chaperone, Eglamour, flees, too fearful for his own safety to protect the young maiden. As the outlaws bring Silvia to their captain, she wails, "O Valentine! This I endure for thee" (V.iii.15).
Commentary
Eglamour's flight is another example of the failure of men to treat women with respect. Initially, Eglamour shows himself a kind and trustworthy character. The instant the bandits appear, however, he abandons Silvia to the outlaws' clutches. In using the French word for love (amour) in the noble's name, Shakespeare casts another barb in the direction of idealized love: a love that changes so quickly in the face of adversity is no real love at all. Additionally, Shakespeare again creates a disconnect between a character's social status and his actions: supposedly a gentleman and the embodiment of a superior, spiritual, chaste love, Eglamour proves quite a ninny.
The Duke tells the assembled search party that Silvia has gone to "Friar Laurence" (V.ii.35). Shakespeare most likely intended to write "Friar Patrick," who is mentioned in the preceding scene, yet this mistake is interesting because it casts the friar in The Two Gentlemen of Verona as the predecessor to Friar Laurence inRomeo and Juliet .
THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA
William Shakespeare
Act V, scene iv
Summary
Valentine sits alone in the forest, extolling the virtues of life in the middle of nature. He hears shouts in the distance and hides. Proteus, Silvia, and Julia (still disguised as Sebastian) enter. Proteus pleads with Silvia to give him one kind glance as payment for rescuing her from the outlaws who would have "forced your honour and your love" (V.iv.22). Valentine overhears their discourse but decides to wait to reveal himself. Silvia tells Proteus that she would have preferred being eaten by a lion to being saved by him. She emphasizes her love for Valentine and her hatred for Proteus' willingness to betray his friend. "In love/Who respects friend?" he asks her, "All men but Proteus" she replies (V.iv.53-55).
Proteus grows enraged at Silvia and moves to rape her. When Silvia cries out, Valentine angrily leaps out of the bushes and curses Proteus for his betrayal. Proteus begs for Valentine's forgiveness. Valentine immediately pardons Proteus and offers Silvia to him, at which point Sebastian faints. When Sebastian regains consciousness, he explains that he fainted because he forgot to give Proteus' ring to Silvia. Sebastian then produces two rings: that which Julia had given to Proteus, which he later intended for Silvia, and that which Proteus had given to Julia. When Proteus queries Sebastian on how he came to possess Julia's ring, Julia reveals her identity. Proteus immediately decides that Julia is more beautiful after all and decides to marry her instead of Silvia.
Thurio, the Duke and the outlaws arrive. Thurio claims Silvia as his, but Valentine threatens to kill him if he touches her. Thurio confesses that he doesn't really love Silvia, and that it would be stupid to be killed for someone he doesn't love. The Duke tells Thurio that he is a "degenerate," and applauds Valentine's noble behavior: "... by the honour of my ancestry/I do applaud thy spirit... Sir Valentine,/Thou art a gentleman, and well derived" (v.iv.136-143). The Duke grants Valentine's request for clemency for his band of gentlemanly outlaws and Valentine decrees that both couples should be married on the same day.
Commentary
Silvia demonstrates a religious zeal in her reprimand of Proteus for betraying Valentine and Julia. "Thou hast no faith left now, unless thou'dst two,/And that's far worse than none. Better have none/Than plural faith, which is too much by one,/Thou counterfeit to thy true friend" she scolds (V.iv.50-53). Her speech rings with an endorsement of monotheism, in which one devotes oneself to a single god (and simultaneously condemns heathen polytheistic religions). Silvia's language thus implies that the individual's fidelity in romantic relationships is as important as one's commitment to God, and breaking that fidelity is therefore comparable to a mortal sin.
The greenwood serves again as the locus of non-traditional social structure. Despite his aristocratic birth, Thurio is toppled from the social hierarchy and replaced by Valentine. The Duke erases any previous question about Valentine's social status by renaming him "Sir Valentine" (V.iv.142). One can interpret the ease with which this transformation is accomplished as a comment on the foolishness of judging individuals based on their birth. The superficiality with which language situates individuals in the social hierarchy, however, renews the question of how capable language actually is of representing truth.
The conclusion of The Two Gentlemen of Verona is perhaps the least satisfying part of the play, as a puzzling wave of shallow emotions and a plague of unresolved issues make the ending seem forced. Valentine curses Proteus' evildoing, yet pardons him immediately and offers Silvia to him as a token of his friendship. Proteus instantly decides, after all the trouble he has gone through to woo Silvia, that he prefers Julia (even in her male disguise). Thurio decides that he never loved Silvia. These uninspired reversals make the events leading up to this point seem irrelevant. Furthermore, the uneasy ambiguities of the play are allowed to coexist. Julia remains disguised as a man, though she has revealed her identity. Valentine shows that he doesn't care who he marries as long as Proteus isn't angry with him. Silvia, Valentine's bride-to-be, previously so vociferous in her criticism, is silenced for the last 120 lines of the play. Valentine's potential homosexuality is neither challenged nor addressed. It seems that Shakespeare felt compelled to wrap matters up conventionally in order to avoid having to resolve the often complex issues of class, gender, and sexuality at work throughout the play. However, the forced quality of the conclusion indicates that the themes explored in The Two Gentlemen of Verona have an importance that mere convention cannot diminish, a fact supported by Shakespeare's continued exploration of these themes in future, better developed, plays.
THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA
William Shakespeare
Analysis and Themes
The primary theme addressed in Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona is the conflict between loyalty to friends and submission to passion. While the play ultimately aligns itself with the tradition of espousing one side of the debate (the reestablishment of the friendship between Valentine and Proteus leads to a resolution of the non-platonic relationships), the moral twists and turns that each character takes in order to reach the drama's unlikely conclusion involve a host of other themes. Additionally, by writing a play about friendship versus love, the young bard was entering into a debate with writers who, at the time, were more established than he--namely, Chaucer, Lyly and Francis Bacon. By offering a view that challenged the works of these household names, Shakespeare presented himself as a competitor to the moral and narrative stance proposed by the great writers of his time.
The servants Launce, Speed, and Lucetta act as foils to their respective masters Proteus, Valentine, and Julia. By examining the servants' characteristics and behavior, the reader comes to understand their masters better as well. Launce's pragmatic reasoning about love illuminates the hunger for status and money permeating the aristocrats' staid romances. Lucetta, by advising Julia in the practical matter of disguising herself as a man, demonstrates her knowledge of socially-accepted gender roles. Lucetta understands that while it is expected that a young man will stray from his love, it is socially unacceptable for a young woman to be wanton. Since the higher status characters cannot honestly confront the social influences that guide their choices (and limit their options), the discussion of weighty issues (sexuality, money, class) falls to the servants.
The forest, significant throughout Shakespeare's plays, is important as a setting in which social norms are suspended. As in the fairy-infested thickets of A Midsummer Night's Dream , social status dissolves when characters are plucked from the rigidity of their traditional social settings and transplanted into the ambiguous realm of the forest. Individuals are judged as individuals in this setting, and the breakdown of traditional structure permits the flow of currents of behavior (homosexuality, merit-based social mobility, etc.) that run counter to established norms.
The quick and somewhat puzzling simplicity of The Two Gentlemen of Verona's conclusion allows thematic ambiguities to linger. In Proteus' feeling that Julia, still appearing male, is more attractive than Silvia and Valentine's deep devotion to Proteus, both sexual and gender identities are blurred. Julia's assumption of maleness gives her access to the male world, testing the boundaries of socially-perceived gender roles; that she maintains her outward maleness challenges Elizabethan sexual mores. Likewise, Valentine's willingness to yield his beloved, Silvia, to Proteus, hints at latent homosexual desires. Though Shakespeare resolves the play's outward tensions, he leaves the exploration of deeper issues, which resurface throughout his works, incomplete.
THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA
William Shakespeare
Study Questions
Discuss the importance of the servant-master relationship.
Subversive and socially uncomfortable discussions are placed in the mouths of the servants, who take charge of dealing with such tension-ridden subjects as non-standard sexuality, status via wealth, and the treachery of the upper classes. The servants also act as foils to their masters, helping illustrate their respective masters' attributes. Launce loves his dog Crab so much that he takes a beating for the dog's ill-bred behavior. His master, Proteus, on the other hand, is unable to commit to Julia, casting aside his emotions for her when he catches sight of Silvia. Lucetta, concerned about the practical emotions of marriage, maintains a pragmatic approach to love, while Julia naïvely lets her passionate emotions control her.
How does Julia's disguise affect her gender identity?
Julia disguises herself in order to visit Proteus in Milan, and by assuming a male sexual persona (embodied by her wearing of a codpiece), gains access to the male world. Her willingness to stray from sixteenth-century standards of female propriety demonstrates her love and devotion to Proteus, in addition to her discomfort with the restrictions that her society imposes on her as a woman. Julia's fear that Proteus may be cheating on her is grounded in the fact that such wanton behavior in males was socially acceptable in the Elizabethan era; this understanding of the gender expectations of her social milieu staves off the fate common to women of Julia's era--that of being hoodwinked by a deceitful lover.
What is the role of the forest in this play? Can you compare it to settings in any other texts, Shakespearean or otherwise?
The greenwood, not unlike the strange forest in A Midsummer Night's Dream,represents a place where sexual norms and class structure are suspended. Proteus' attempted rape of Silvia, which would never have occurred in her father's house, sheds light on the forest as a place in which individuals engage in behavior that runs counter to social norms. Further, Sebastian reveals that he is Julia in disguise, yet Proteus finds himself attracted to her even while she is still disguised, suggesting a latent homosexuality. Social mobility becomes possible in the forest, as Valentine, whose lesser nobility keeps him from being permitted into the Duke's inner circle, is granted status as king of the outlaws. The Duke later transforms him into a respected aristocrat, in the same forest, when he dubs him "Sir Valentine," unsettling preconceived notions of a well-defined class structure.
Which characters do you believe are truly in love? Why?
What type of moral vision do you think Shakespeare is proposing based on the play's turn of events?
What is Launce's relationship to his dog? What is his relationship to his betrothed? How does this make him a unique character in the play?
Compare the play's opening scene to its finale. Can you justify the play's conclusion?
How does The Two Gentlemen of Verona portray gender roles? In what ways is Shakespeare reinforcing the gender roles of the Elizabethan era? In what ways is he challenging these attitudes toward gender? What is the role of homoeroticism in the play?
Many Shakespearean scholars criticize this play for its rough quality. What elements of the play are they criticizing? Can you cite specific examples in which their criticisms seem justified? Where do you disagree with them? Why?
Perhaps the frankest discussion between any set of characters occurs in Act IV, scene iv, between Sebastian/Julia and Silvia. Why does this passage stand out from the rest of the play? What does the reader learn about the characters from this interaction?
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