The Two Gentlemen of Verona

Facsimile of the first page of The Two Gentlemen of Verona from the First Folio, published in 1623

The Two Gentlemen of Verona is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1590 or 1591. It has the smallest cast of any of Shakespeare's plays, and is the first of his plays in which a heroine dresses as a boy. It deals with the themes of friendship and infidelity, the conflict between friendship and love, and the foolish behaviour of people in love. The highlight of the play is considered by some to be Launce, the clownish servant of Proteus, and his dog Crab, to whom "the most scene-stealing non-speaking role in the canon" has been attributed.^[1]

Characters

Synopsis

Silvia by Charles Edward Perugini

The two gentlemen are Valentine and Proteus. In the beginning of the play, Valentine is getting ready to leave Verona to visit Milan to gain life experience. He begs his best friend, Proteus, to come with him, but Proteus is in love with a girl named Julia. At first Valentine chides Proteus for concentrating more on matters of love than matters of the mind, but after realizing that Proteus cannot be dissuaded and is deeply in love with Julia, he goes on alone.

Meanwhile, Julia is discussing Proteus with her maid, Lucetta. Lucetta reveals to Julia that she finds Proteus very fine - "Of many good, I think him best" - and tells Julia that she thinks Proteus is fond of her. Julia, embarrassed to admit she likes him, continues fishing until Lucetta brings out a letter. She will not say who gave it to her, but teases Julia that it was Valentine's servant, Speed, who brought it from Proteus. Julia, still unwilling to reveal her love in front of Lucetta, angrily tears up the letter, and then, having sent Lucetta away, kisses the fragments, and tries to piece them together.

Meanwhile, Proteus' father, Antonio, has decided that like Valentine, Proteus should also travel so as to broaden his horizons. He asks the advice of his servant, Panthino, who suggests that Antonio send Proteus to Milan to join Valentine. Antonio agrees and informs the dismayed Proteus that he must leave the next day. In a tearful goodbye with his beloved, Julia, Proteus swears eternal love. The two exchange rings and vows and Proteus promises to return as soon as he can.

As soon as he arrives in Milan, Proteus finds Valentine in love with Silvia, the daughter of the Duke. Despite his love for Julia, Proteus falls instantly in love with Silvia and vows to do everything he can to ensure he win her, even to the point of betraying Valentine. In the meantime, Valentine takes Proteus into his confidence, explaining to him that the Duke wants Silvia to marry the foppish but wealthy Thurio, even though she is in love with Valentine. To ensure that Silvia and Valentine cannot be together, the Duke has locked her in a tower. Valentine however, plans to go to her tower with a corded ladder, and together they plan to flee Milan. Upon hearing this, Proteus recognises his chance to remove Valentine from the equation, leaving the way open for him to seduce Silvia. He betrays Valentine to the Duke, telling him that his daughter and Valentine plan to elope. The Duke then catches and banishes Valentine.

While wandering outside of Milan, Valentine runs afoul of a band of outlaws. They tell him that they, too, were once gentlemen and were banished from the city. Valentine lies to them, saying he was banished because he killed a man in a fair fight, and the outlaws decide to make him their leader. Valentine is confused at first, but when they tell him that he must become their leader or die, the decision becomes much clearer.

While Proteus is attempting to win Silvia over, back in Verona, Julia decides to join her lover and travels to Milan dressed as a boy. She convinces Lucetta to dress her in boy's clothes and help her fix her hair so she will not be harmed on the journey. Lucetta warns her that Proteus may have forgotten her, but Julia is convinced that that is impossible and that Proteus could love her and only her, and she champions his fidelity. Lucetta however remains skeptical.

Valentine Rescuing Silvia from Proteus by William Holman Hunt

Once in Milan, Julia quickly discovers Proteus' love for Silvia, watching him attempt to serenade her. She then becomes his page - a youth named Sebastian - until she can decide upon a course of action. At first, she expects to hate Silvia because she is the object of Proteus' newfound affections, but when sent on an errand from Proteus to deliver to Silvia a letter and the same ring that Julia herself gave to him at their parting, Julia discovers that Silvia scorns Proteus' affections and is disgusted that he would forget about Julia for her. Instead, Silvia is deeply mourning the loss of Valentine (whom Proteus has told her is rumoured dead). Therefore, Julia is confused and cannot decide what to do or how to treat Silvia. She wonders what Proteus likes about Silvia and what she can do about it, eventually deciding not to chide Silvia, as Silvia felt pity for Julia's cause.

Meanwhile, not convinced that Valentine is dead, Silvia has decided to flee the city with the help of Eglamour, a former suitor to Julia. They escape into the forest, but they are confronted by the outlaws. Eglamour flees at the first sign of trouble, and Silvia is taken captive. The outlaws bring her to their leader (Valentine), but on the way, they encounter Proteus and Julia (still disguised as Sebastian). Proteus rescues Silvia, and then pursues her deeper into the forest. He catches up to her and, secretly observed by Valentine, attempts to convince her that he loves her. She refuses to return his affections, and, furious and mad with desire, he insinuates that he will rape her ("I'll force thee yield to my desire").

At this point, Valentine intervenes, and denounces Proteus. Horrified at what has happened, Proteus vows that the hate Valentine feels for him is nothing compared to the hate he feels for himself. Convinced that Proteus' repentance is genuine, Valentine forgives him, and then seems to 'offer' Silvia to him in the name of friendship. Overwhelmed, Julia faints, revealing her true identity. Upon seeing her, Proteus suddenly remembers his love for her and vows fidelity to her once again. By this stage, the Duke and Thurio have arrived in the forest, and Thurio reminds Valentine that Silvia is his. Valentine warns Thurio that if he makes one move towards her, he will kill him. Terrified, Thurio quickly denounces Silvia, saying no woman is worth dying for, and the Duke, impressed by Valentine's actions, approves his and Silvia's love, and vows to allow them to marry. The play ends with the two couples happily unified, and the Duke pardons the outlaws, telling them they may return to Milan.

In the comic subplot, even Proteus' servant Launce finds romance, whereupon he devises a comic résumé of the attributes of a lower-class girl. Ultimately, in consultation with Valentine's servant Speed, he decides he will marry her because she has "more wealth than faults."

Sources

In writing The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Shakespeare drew on a Spanish prose romance Diana Enamorada by the Portuguese writer Jorge de Montemayor. This work was published in 1559, was translated into French in 1578, and was published in English in 1598, though the translation was made several years earlier. It is believed that Shakespeare could have read the story in French, or in an unpublished English version, or could have learned of it from an anonymous English play, The History of Felix and Philiomena, which may (or may not) have been based on Diana, and which was performed at court by the Queen's Men on January 3, 1585. The History of Felix and Philiomena is now lost.^[2]

In the second book of Diana Enamorada, Don Felix is in love with Felismena, and sends her a letter. Like Julia, Felismena pretends to reject the letter, and to be annoyed with her maid. Like Proteus, Felix is sent away by his father, and is followed by Felismena, who, disguised as a boy, becomes his page, and has the pain of learning of his new love for Celia, and of being sent to Celia as a messenger for Felix. The two lovers are reconciled at the end, after a combat in a wood, though Celia, having no counterpart to Valentine, falls in love with the supposed page, and dies of grief.

Another major influence on Shakespeare was the story of the intimate friendship of Titus and Gisippus as told in Thomas Elyot's The Boke named the Governour in 1531 (the same story is told in The Decameron by Baccaccio, but verbal similarities between The Two Gentlemen and The Governor suggest it was Elyot's work Shakespeare used, not Boccaccio’s).^[3] In this story, Titus and Gisippus are inseparable until Gisippus falls in love. He introduces the woman to Titus, but Titus is overcome with jealousy, and vows to seduce her. Upon hearing of Titus' plan, Gisippus arranges for them to change places on the wedding night, thus placing their friendship above his love for the woman (as Valentine seems to do at the end of Two Gentlemen).

Also important to Shakespeare in the composition of the play was John Lyly's Eupheus, The Anatomy of Wit, published in 1578. Like The Governor, Eupheus presents two close friends who are inseparable until a woman comes between them, and, like both The Governor and Two Gentlemen, the story concludes with one friend sacrificing the woman so as to save the friendship. However, as Geoffrey Bullough argues "Shakespeare's debt to Lyly was probably one of technique more than matter."^[4] Lyly's Midas may also have influenced the scene where Launce and Speed run through the milkmaid's virtues and defects, as it contains a very similar scene between Lucio and Petulus.

Other minor sources include Arthur Brooke's narrative poem The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet. Obviously Shakespeare's source for Romeo and Juliet, it features a character called Friar Laurence, as does Two Gentlemen, and a scene where a young man attempts to outwit his lover's father by means of a corded ladder (as Valentine does in Two Gentlemen). Philip Sidney's Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia may also have influenced Shakespeare insofar as it contains a character who follows her betrothed, dressed as his page, and later on, one of the main characters becomes captain of a group of Helots.

Date and Text

The date of the creation of The Two Gentlemen of Verona is unknown, but it is generally believed to have been one of Shakespeare's earliest works. The first evidence of its existence is in a list of Shakespeare's plays in Francis Meres's Palladis Tamia, published in 1598, but it is thought to have been written in the early 1590s.

It has been suggested that Two Gentlemen may have been Shakespeare's first work for the stage (it is placed first in the Oxford Shakespeare Complete Works of 1986), as the scenes involving more than, at most, four characters, "betray an uncertainty of technique suggestive of inexperience."^[5] It has also been suggested that the handling of the final scene, in which the faithful lover seemingly offers his beloved to the man who has just attempted to rape her, as a token of his forgiveness, is a sign of Shakespeare's lack of maturity as a dramatist.^[6]

In his 2008 edition of the play for the Oxford Shakespeare, Roger Warren argues that the play is the oldest surviving piece of Shakespearian literature, suggesting a date of composition as somewhere between 1587 and 1591. He hypothesises that the play was perhaps written before Shakespeare came to London, with an idea towards using the famous comic actor Richard Tarlton in the role of Launce (this theory stems from the fact that Tarlton had performed several extremely popular and well known scenes with dogs). However, Tarlton died in September 1588, and Warren notes several passages in Two Gentlemen which seem to borrow from John Lyly's Midas, which wasn't written until at least late-1589. As such, Warren acknowledges that 1590/1591 is most likely the correct date of composition.^[7]

The play was not printed until 1623, when it appeared in the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays.

Critism and analysis

Critical History

Perhaps the most critically discussed issue in the play is the bizarre sequence, certainly by modern Western European standards, in Act 5, Scene 4 in which Valentine seems to 'give' Silvia to Proteus out of friendship, without even asking her her opinion. For many years, the general critical consensus on this issue was that the incident revealed an inherent misogyny in the text, as Valentine's actions are, simply, unacceptable. For example, Hilary Spurling wrote in 1870, "Valentine is so overcome [by Proteus' apology] that he promptly offers to hand over his beloved to the man who, not three minutes before, had meant to rape her".^[8] Modern scholarship however is much more divided about Valentine's actions at the end of the play, with some critics arguing that he does not give Silvia to Proteus at all. The ambiguity lies in the line "All that was mine in Silvia I give to thee" (5.4.83). Many critics (such as Stanley Wells for example) interpret this to mean that Valentine is indeed handing Silvia over to her would-be rapist, but another school of thought suggests that Valentine simply means "I will love you [Proteus] with as much love as I love Silvia," thus reconciling the dichotomy of friendship and love as depicted elsewhere in the play. In his 2008 Oxford Shakespeare edition of the play, Roger Warren argues for this latter meaning, citing Robin Phillips' RSC production of the play at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1970, where Valentine kisses Silvia, makes his offer and then kisses Proteus. Another production cited by Warren is Edward Hall's staging in 1998, at the Swan Theatre. In Hall's version of the scene, after Valentine says the controversial line, Silvia approaches him and takes him by the hand. They remain holding hands for the rest of the play, clearly suggesting that Valentine has not 'given' her away. Warren also mentions Leon Rubin's 1984 Ontario production (where the controversial line was altered to "All my love to Silvia I also give to thee"), David Thacker's 1991 Swan Theatre production, and the 1983 BBC Shakespeare television adaptation as supporting the theory that Valentine is not giving Silvia away, but is simply promising to love Proteus as much as he loves Silvia.

Language

Language is of primary importance in the play insofar as Valentine and Proteus speak in blank verse, but Launce and Speed speak (for the most part) in prose. More specifically, the actual content of many of the speeches serve to illustrate the pompousness of Valentine and Proteus' exalted outlook, and the more realistic and practical outlook of the servants. This is most apparent in Act 3, Scene 1. Valentine has just given a lengthy speech lamenting his banishment and musing on how he can possibly survive without Silvia; "Except I be by Silvia in the night/There is no music in the nightingale./Unless I look on Silvia in the day/There is no day for me to look upon" (178-181). However, when Launce enters only a few lines later, he announces that he too is in love, and proceeds to outline, along with Speed, all of his betrothed's positives; "She brews good ale"; "She can knit"; "She can wash and scour", and negatives; "She hath a sweet mouth"; "She doth talk in her sleep"; "She is slow in words". After weighing his options, Launce decides that the woman's most important quality is that "she hath more hair than wit, and more faults than hairs, and more wealth than faults" (343-344). He announces that her wealth "makes the faults gracious" (356), and chooses for that reason to wed her. This purely materialistic reasoning, as revealed in the form of language, is in stark contrast to the more spiritual and idealised love espoused by Valentine earlier in the scene.

Themes

Love and friendship

A major theme of the play is the contest between friendship and love: that is, the question of whether the relationship between two male friends is more important than that between lovers, encapsulated by Proteus' rhetorical question at 5.4.54; "In love/Who respects friend?". This question "exposes the raw nerve at the heart of the central relationships, the dark reality lurking beneath the wit and lyricism with which the play has in general presented lovers' behaviour".^[9] In the program notes for John Barton's 1981 RSC production, Anne Barton, his wife, wrote that the central theme of the play was "how to bring love and friendship into a constructive and mutually enhancing relationship." This is a common theme in Renaissance literature, since some aspects of the culture of the time celebrated friendship as the more important relationship (because it is pure and unconcerned with sexual attraction), and contended that they could not co-exist. However, if one accepts that Valentine does not give Silvia away to Proteus, but offers to love Proteus as much as he loves Silvia, then the conclusion of the play can be read as a final triumphant reconciliation between friendship and love; Valentine intends to love his friend as much as he does his betrothed. Love and friendship are shown to be co-existent, not exclusive.

Foolishness of lovers

Another major theme is the foolishness of lovers, what Roger Warren refers to as "mockery of the absurdity of conventional lovers' behaviour".^[10] Valentine for example, is introduced into the play mocking the excesses of love; "To be in love, where scorn is bought with groans/Coy looks with heart-sore sighs, one fading moment's mirth/With twenty watchful, weary, tedious nights" (1.1.29-31). Later, however, he becomes as much a prisoner of love as Proteus, exclaiming, "For in revenge of my contempt for love/Love hath chased sleep from my enthrall'd eyes/And made them watchers of my own heart's sorrow" (2.4.131-133). The majority of the cynicism as regards conventional lovers however comes from Launce and Speed, who serve as foils for Proteus and Valentine. Several times in the play, after either Valentine or Proteus has made a grandiose speech about love, Shakespeare introduces either Launce or Speed (or sometimes both), whose speeches undercut what has just been heard, exposing Proteus and Valentine to mockery.

Inconstancy

A third major theme is inconstancy, particularly as manifested in Proteus, whose very name hints at his changeable mind (in Ovid's Metamorphoses, Proteus is a sea-god forever changing its shape). At the start of the play, Proteus has only eyes for Julia. However upon meeting Silvia, he immediately falls in love her (although he has no idea why). He then finds himself drawn to the page Sebastian (Julia in disguise) whilst still trying to woo Silvia, and at the end of the play, he announces that Silvia is no better than Julia and vows he now loves Julia again.

Performance

Valentine wooing Silvia, observed by the Duke, a painting by Alfred Elmore

There is no record of a performance in Shakespeare's era, down to the closing of the theatres in 1642, although due to its inclusion in Francis Meres's Palladis Tamia in 1598, we know it was certainly performed during Shakespeare's lifetime. The earliest known performance occurred at Drury Lane in 1762. However, this production was of a version of the play rewritten by Benjamin Victor which brought all the Verona scenes together (thus avoiding Shakespeare's alternation between Verona and Milan), removed Valentine's 'gift' of Silvia to Proteus, and increased the roles of Launce and Crab. The earliest known performance of the straight Shakespearean text was at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden in 1784, although the Victor rewrite continued to be staged up to 1895.

From the middle of the eighteenth century, even if staging Shakespeare's original play (as opposed to Victor's rewrite) it was common for directors to cut the lines in the final scene where Valentine seems to offer Silvia to Proteus, who has just attempted to rape her, as a sign of his forgiveness and friendship. This practice prevailed until William Charles Macready reintroduced the lines in 1841, although they were still being removed as late as 1952, in Denis Carey's production at the Bristol Old Vic.^[11]

During the twentieth century, the play has been produced sporadically, often with little success, in the English-speaking world; although it has proved more popular in Europe.^[12] Indeed, there have been only a handful of major English speaking productions worth noting. For example, the Old Vic staged the play in 1957, directed by Michael Langham and starring Keith Mitchell as Proteus and Barbara Jefford as Julia. In this production, set in late nineteenth century Italy and grounded very much in high Romanticism, Proteus threatens to kill himself with a pistol at the end of the play, prompting Valentine's hasty offer of Silvia. Another notable production was Peter Hall's at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in 1960 starring Denholm Elliot as Valentine, Derek Godfrey as Proteus, Susan Maryott as Silvia, Frances Cuka as Julia, and featuring a much lauded performance by Patrick Wymark as Launce. This production which was set in a late medieval milieu. Ten years later, Robin Phillips' production, also at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, in 1970 starred Kevin Egan as Valentine, Ian Richardson as Proteus, Helen Mirren as Julia, Estelle Kohler as Silvia, and Patrick Stewart as Launce. This production concentrated on the issues of friendship and treachery.

The Royal Shakespeare Company staged the play, again at Stratford, in 1981. Under the direction of John Barton, with Peter Land as Proteus, Peter Chelsom as Valentine, Julia Swift as Julia and Diana Hardcastle as Silvia. This production saw the actors not involved in the current on-stage scene sit at the front of the stage and watch the performance. Leon Rubin directed another major performance at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, Canada in 1984, where the actors were dressed in modern clothes and contemporary pop music was featured within the play (for example, the outlaws are portrayed as an anarchic rock group). A 1991 production at the Swan Theatre saw director David Thacker use an on-stage live band for the duration of the play, playing music from the 1930s, such as Cole Porter and George Gershwin. Thacker's production featured Barry Lynch as Proteus, Richard Bonneville as Valentine, Clare Holman as Julia and Saskia Reeves as Silvia. In 1996, Jack Shepherd directed a modern dress version at the Globe Theatre starring Lenny James as Valentine, Mark Rylance as Proteus, Stephanie Roth Haberle as Julia and Anastasia Hille as Silvia. Another production took place at the Swan in 1998, under the direction of Edward Hall, and starring Tom Goodman-Hill as Valentine, Dominic Rowan as Proteus, Lesley Vickerage as Julia and Poppy Miller as Silvia. This production set the play in a grimy unnamed contemporary city where material obsession was all-encompassing.

In 2001, Douglas C. Wager directed a version of the play set in the 1950s and featuring the music of Bill Haley and Connie Francis, with Gregory Wooddell as Valentine, Paul Whitthorne as Proteus, Julia Dion as Julia and Louise Zachry as Silvia. Another performance worth noting occurred at Stratford in 2006. A professional acting company from Brazil, named Nós do Morro gave a single performance of the play during the RSC's presentation of the Complete Works, directed by Guti Fraga. This production was spoken in Portuguese, with the original English text projected as surtitles onto the back of the stage. It also featured two 17 years olds in the roles of Valentine and Proteus (usually, actors in their 20s are cast), and Crab was played not by a dog, but by a human actor. In 2009, Joe Dowling directed the play at the Guthrie Theater as a 1955 live television production, with large black-and-white monitors set on either side of the stage, and cameras feeding the action to them. Additionally, period advertisements appeared both before the show and during the intermission. The actors spoke the original dialog, but wore 1950s clothing and used 1950s-era sets. Rock and roll music and dance sequences were occasionally mixed with the action.

Perhaps with some of these productions in mind, Stanley Wells suggests that the play "has succeeded best when subjected to adaptation, increasing its musical content, adjusting the emphasis of the last scene so as to reduce the shock of Valentine's donation of Silvia to Proteus, and updating the setting.^[13]

Adaptations

Theatrical

Benjamin Victor rewrote the play some time prior to 1762, when it was performed at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane. Victor brought all the Verona scenes together, removed Valentine's 'gift' of Silvia to Proteus, and increased the roles of Launce and Crab. His rewrite was still being performed as late as 1895.

Frederic Reynolds staged an operatic version in 1821 at Covent Garden as part of his series of adaptations of the works of Shakespeare. Reynolds wrote the lyrics, and Henry Bishop wrote the music.

In 1971, Galt MacDermot, John Guare and Mel Shapiro adapted the show into a rock musical under the same name as the play. Guare and Shapiro wrote the book, Guare the lyrics, and MacDermot the music. Opening 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.^[14] During its intial run, the play won two Tony Awards; Best Musical and Best Book. The original cast included Clifton Davis as Valentine, Raúl Juliá as Proteus, Jonelle Allen as Silvia and Diana Dávila as Julia. The play moved to the West End in 1973, playing at the Phoenix Theatre from April 26, and running 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, Renee Elise Goldsberry as Silvia and Rosario Dawson as Julia

Stuart Draper adapted the play into a gay version called Two Gentlemen of Verona which played at the Greenwich Playhouse in New York City from April 20 to May 18, 2004.^[15] In this version of the play, Valentine is in love with Proteus, but Proteus' father would rather see him marry the wealthy Julia. Valentine leaves to seek his fortune in Milan, where he meets and falls in love with Silvia, daughter of the Duke. Leaving Julia behind, Proteus follows Valentine to Milan determined to win him over. Proteus is in turn followed by Julia (disguised as a boy), determined to woo him away from Valentine.

Film

The only cinematic adaptation of the play is Yī jiǎn méi (more commonly known by its English title A Spray of Plum Bloosoms), a 1931 silent film from China, directed by Bu Wancang and written by Huang Yicuo. A loose adaptation of the play, the film tells the story of Bai Lede (Wang Chilong) and Hu Luting (Jin Yan), two military cadets who have been friends since they were children. After graduating, Hu, a playboy uninterested in love, is appointed as a captain in Guangdong and leaves his home town in Shanghai. Bai however, deeply in love with Hu's sister, Hu Zhuli (Ruan Lingyu) stays behind. At Guangdong, Hu falls in love with the local general's daughter, Shi Luohua (Lam Cho-Cho), although the general, Shi (Wang Guilin), is unaware of the relationship, and instead wants his daughter to marry the foolish Liao Di'ao (Kao Chien Fei). Meanwhile, Bai's father uses his influence to get Bai posted to Guangdong, and after a sorrowful farewell between himself and Zhuli, he arrives at his new post and instantly falls in love with Luohua. In an effort to have her for himself, Bai betrays his friend, by informing General Shi of his daughter's plans to elope with Hu, leading to Shi dishonourably discharging Hu. Bai tries to win Zhuli over, but she is uninterested, only concerned with lamenting the loss of Hu. In the meantime, Hu encounters a group of bandits who ask him to be their leader, to which he agrees, planning on returning for Luohua at some point in the future. Some time passes, and one day, as Zhuli, Bai and Liao are passing through the forest, they are attacked. Shi manages to flee, and Bai pursues her into the forest. They engage in an argument, but just as Bai seems about to lose his temper, Hu intervenes, and he and Zhuli are reunited. General Shi arrives in time to see Liao flee the scene, and he now realizes that he was wrong to get in the way of the relationship between Hu and his daughter. Hu then forgives Bai his betrayal, and Bai reveals that he has discovered that his only true love is in fact Zhuli.

The film is notable for being one of many Chinese films of the period which, although performed in Mandarin when filming, used English intertitles upon its original release. In the English intertitles and credits, the characters are named after their counterparts in the play; Hu is Valentine, Bai is Proteus, Zhuli is Julia and Luohua is Silvia. Liao is named Tiburio rather than Thurio.

Television

The first television adaptation was in 1952, when BBC One broadcast Act 1 of the play live from the Bristol Old Vic. Directed by Denis Carey, the production starred John Neville as Valentine, Laurence Payne as Proteus, Gudrun Ure as Silvia and Pamela Ann as Julia.

In 1956, the entire play was broadcast on German TV channel Das Erste from a performance at the Munich Kammerspiele, under the title Zwei herren aus Verona. The theatrical production was directed by Hans Schalla, with the TV adaptation directed by Ernst Markwardt. The cast included Rolf Schult as Valentine, Hannes Riesenberger as Proteus, Helga Siemers as Julia and Isolde Chlapek as Silvia.

In 1964, the play was made into a TV movie in Germany, under the title Die zwei herren aus Verona, directed by Hans Dieter Schwarze and starring Norbert Hansing as Valentine, Rolf Becker as Proteus, Katinka Hoffman as Julia and Heidelinde Weis as Silvia.

Proteus (Tyler Butterworth) and Valentine (John Hudson) in the 1983 BBC Shakespeare adaptation

The play was adapted for the BBC Shakespeare series in 1983. Directed by Don Taylor, it starred Tyler Butterworth as Proteus, John Hudson as Valentine, Tessa Peake-Jones as Julia and Joanne Pearce as Silvia. For the most part, the BBC Shakespeare adaptation is word-for-word taken from the First Folio, with only some very minor and inconsequential differences. For example, omitted lines include the Duke's "Knowing that tender youth is soon suggested" (3.1.34), and Julia's "Her eyes are grey as glass, and so are mine" (4.4.189). Other differences include a slightly different opening scene to that indicated in the text. Whereas the play seems to open with Valentine and Proteus in mid-conversation, the adaptation begins with Mercatio and Eglamour attempting to formally woo Julia; Mercatio by showing her a coffer overflowing with gold coins, Eglamour by displaying a parchment detailing his family history. However, there is no dialogue in this scene, and the first words spoken are the same as in the text ("Cease to persuade my loving Proteus"). Eglamour is also present in the final scene, albeit once again without any dialogue, and, additionally, the capture of Silvia and the flight of Eglamour is seen, as opposed to merely being described.

In 1995, a production of the play aired on Polish TV channel TVP1 under the title Dwaj panowie z Werony, directed by Roland Rowinski and starring Marek Bukowski as Proteus and Rafal Krolikowski as Valentine.

The 2000, Season 4 episode of Dawson's Creek entitled "The Two Gentlemen of Capeside" was taken lightly from the theme of the play. Dawson and Pacey, best friends on the show, have been driven apart over their love for the same woman. The play is referenced early in the episode as the characters are reading it for their English class.

Radio^[16]

In 1923, extracts from the play were broadcast on BBC Radio 1, performed by the Cardiff Station Repertory Company as the first episode of a series of programs showcasing Shakespeare's plays, entitled Shakespeare Night. In 1924, the entire play was broadcast by the BBC, directed by Joyce Tremayne and R.E. Jeffrey. Treymane played Silvia and Jeffrey played Valentine, along with G.R. Harvey as Proteus and Daisy Moncur as Julia. In 1927, the scenes between Julia and Lucetta were broadcast on BBC Radio 1 as part of the Echoes from Greenwich Theatre series. Betty Rayner played Julia and Joan Rayner played Lucetta. BBC National Programme broadcast the full play in 1934, adapted for radio by Barbara Burnham and produced by Lance Sieveking. Ion Swinley played Valentine, Robert Craven was Proteus, Helen Horsey was Silvia and Lydia Sherwood played Julia.

In 1958, the entire play was broadcast on BBC Third Programme. Produced and directed for radio by Raymond Raikes, the play starred John Westbrook as Valentine, Charles Hodgson as Proteus, Caroline Leigh as Silvia and Perlita Neilson as Julia. It also featured Frankie Howerd as Launce.

BBC Third Programme aired another full production of the play in 1968, produced and directed by R.D. Smith and starring Denys Hawthorne as Valentine, Michael N. Harbour as Proteus and Judi Dench as Julia.

In 2007, producer Roger Elsgood and director Willi Richards adapted the play into a radio play called The Two Gentlemen of Valasna, setting it in two fictional Indian princely states called Malpur and Valasna, in the weeks leading up to the Indian Mutiny of 1857. The play was first broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 29 July, 2007.^[17] It was recorded on location in Maharashtra, India earlier in 2007 with a cast drawn from Bollywood, Indian television and the Mumbai English-speaking theatre traditions; actors included Nadir Khan as Vishvadev (ie Valentine), Arghya Lahiri as Parminder (Proteus), Anu Menon as Syoni (Silvia), Avantika Akerkar as Jumaana/Servi (Julia/Sebastian), Sohrab Ardishir as The Maharaja (Duke of Milan) and Zafar Karachiwalla as Thaqib (Thurio). Besides the new character names, some other substitutions suitable to the new setting (eg "by Ran" for "by Jove", "Vishnu's shrine for "the north gate", "the mighty gods' wrath's appeased" for "the Eternal's wrath's appeas'd", sahiba for lady, sahib for sir, and sari for robe), and the addition of some Indian dialogue, the production used Shakespeare's text.

References

Notes

All references to The Two Gentlemen of Verona, unless otherwise specified, are taken from the Oxford Shakespeare (Warren), based on the First Folio text of 1623. Under its referencing system, 2.3.14 means act 2, scene 3, line 14.

Editions of The Two Gentlemen of Verona

External links

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• The Two Gentlemen of Verona — plain vanilla text from Project Gutenberg.
• The Two Gentlemen of Verona — searchable, indexed e-text.
• The Two Gentlemen of Verona — scene-indexed, searchable version of the play.
• The Two Gentlemen of Verona — HTML version, with original First Folio spelling.
• The Two Gentlemen of Verona Home Page at Internet Shakespeare Editions.
• "Shakespeare and the Invention of the Heterosexual", by Stephen Guy-Bray; Early Modern Literary Studies, 13:2 (October, 2007), 1-28.
• The Two Gentlemen of Verona at the Internet Movie Database (BBC Television Shakespeare Version).