Two Gentlemen of Verona Summary

 

Two Gentlemen of Verona is a romantic comedy and is believed to be the first play written by William Shakespeare. It was likely written between 1587 and 1593, but the exact date is unknown. The story follows two young men, one of whom is engaged, who both fall in love with the same woman, causing conflict. The play explores themes such as the limits placed on women in romantic relationships, the unpredictable nature of young love, and the importance of loyalty between male friends.

Summary

ACT 1

Scene 1
The play opens in Verona with two friends, Valentine and Proteus, in conversation. Valentine is preparing to travel to Milan, believing that young men who stay at home ("home-keeping youth") develop "homely wits." He encourages Proteus to join him to see the wonders of the world and avoid a life of "shapeless idleness." Proteus, however, refuses because he is in love with a woman named Julia and cannot bear to leave her. He wishes Valentine well on his travels, asking him to think of Proteus when he sees remarkable things.

Their conversation turns into a witty, pun-filled debate about love. Valentine argues that love is a foolish pursuit, buying moments of joy with countless nights of sorrow. He concludes that anyone mastered by Love (whom he calls "a fool") cannot be considered wise. Proteus counters by saying that even the finest minds can be inhabited by love, just as the sweetest bud can contain a cankerworm. They part ways, Valentine to seek honor at the Emperor's court and Proteus to remain for love. Alone, Proteus reflects on how Julia has completely transformed him, making him neglect his studies and friends.

Proteus’s servant, Speed, enters looking for his master, Valentine. Proteus informs him that Valentine has already left for Milan. Speed and Proteus then engage in a comical exchange where Proteus teasingly calls Speed a "sheep" and Speed his master’s shepherd, using elaborate logic to prove and disprove the metaphor. Proteus asks if Speed delivered a letter to Julia. Speed confirms he did but received no reward or tip for his labor, complaining that Julia is as hard as steel. Annoyed, Proteus dismisses Speed, resolving to find a better messenger, as he fears Julia will not value a letter delivered by such a "worthless post."

Scene 2
In Verona, Julia is speaking with her waiting-woman, Lucetta. Julia coyly asks Lucetta for her counsel on which of her suitors is worthiest of love. Lucetta runs through a list of gentlemen, giving each a faint compliment followed by a dismissal. When Proteus’s name is mentioned, Lucetta reacts with such passion that Julia questions her. Lucetta then says that of all the men, she thinks Proteus is the best. When Julia asks for a reason, Lucetta gives a "woman's reason": "I think him so because I think him so." Julia pretends indifference, claiming Proteus has never moved her.

Lucetta then produces a letter she intercepted from Proteus. Julia, upholding her modesty, is outwardly furious. She chastises Lucetta for harboring "wanton lines" and conspiring against her youth, ordering her to return the letter or never come into her sight again. The moment Lucetta leaves, Julia’s true feelings emerge. She immediately regrets her actions, realizing that a maid will often say "no" to what she truly desires. She angrily compares her love to a testy baby that scratches its nurse and then kisses the rod. She calls Lucetta back and pretends she only wanted to know the time, but quickly notices a paper Lucetta "accidentally" drops. After more feigned disinterest and witty banter about singing the letter to a tune, Julia snatches the paper and discovers it is Proteus’s love letter.

She begins to read it but, in a fit of passionate confusion, tears it to pieces, throwing some pieces on the ground and calling herself "unkind Julia." She then immediately regrets destroying the "loving words," picking up the pieces and kissing them. She finds his name written and vows to keep that piece in her bosom. She decides to gather the fragments, but when Lucetta returns to call her to dinner, Julia again acts as if the papers are meaningless. Lucetta, seeing through the act, picks them up, noting that Julia would be pleased to be angered by another such letter. Alone, Julia expresses her wish for just that.

Scene 3
Proteus’s father, Antonio, discusses his son with his servant, Pantino. Antonio is concerned that Proteus is wasting his youth at home while other men of "slender reputation" are sending their sons out into the world to seek their fortune. Pantino suggests sending Proteus to join Valentine at the Emperor’s court in Milan, where he can practice noble exercises and converse with gentlemen. Antonio agrees and decides to put the plan into action immediately.

Proteus enters, reading aloud a love letter from Julia and rhapsodizing about her. Antonio asks what he is reading. Proteus, caught off guard, lies and says it is a letter from Valentine, containing news of how well he is doing at court and wishing for Proteus to join him. Antonio, seizing the opportunity, announces his command that Proteus will leave for Milan the very next day. Proteus tries to delay, but Antonio is "peremptory" and will not be swayed.

Left alone, Proteus laments his situation: "Thus have I shunned the fire for fear of burning / And drenched me in the sea, where I am drowned." He had feared showing his father Julia’s letter, and now his father’s own plan has thwarted his love. He compares his love to an April day, glorious one moment and clouded over the next. Pantino re-enters to hurry him along to his father.

ACT 2

Scene 1
In Milan, Valentine’s servant, Speed, greets his master. Valentine is now deeply in love with the Duke’s daughter, Sylvia. Speed provides a hilarious catalogue of the obvious signs of Valentine’s love: he has learned to sigh like a lovesick schoolboy, walk alone like a melancholic, and speak in a puling voice. He concludes that Valentine is utterly "metamorphosed." Valentine questions Speed about Sylvia, and Speed continues his wit, suggesting that since love is blind, Valentine cannot see his own folly or Sylvia’s (non-existent) deformity.

Sylvia enters. Valentine gives her a letter he has written for her, though he claims it is for the "secret, nameless friend" she asked him to write to. Sylvia, engaged in a sophisticated game of courtly love, teasingly gives the letter back to him, saying she finds it poorly written since he wrote it "unwillingly." She says she will trouble him no more but implies the exact opposite. After she leaves, Speed explains the jest to his oblivious master: Sylvia had Valentine write a letter to himself. She wooed him "by a figure" because she is too modest to write to him directly.

Scene 2
In Verona, Proteus and Julia say their farewells. Proteus asks for patience, and Julia resignedly says she must endure what cannot be remedied. They exchange rings as tokens of their constancy and seal their vow with a kiss. Proteus promises that any hour in which he does not sigh for Julia will be punished with misfortune. He is called away by Pantino and leaves abruptly, without a final word from Julia. He remarks that true love should be speechless, for it has better deeds than words.

Scene 3
In a comedic monologue, Lance (also known as Launce), Proteus’s servant, bewails his upcoming departure. He weeps over the separation from his family, but his dog, Crab, sheds not a single tear. He acts out the heartbreaking farewell scene using his shoes to represent his parents and a staff for his sister, chastising Crab for his stony-heartedness. Pantino enters and hurriedly tells Lance he must post to the ship to join his master. Lance puns miserably on the "tide" he will lose and the "tied" (Crab) he is forced to bring along.

Scene 4
In Milan, at the Duke’s palace, Valentine is with Sylvia and his foolish rival, Thurio. Proteus arrives and is warmly welcomed by Valentine, who introduces him to Sylvia and recommends him as a fellow servant to her. Sylvia welcomes him based on Valentine’s recommendation.

Once alone, Valentine excitedly tells Proteus about his love for Sylvia, describing how he once scorned love but is now completely humbled by it. He declares there is no woe like love’s correction and no joy like its service. He extols Sylvia as a "heavenly saint," a "divine" being, and an "earthly paragon." He reveals that they are betrothed and have plotted a secret flight: that very night, Valentine will use a corded ladder to climb to her chamber window and elope with her. He asks Proteus to come to his chamber to help him with the final details. Proteus agrees but says he must first go to the dock to disembark his belongings.

Alone, Proteus delivers a soliloquy that reveals his immediate and shocking betrayal. The sight of Sylvia and Valentine’s praise has completely undone his love for Julia. He compares his former love to a waxen image that melts away in the heat of a new fire. His "zeal to Valentine is cold," and he now loves Sylvia "too too much." He resolves to betray Valentine’s secret plan to the Duke to eliminate his rival and then find a way to thwart the simple Thurio.

Scene 5
Speed and Lance meet in Milan. Their conversation is a masterpiece of miscommunication and clowning. Lance describes the parting of Proteus and Julia as them closing "in earnest" and parting "very fairly in jest." He speaks in riddles about their relationship, saying that when it stands well with him, it stands well with her. He says the only way to get the secret from him is through a parable and that asking his dog, Crab, would be more productive. Speed tries to ask if Proteus has become a "notable lover," and Lance misunderstands, calling him a "notable lubber" (lout). They finally agree to go to the alehouse.

Scene 6
Proteus, in a soliloquy, openly confesses his treacherous plan. To love Sylvia, he must be forsworn to Julia, to Valentine, and to himself. He rationalizes his actions: his new love for Sylvia makes his old oaths to Julia invalid. He calls Julia a "swarthy Ethiope" compared to the fair Sylvia. He decides to tell the Duke about Valentine’s planned elopement, knowing the Duke will banish Valentine. With Valentine gone, he can then find a way to blunt Thurio’s pursuit and win Sylvia for himself. Love lends him wings to plot this "drift."

Scene 7
Back in Verona, Julia tells Lucetta she has decided to undertake a journey to Milan to see her Proteus. Lucetta cautions her that the way is long and wearisome and that she should wait for Proteus to return. Julia insists, saying that Proteus’s looks are her soul’s food and she is starving for them. She is determined to go, patient as a gentle stream. Lucetta asks what disguise she will use, and Julia decides to dress as a page for safety and to "prevent the loose encounters of lascivious men." She instructs Lucetta to get her a page’s outfit. She leaves all her worldly goods in Lucetta’s care, impatient to begin her journey.

ACT 3

Scene 1
In Milan, Proteus carries out his betrayal. He meets with the Duke and, under the pretense of duty and gratitude, reveals Valentine’s plan to steal away Sylvia that night with a corded ladder. The Duke thanks him for his "honest care." He reveals that he already suspected their love and has locked Sylvia in an upper tower each night. Proteus tells him Valentine is on his way with the ladder and suggests a place to ambush him. He makes the Duke swear never to reveal who informed him.

Valentine enters, and the Duke cunningly draws him into a conversation about love. He pretends he wants to marry a young lady in Verona but has forgotten how to court and asks Valentine for advice. Valentine, unsuspecting, gives him tips on how to win a woman: use gifts, flattery, and never take no for an answer. The Duke feigns a problem: the lady is locked away from all suitors. Valentine suggests resorting to her window at night with a ladder. The Duke asks where he might get such a ladder, and Valentine promises to procure one by seven o'clock. The Duke asks to see Valentine’s cloak to get one of the same length and, in pulling it aside, discovers the hidden ladder and a letter to Sylvia. He reads the letter aloud, exposing the plan.

Enraged, the Duke banishes Valentine from Milan and all his territories on pain of death, calling him a "base intruder" and a "overweening slave." After the Duke leaves, Valentine is utterly despondent. His life is over without Sylvia; she is his essence. Proteus and Lance arrive. Proteus breaks the news that Valentine is banished, adding that Sylvia’s pleas to her father only made things worse, resulting in her being imprisoned. He advises Valentine to leave immediately, offering to carry any letters to Sylvia for him. Valentine asks Lance to find his boy (Speed) and tell him to meet at the North Gate.

Lance remains for another comic interlude. He reads out a paper cataloging the qualities of his beloved (a milkmaid), which includes virtues like milking and brewing ale, and vices like having bad breath and being slow in words—which Lance insists is a virtue. Speed enters, they squabble over the paper, and Speed finally learns that Valentine is waiting for him at the North Gate and runs off.

Scene 2
The Duke tries to reassure Thurio that Sylvia will love him now that Valentine is banished. Proteus enters and confirms Valentine’s departure. The Duke, trusting Proteus because of his reputation as a lover, enlists his help to make Sylvia forget Valentine and love Thurio. Proteus suggests the best way is to slander Valentine with falsehood, cowardice, and poor descent. He advises that it must be done by someone Sylvia sees as Valentine’s friend—himself. Though he claims it is a loathsome task, he agrees.

He then gives Thurio direct advice on how to woo: write wailful sonnets, fill them with vows, visit her chamber window at night with musicians, and serenade her. The Duke, impressed, notes that this discipline shows Proteus has been in love. They all exit to put the plan into action immediately.

ACT 4

Scene 1
Valentine and Speed are traveling near Mantua when they are accosted by a band of outlaws. The outlaws, rather than being common thieves, are gentlemen who have been banished for various "petty crimes." Impressed by Valentine’s demeanor, his language skills, and the fact that he is also a banished man, they ask him to be their captain and general. They promise to live virtuously under his rule and not harm women or poor passengers. Valentine, seeing no other option, agrees to lead them.

Scene 2
At Sylvia’s window in Milan, Proteus is preparing to serenade her on Thurio’s behalf. Thurio and the musicians arrive. Julia, now disguised as the page Sebastian, arrives with the Host of an inn. She watches the scene, heartbroken, as Proteus leads a song praising Sylvia ("Who is Sylvia?"). After the song, the Host notes that Sebastian seems sad, and Julia says the musician (Proteus) plays false, which grieves her heart-strings.

Sylvia appears at her window. Proteus, now ditching his pretense of helping Thurio, tries to woo her for himself. Sylvia brutally rebukes him for his disloyalty to Valentine and Julia. She says his falsehood is so profound that the only thing he is fit to worship is shadows. When Proteus claims his former love is dead, Sylvia sarcastically tells him to go to her grave and call his love from there. Finally, to be rid of him, she agrees to send him her picture in the morning. Proteus exits, despairing.

Julia, as Sebastian, asks the Host where Proteus is staying, remarking that it has been the longest and heaviest night she’s ever endured.

Scene 3
Sir Eglamour, a gentleman known for his chastity since his own lady’s death, meets with Sylvia. She has enlisted his help to flee her father’s court and find the banished Valentine in Mantua. She trusts Eglamour because of his honorable nature and his understanding of true love and loss. Eglamour pities her grievances and agrees to accompany her. They plan to meet that evening at Friar Patrick’s cell and then depart.

Scene 4
Lance delivers a long, hilarious complaint about his dog, Crab. He recounts how Crab misbehaved horribly at the Duke’s table, stealing food and stinking out the room, and how Lance took the blame and punishment for him. He then scolds Crab for not mimicking his own courteous behavior.

Proteus enters with Julia (as Sebastian). He hires "Sebastian" as his new page, impressed by his looks and manner. He sends Lance away to find Crab, calling him a fool. He then gives Sebastian a ring to deliver to Sylvia—the very ring Julia had given him. He also gives "him" a letter and tells "him" to ask for the picture Sylvia promised. Julia, alone, is crushed by the irony. She must now plead her own love’s cause to her rival. She vows to do it, but so coldly that she hopes he will not succeed.

She approaches Sylvia and delivers the ring and message. Sylvia refuses the ring, saying it is the one she gave to Julia and she will not wrong Julia by accepting it back from Proteus’s "false finger." When Julia (as Sebastian) says she knows Julia well and pities her, Sylvia is moved. She gives the page money for his sweet mistress’s sake and departs. Julia is left with Sylvia’s picture, comparing her own features to Sylvia’s and wondering what Proteus sees in her that she lacks.

ACT 5

Scene 1
Eglamour waits for Sylvia at the appointed place. She arrives, and they quickly set out for the forest, fearing they are being followed.

Scene 2
The Duke discovers that Sylvia has fled. Thurio, Proteus, and Julia (as Sebastian) are present. The Duke reveals that Friar Lawrence saw Sylvia and Eglamour heading for the forest, presumably to find Valentine. The Duke commands Thurio and Proteus to mount up and follow him to Mantua to intercept them. Thurio vows to follow for revenge on Eglamour, Proteus for love of Sylvia, and Julia (aside) declares she will follow to cross that love.

Scene 3
Sylvia and Eglamour are captured by the outlaws. They reassure her that their captain is honorable and will not use her lawlessly. Sylvia resigns herself, saying she endures this for Valentine.

Scene 4
Valentine is in the forest, musing on his solitude and his love for Sylvia. He hears a commotion and hides.

Proteus, Sylvia, and Julia (as Sebastian) enter. Proteus claims he has rescued Sylvia from the outlaws and demands a kiss as his reward. Sylvia refuses and condemns him for his treachery to Valentine and Julia. When Proteus threatens to force himself on her, Valentine leaps out.

He confronts Proteus, calling him a "common friend, that's without faith or love," and a treacherous man. He says the deepest wound is from a friend. Proteus is immediately overcome with shame and guilt and begs forgiveness. Valentine, magnanimous and placing friendship above all, instantly forgives him: "And once again I do receive thee honest." To prove his friendship, he makes the grand but shocking gesture: "All that was mine in Sylvia I give thee."

This is too much for Julia, who swoons. As they attend to her, the ring she was carrying from Proteus falls out. Proteus recognizes it as the one he gave to Julia. Julia, recovering, reveals her identity: "Behold her that gave aim to all thy oaths." She chastises him for his inconstancy but her love is clear. Proteus, seeing her again, has a sudden reversal of heart. He realizes that Julia’s "constant eye" holds more beauty than Sylvia’s, and his love for her is rekindled.

The Duke, Thurio, and the outlaws (who have captured them) arrive. Thurio foolishly claims Sylvia is his. Valentine threatens to kill him if he dares to touch her. Thurio immediately backs down, saying he doesn't care for a girl who doesn't love him and relinquishes his claim. The Duke, disgusted by Thurio’s cowardice, is impressed by Valentine’s spirit. He repeals Valentine’s banishment, praises his merit, and gives him Sylvia’s hand in marriage.

Valentine then asks one more boon: a pardon for his outlaw band, whom he vouches for as reformed and worthy gentlemen. The Duke grants it. Valentine then points to Julia and promises to tell the Duke a story that will make him smile as they walk. He announces that Proteus and Julia will also be married on the same day, and all will be resolved with "one feast, one house, one mutual happiness."