The Two Gentlemen of Verona Friendship Quotes Page 2

Once Proteus loses his "zeal" for Valentine (see above passage), he quickly stabs his friend in the back. At this point, he has not only gotten Valentine kicked out of court (by telling the Duke Valentine planned to elope with Silvia), he's also resorted to "slander" in the hopes that trash talking Valentine to Silvia will help him win her heart.

As one critic puts it, Shakespeare is definitely interested in "celebrating" male friendship in this play. But, when we read this passage from Two Gentlemen of Verona, we can't help but think that Shakespeare hints that women are capable of friendship too. Here, Silvia refuses to accept the ring Proteus has sent her (by way of Julia, who is disguised as a page boy, "Sebastian"). Silvia insists that she would never do "Julia so much wrong," which gestures at Silvia's capacity for loyalty and solidarity with another woman. (Unlike Proteus, who is busy stabbing his best friend in the back.)

Immediately after Valentine prevents Proteus from raping Silvia, Valentine lays into his friend. The surprising thing is that Valentine doesn't yell at Proteus for being a potential rapist. He yells at him for being such a disloyal friend. Valentine is more upset about not being able to "trust" his pal than he is outraged that Proteus would assault a woman. What's up with that?