Star rating: ⭐⭐

Characters:

Valentine – a nobleman
Proteus – Valentine’s close friend
Silvia – the woman Valentine loves
Julia – Proteus’ fiancée
The Duke – father of Silvia
Antonio – Proteus’ father
Thurio – a foolish suitor to Silvia
Sir Eglamour – another suitor to Silvia
Launce – Proteus’ attendant
Speed – Valentine’s attendant
Panthino – Antonio’s attendant
Lucetta – Julia’s maid
Crab – Launce’s dog
The Host – an innkeeper who assists Julia
The Outlaws – men exiled from Milan

Summary
Valentine and Proteus, two best friends and the titular characters of the play, bid each other goodbye preceding Valentine’s trip to Milan. Proteus cannot leave Verona because he loves Julia, who lives there. Julia’s maid gives her a letter from him, which she loves, but she pretends to not care. Antonio, Proteus’s father, sends his son to Milan, which makes Julia unhappy. Proteus goes with his servant and his servant’s dog. In Milan, Valentine has fallen in love with Silvia, the Duke’s daughter. Valentine’s page makes him realize Silvia returns his feelings. Proteus also falls in love with Silvia, forgetting about Julia despite their agreement to remain faithful. The Duke wants Silvia to marry Thurio, a silly suitor, so Valentine tries to leave with her, but Proteus, who wants Silvia for himself, tells the Duke about Valentine’s plans, and the Duke exiles him. Proteus courts Silvia when Valentine is gone, but she does not support his advances and suggests he return to Julia. Lance, Proteus’s servant, considers the milkmaid he wants to wed. Meanwhile, in Verona, Julia gets a disguise as a pageboy and goes to Milan as a pageboy named Sebastian. In Milan, she finds Proteus, who does not recognize her, and he sends her to pick up a portrait Silvia said she would give, but Silvia remains faithful to Valentine and brings Sir Eglamour to Mantua to look for Valentine. Valentine is captured by outlaws who make him their captain. Silvia is captured by these bandits as well, so the Duke orders Proteus to find Silvia, and he rescues her from the outlaws and attempts to assault her, but Valentine stops him. Julia watches them make up and thinks that Valentine will give Silvia to Proteus and faints. Proteus sees Julia’s ring and recognizes her, falling back in love with her. The outlaws take the Duke and Thurio, and Thurio renounces Silvia. The Duke gives the match between Silvia and Valentine his blessing, and the two couples get married together. The Duke pardons the outlaws.

Sexual Assault?
Proteus, one of our “heroes,” performs an inappropriate act to Silvia that may have been acceptable in Shakespeare’s society but is far from it now. This creates a noticeable disconnect between our modern sensibilities and the content of the play that severs the modern reader’s connection to even the hero and clearly dates the play.

The Female Characters
The portrayal of certain female characters in this play, even by the standards of his time, may be seen as problematic. The smitten Julia spends the whole play mindlessly and subserviently striving to be with Proteus, going as far as Milan to see him. This dedication turns her into merely a plot device without agency or even independent characterization. While this may have been acceptable in the Renaissance, it comes off as grounded in another time and perpetuates old, since-overturned ideas. Silvia furthers this theme of male control over female autonomy. Silvia’s role as a prize to be won calls attention to the broader social context surrounding women’s agency and their roles as pawns in the mens’ game, which can be unsettling to contemporary readers.