The Two Gentlemen of Verona is a comedy written by William Shakespeare. It was likely created between 1589 and 1593. Some people believe this is Shakespeare’s first play, and it shows early examples of the ideas and themes he would explore later in his works. For instance, this play is the first in which a female character dresses as a boy. The story focuses on themes such as friendship, betrayal, the struggle between friendship and love, and the silly actions of people who are in love. One of the most memorable parts of the play is Launce, a servant with a funny personality, and his dog Crab, who is known for being a standout character even though he does not speak.

Some people think The Two Gentlemen of Verona is one of Shakespeare’s least successful plays. It has the smallest number of named characters in any of his works.

Characters

• Valentine – a gentleman
• Proteus – Valentine's best friend
• Julia – Proteus' future wife
• Launce – Proteus' servant
• Speed – Valentine's servant
• Antonio – Proteus' father
• Panthino – Antonio's servant
• Lucetta – Julia's servant
• Crab – Launce's dog

• The Duke – Silvia's father
• Silvia – the person Valentine loves
• Thurio – a man who wants to marry Silvia but is not wise
• Sir Eglamour – another man who wants to marry Silvia

• The Host – an innkeeper who helps Julia
• The Outlaws – men who were banished from Milan

Summary

Valentine, a young man from Verona, is getting ready to travel to Milan with his servant, Speed. He hopes his best friend, Proteus, will join him, but Proteus refuses because he is in love with Julia. Disappointed, Valentine leaves for Milan alone.

Later, Proteus’s father decides that Proteus needs to go to Milan to learn more about being a gentleman. He tells Proteus to leave the next day, which makes Proteus sad. Proteus says goodbye to Julia, promises to love her forever, and gives her a ring. He then travels to Milan with his servant, Launce, and Launce’s dog, Crab.

In Milan, Valentine falls in love with Silvia, the Duke’s daughter. Silvia prefers Valentine over Thurio, a rich but foolish man the Duke wants her to marry. When Proteus arrives, he also falls in love with Silvia. To win her, Proteus lies to the Duke, saying Valentine plans to escape with Silvia using a ladder to rescue her from her tower room. The Duke banishes Valentine. While wandering in the forest, Valentine meets a group of outlaws, who choose him as their leader.

Back in Verona, Julia decides to go to Milan to be with Proteus. She asks her maid, Lucetta, to dress her as a boy. In Milan, Julia sees Proteus serenading Silvia and pretends to be Proteus’s servant, calling herself Sebastian. Proteus sends Julia/Sebastian to give Silvia a ring Julia had given him. Silvia rejects Proteus because she is upset by his betrayal of Julia.

In sadness, Silvia runs into the forest and is captured by the outlaws. While traveling to meet Valentine, the outlaws meet Proteus and Julia/Sebastian. Proteus rescues Silvia, but Valentine, who is watching, sees Proteus still trying to win Silvia’s love. When Proteus threatens to harm Silvia, Valentine stops him.

Proteus is shocked by his own actions. Valentine forgives him, saying, “All that was mine in Silvia I give thee.” At this moment, Julia faints, revealing she is really a woman. Proteus remembers his love for Julia and promises to stay faithful to her.

The Duke and Thurio are brought to the outlaws by the group. Thurio claims Silvia belongs to him, but Valentine warns him not to approach her or he will be killed. Scared, Thurio gives up his claim. The Duke is impressed by Valentine’s bravery and agrees to their marriage. Valentine and Silvia, and Proteus and Julia, are united in marriage. The Duke forgives the outlaws and allows them to return to Milan.

Date and text

The exact date when Shakespeare wrote The Two Gentlemen of Verona is unknown. However, it is generally believed to be one of his earliest works. The first known mention of the play appears in a book by Francis Meres called Palladis Tamia, published in 1598. Scholars think it was written in the early 1590s. For example, Clifford Leech said it was written around 1592 or 1593; G. Blakemore Evans suggested 1590–1593; Gary Taylor proposed 1590–1591; Kurt Schlueter believed it was written in the late 1580s; William C. Carroll estimated 1590–1592; and Roger Warren tentatively suggested 1587 but later thought 1590 or 1591 was more likely.

Some people think this play might be Shakespeare’s first work performed on stage. This idea was first proposed by Edmond Malone in 1821. Malone dated the play to 1591, changing his earlier estimate of 1595. At the time, many believed Shakespeare’s Henry VI trilogy was his first work. More recently, The Two Gentlemen of Verona has been listed as the first play in several major editions of Shakespeare’s works, including The Oxford Shakespeare (1986, 2005, 2016), The Norton Shakespeare (1997, 2008), and The Complete Pelican Shakespeare (2002).

A key reason for thinking this might be Shakespeare’s first play is its style. In 1968, Norman Sanders wrote that most scholars agree the play shows signs of being less experienced. Stanley Wells noted that the play’s structure is simpler, and some scenes with more than four characters seem to lack confidence in how dialogue is handled. For example, in scenes with more than three people, one character often does not speak. Speed, for instance, says almost nothing in Act 2, Scene 4, and Thurio, Silvia, and Julia remain silent for much of the final scene. Some also believe the ending, where a loyal lover seems to forgive the man who tried to harm his beloved, shows Shakespeare was still learning how to write plays.

In his 2008 edition of the play for The Oxford Shakespeare, Roger Warren argued that The Two Gentlemen of Verona might be the oldest surviving piece of Shakespeare’s writing. He suggested it could have been written before Shakespeare moved to London, possibly for a famous actor named Richard Tarlton, who performed scenes with dogs. However, Tarlton died in 1588, and some parts of the play appear to use ideas from a book written after that time, Midas by John Lyly, which was completed in late 1589. Because of this, Warren believed the most likely date for writing the play was 1590 or 1591.

The play was not printed until 1623, when it appeared in the First Folio, a collection of Shakespeare’s plays published after his death.

Criticism and analysis

The most widely debated part of the play is the scene in Act 5, Scene 4, where Valentine appears to give Silvia to Proteus as a sign of friendship. For many years, critics believed this moment showed unfair treatment of women in the play. For example, Hilary Spurling wrote in 1970, "Valentine is so moved by Proteus's apology that he quickly offers to hand over his beloved to the man who, just minutes earlier, had tried to rape her." However, modern scholars have different opinions about Valentine’s actions at the end of the play. Some argue that Valentine does not actually give Silvia to Proteus at all. The confusion comes from the line, "All that was mine in Silvia I give thee" (5.4.83). Some critics, like Stanley Wells, believe this means Valentine is giving Silvia to Proteus, while others think it means Valentine is promising to love Proteus as much as he loves Silvia. Jeffrey Masten, for example, argues that the play shows how friendship and love work together, not against each other. Roger Warren supports this view, pointing to stage productions where Valentine kisses Silvia, makes his offer, and then kisses Proteus. In another version, Silvia takes Valentine’s hand after he speaks the line, suggesting she is not given away. Other productions, like those by Leon Rubin and David Thacker, also support the idea that Valentine is not giving Silvia to Proteus but is instead expressing his love for Proteus. Patty S. Derrick notes that in the BBC production, Proteus reacts to the offer as a kind gesture, not a real transfer of Silvia.

Some scholars, like Kurt Schlueter, believe Valentine does give Silvia to Proteus but argue the scene is meant to be funny and not taken seriously. Schlueter suggests the play was written for a young audience, such as students, who would find the situation humorous. William C. Carroll agrees that Valentine gives Silvia to Proteus but does not see the scene as funny. Instead, he explains that such an action made sense in the social norms of the time.

The language in the play also helps show differences between characters. Valentine and Proteus speak in poetic verse, while their servants, Launce and Speed, mostly speak in everyday language. This contrast highlights the unrealistic, idealized love of Valentine and Proteus compared to the practical, realistic views of the servants. For example, Valentine gives a dramatic speech about missing Silvia, but Launce later jokes about his own love interest by listing her traits, like "she brews good ale" and "she can knit."

Many scholars believe The Two Gentlemen of Verona is an early example of themes Shakespeare later explored in more detail. E. K. Chambers, for instance, thought the play shows the beginning of ideas Shakespeare would develop later. A. C. Swinburne called it the start of Shakespeare’s unique style of humor and emotion. Warwick R. Bond noted that the play introduces themes like unrequited love, exile, and disguised heroines, which Shakespeare later expanded. Stanley Wells described the play as a "dramatic laboratory" where Shakespeare first tested ideas for romantic comedy.

However, some critics have been less favorable. They argue that while Shakespeare’s later works show a skilled writer exploring deep human emotions, The Two Gentlemen of Verona feels like an early, less successful attempt. In 1921, J. Dover Wilson and Arthur Quiller-Couch wrote that after Valentine gives Silvia to Proteus, "one’s impulse is to remark that there are, by this time, no gentlemen in Verona."

Performance

There is no record of a performance of the play during Shakespeare's lifetime. However, because the play was listed in a book called Palladis Tamia by Francis Meres in 1598, we know it was performed by that year. The earliest known performance of the play was at Drury Lane in 1762, but this version was rewritten by Benjamin Victor. The first known performance of the original Shakespeare text was at Covent Garden in 1784, advertised as "Shakespeare's with alterations." The play was supposed to run for several weeks, but it closed after the first night.

From the middle of the 18th century, even when performing Shakespeare’s original text, it was common to remove lines in the final scene where Valentine seems to offer Silvia to Proteus. This practice continued until William Macready brought the lines back in 1841 during a production at Drury Lane. These lines were still removed as late as 1952 in a production at the Bristol Old Vic by Denis Carey. Other notable 19th-century performances include Charles Kean’s 1848 production at the Haymarket Theatre, Samuel Phelps’ 1857 production at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, and William Poel’s productions in 1892 and 1896.

In the 20th century, the play was performed occasionally in English-speaking countries but was more popular in Europe. Few English-speaking productions are well-known. For example, little is known about Harley Granville-Barker’s 1904 production at the Court Theatre, F.R. Benson’s 1910 production at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Robert Atkins’ 1923 production at the Apollo Theatre, or Ben Iden Payne’s 1938 production at Stratford-upon-Avon. The earliest production with detailed information is Michael Langham’s 1957 production at The Old Vic, starring Richard Gale as Valentine, Keith Michell as Proteus, Barbara Jefford as Julia, and Ingrid Hafner as Silvia. This production was set in late 19th-century Italy and focused on high Romanticism. At the end of the play, Proteus threatens to kill himself with a pistol, which leads Valentine to quickly offer Silvia to him.

One of the most notable 20th-century productions was Peter Hall’s 1960 performance at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Set in a late medieval time period, the play featured Denholm Elliott as Valentine, Derek Godfrey as Proteus, Susan Maryott as Silvia, Frances Cuka as Julia, and Patrick Wymark in a highly praised role as Launce. Hall had recently become the artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company and chose Two Gentlemen as his first production, part of a series exploring Shakespearean comedy.

In 1970, Robin Phillips directed an RSC production starring Peter Egan as Valentine, Ian Richardson as Proteus, Helen Mirren as Julia, Estelle Kohler as Silvia, and Patrick Stewart as Launce. This version focused on themes of friendship and betrayal, and the play was set in a world of social elitism. Valentine and Proteus were shown as aristocratic students, the Duke was a Don, and Eglamour was an old scoutmaster. Poor outlaws were dressed in animal skins.

The RSC staged the play again in 1981 at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre as part of a double bill with Titus Andronicus, with both plays heavily edited. Directed by John Barton, the production included Peter Chelsom as Valentine, Peter Land as Proteus, Julia Swift as Julia, and Diana Hardcastle as Silvia. In this production, actors not involved in the scene sat at the front of the stage to watch the performance. In 1984, Leon Rubin directed a performance at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival where actors wore modern clothes and included contemporary pop music, such as scenes where outlaws were portrayed as an anarchic rock group.

In 1991, David Thacker directed a production at the Swan Theatre with an on-stage band playing 1930s music like Cole Porter and George Gershwin. The cast included Hugh Bonneville (then Richard Bonneville) as Valentine, Finbar Lynch as Proteus, Clare Holman as Julia, and Saskia Reeves as Silvia. This production later moved to the Barbican Centre in 1992 and toured in 1993. In 1996, Jack Shepherd directed a modern dress version at the Royal National Theatre as part of Shakespeare’s Globe’s “Prologue Season.” The cast included Lenny James as Valentine, Mark Rylance as Proteus, Stephanie Roth Haberle as Julia, and Anastasia Hille as Silvia. Another RSC production in 1998, directed by Edward Hall, set the play in a grimy, unnamed contemporary city where material obsession was central. The cast included Tom Goodman-Hill as Valentine, Dominic Rowan as Proteus, Lesley Vickerage as Julia, and Poppy Miller as Silvia.

In 2004, Fiona Buffini directed a touring production for the RSC. Premiering at the Swan Theatre, the production starred Alex Avery as Valentine, Laurence Mitchell as Proteus, Vanessa Ackerman as Julia, and Rachel Pickup as Silvia. Buffini set the play in the 1930s, with many dance numbers. London and New York were used instead of Verona and Milan, with Valentine and Proteus shown as wealthy sons living in the English countryside before moving to New York to pursue the American Dream. Silvia was portrayed as the daughter of a powerful media magnate, and the roles of the outlaws (shown as paparazzi) were expanded. New scenes showed them arriving in New York but without dialogue.

In 2006, a performance at the Courtyard Theatre in Stratford featured a Brazilian non-professional acting company, Nós do Morro, and a group from Birmingham called Gallery 37. The play was performed in Portuguese with English text projected on the stage. Two 17-year-olds played Valentine and Proteus, and Crab was played by a human actor in a dog costume. In 2009, Joe Dowling directed the play at the Guthrie Theater, set as a 1950s live television production with black-and-white monitors and period advertisements. Actors wore 1950s clothing and performed original dialogue with rock and roll music and dance sequences.

In 2011, Laura Cole directed a production at the Shakespeare Tavern, performed alongside The Taming of the Shrew and The Comedy of Errors. The cast included Kenneth Wigley as Valentine, Jonathan Horne as Proteus, Amee Vyas as Julia, and Kati Grace Morton as Silvia. In 2012, P.J. Paparelli directed a production at the Lansburgh Theatre, set in the 1990s with a modern soundtrack, mobile phones, and guns. This version focused more on tragedy than comedy, and reviews were mixed.

Adaptations

Benjamin Victor changed the play for a performance in 1762, which is the earliest known performance of the play, at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane. Richard Yates played Launce, his wife, Mary Ann Yates played Julia, and Elizabeth Pope played Silvia. Victor combined all the scenes set in Verona, removed Valentine's act of giving Silvia to Proteus as a gift, and made the roles of Launce and Crab more important, especially during scenes where the characters are involved in the action. He also shifted the focus of the play from the conflict between love and friendship to the theme of faithfulness. The final line of the play was changed to, "Lovers must be faithful to be bless'd." This required making Valentine a nearly perfect character who shows faithfulness and Proteus a traditional villain who does not care about faithfulness. Valentine and Proteus are shown as acquaintances, not close friends. Thurio was rewritten as a harmless but lovable character, similar to Launce and Speed. The play had only six performances at first but was still performed as late as 1895.

In 1790, John Philip Kemble produced his own version of the play at Drury Lane, keeping many of Victor's changes while adding his own. Richard Wroughton played Proteus, and Elizabeth Satchell played Silvia. The play was performed again at Covent Garden in 1808, with Kemble, who was fifty years old, playing Valentine.

The name of Edward Albee's 2002 Broadway play, The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?, refers to Proteus's song to Silvia.

Frederic Reynolds created an operatic version of the play in 1821 at Covent Garden as part of his series of Shakespeare adaptations. Reynolds wrote the lyrics, and Henry Bishop wrote the music. The production ran for twenty-nine performances and included some of Shakespeare's sonnets set to music. Augustin Daly revived the opera in 1895 at Daly's Theatre in a detailed production starring Ada Rehan as Julia.

In 1826, Franz Schubert set a German translation of Proteus's serenade to Silvia, "Who is Silvia? What is she/That all our swains commend her?" to music. This song is known in English as "Who is Sylvia?" and in German as "An Sylvia" (from "Vier Lieder," opus 106, number 4, D. 891). In 1909, Eric Coates's "Four Old English Songs" included a version of "Who is Sylvia." In 1942, Gerald Finzi included a version of "Who Is Silvia?" in his song cycle Let Us Garlands Bring, which uses Shakespeare's texts. The title of the work is the last line of the song.

In 1971, Galt MacDermot, John Guare, and Mel Shapiro adapted the play into a rock musical with the same name. Guare and Shapiro wrote the story, Guare wrote the lyrics, and MacDermot wrote the music. The musical opened at the St. James Theatre on December 1, 1971, with Shapiro directing and Jean Erdman as choreographer. It ran for 614 performances, closing on May 20, 1973. During its run, the musical won two Tony Awards: Best Musical and Best Book. The original cast included Clifton Davis as Valentine, Raul Julia as Proteus, Jonelle Allen as Silvia, and Diana Dávila as Julia. The musical moved to the West End in 1973, playing at the Phoenix Theatre for 237 performances. It was revived in 1996 at the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, directed by Robert Duke, and again in 2005, directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall as part of the Shakespeare in the Park festival. Marshall's production was performed at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park and starred Norm Lewis as Valentine, Oscar Isaac as Proteus, Renée Elise Goldsberry as Silvia, and Rosario Dawson as Julia.

The only film adaptation of the play is Yī jiǎn méi (commonly known as A Spray of Plum Blossoms), a 1931 silent film from China directed by Bu Wancang and written by Huang Yicuo. A loose version of the play, the film follows Bai Lede (Wang Chilong) and Hu Luting (Jin Yan), two childhood friends. After graduating, Hu becomes a captain in Guangdong and leaves his hometown in Shanghai, while Bai, who loves Hu's sister, Hu Zhuli (Ruan Lingyu), stays behind. In Guangdong, Hu falls in love with the general's daughter, Shi Luohua (Lim Cho-cho), but the general, Shi (Wang Guilin), wants his daughter to marry Liao Di'ao (Kao Chien Fei). Bai is sent to Guangdong and falls in love with Luohua. Bai betrays Hu by telling General Shi about Hu's plan to elope with Luohua, leading to Hu's dismissal. Bai tries to win Luohua's love, but she only mourns Hu. Hu later joins bandits and returns to reunite with Luohua. General Shi realizes his mistake and forgives Bai, who admits his true love is Zhuli. The film used English intertitles and credits, naming characters after those in the play: Hu as Valentine, Bai as Proteus, Zhuli as Julia, Luohua as Silvia, and Liao as Tiburio.

Two Gentlemen of Verona appears in the film Shakespeare in Love (1998). Directed by John Philip Madden and written by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard, the film follows the fictional story of William Shakespeare's (Joseph Fiennes) creation of Romeo and Juliet. Early in the film,