Two Gentlemen of Verona

In the third act of Two Gentlemen of Verona, Silvia’s steadfast devotion to Valentine after his banishment offers a stark contrast to Proteus’s more capricious feelings that point to The Fickle Nature of Young Love. In Act II, Proteus exchanges rings and oaths with Julia before leaving for Milan, then changes his allegiance to Silvia almost immediately upon arrival. His betrayal of Julia suggests that love is fickle and can be easily changed. Silvia, however, remains steadfast in her devotion to Valentine despite his banishment from Milan and her father’s increasing threats. Although Julia is not on stage in this act, several characters report her grief and fury at her father’s decision. Proteus tells Valentine that Silvia cried “a sea of melting pearls, which some call tears” (3.1.221) and begged the Duke to save Valentine “upon her knees, her humble self, wringing her hands […] for woe” (3.1.223-24). His description of Silvia’s “bended knees, pure hands held up, sad sighs, deep groans” (3.2.226-27) highlight the physical nature of her grief, and the intensity of her devotion to Valentine.

Silvia’s also demonstrates her devotion to Valentine in her explicit refusal of her father’s chosen suitor. Thurio describes how, since Valentine’s exile, Silvia has “despised me most, forsworn my company, and railed at me” (3.2.3-4), a shocking departure from Silvia’s polite and playful treatment of Thurio—the expected behavior of a woman of her age and class. In her overt rejection of Thurio she also rejects of her father’s wishes. Cultural expectations for women of Silvia’s class in Shakespeare’s time would have required her to accept her father’s choice for her husband—one of many Restrictions of Courtly Love for Women. As the Duke himself demonstrates, the penalty for disobedience could be disinheritance. The Duke’s ultimatum to “turn her out to who will take her in” (3.1.77) and “let her beauty be her wedding dower” (3.2.78) represents a real threat to her financial stability. That Silvia is willing to risk defying social expectations and her way of life provides another testament to her devotion to Valentine.

Silvia’s devotion to Valentine is contrasted not only with Proteus’s speedy betrayal of Julia, but also with his repeated betrayal of Valentine. Acknowledging the play’s implicit understanding of The Importance of Loyalty Between Men, Proteus acknowledges that “the law of friendship bids me to conceal” (3.1.5) Valentine’s plans to elope with Silvia even as he reveals those plans to the Duke. Later, he briefly worries that slandering Valentine “is an ill office for a gentleman” (3.2.40) before agreeing to do just that in order to get closer to Silvia and win her father’s approval. Proteus’s repeated, knowing betrayal of his best and oldest friend is starkly contrasted with Silvia’s devotion to Valentine.

As he attempts to reassure Thurio, the Duke describes Silvia’s love for Valentine as “a figure trenched in ice, which with an hour’s heat dissolves to water and doth lose its form” (3.2.6-8). The image of an ice sculpture melting to a puddle echoes Proteus’s earlier description of his love for Julia melting like “a waxen image ‘gainst a fire” (2.4.193). In both metaphors, simple elements are transformed by human creativity into something meaningful, then dissolved by natural forces. These metaphors offer a critique of the concept of courtly love, a series of rules and tropes governing romantic relationships among the nobility. The rules governing courtly love transform the natural course of love into a highly stylized ritual. The play suggests that, like the ice sculpture and wax image, the rules of courtly love often fade away, leading people to give in to their natural romantic impulses.