"The Two Gentlemen of Verona' was first printed in the folio of 1623, where it occupies nineteen pages, viz. from p. 20 to p. 38, inclusive, in the division of "Comedies." It also stands second in the three later folios, and in all is divided into Acts and Scenes. INTRODUCTION. THE only ascertained fact, with which we are acquainted, in reference to "The Two Gentlemen of Verona," is, that it is included, as "Gentlemen of Verona," in the list of Shakespeare's plays which Francis Meres furnished in his Palladis Tamia, 1598, Sign. O o 2. It comes first in that enumeration, and although this is a very slight circumstance, it may afford some confirmation to the opinion, founded upon the internal evidence of plot, style, and characters, that it was one of the earliest, if not the very earliest of Shakespeare's original dramatic compositions. It is the second play in the folio of 1623, where it first appeared; but that is certainly no criterion of the period at which it was written. It would, we think, be idle to attempt to fix upon any particular year it is unquestionably the work of a young and unpractised dramatist, and the conclusion is especially inartificial and abrupt. It may have been written by our great dramatist very soon after he joined a theatrical company; and at all events we do not think it likely that it was composed subsequently to 1591. We should be inclined to place it, as indeed it stands in the work of Meres, before "The Comedy of Errors" and "Love's Labour's Lost." Malone, judging from two passages, first argued that it was produced in 1595, but he afterwards adopted 1591 as the more probable date. The quotations to which he refers, in truth, prove nothing, either as regards 1595 or 1591. If "The Two Gentlemen of Verona were not the offspring merely of the author's invention, we have yet to discover the source of its plot. Points of resemblance have been dwelt upon in connexion with Sir Philip Sidney's "Arcadia," 1590, and the "Diana" of Montemayor, which was not translated into English by B. Yonge until 1598; but the incidents, common to the drama and to these two works, are only such as might be found in other romances, or would present themselves spontaneously to the mind of a young poet: the one is the command of banditti by Valentine; and the other the assumption of male attire by Julia, for a purpose nearly similar to that of Viola in "Twelfth-Night." The extracts from the "Arcadia" and the "Diana" are to be found in "Shakespeare's Library," Vol. ii. The notion of some critics, that "The Two Gentlemen of Verona" contains few or no marks of Shakespeare's hand, is a strong proof of their incompetence to form a judgment: they could have read it only after perusing some of his greater, and more mature compositions. ANTONIO, Father to Proteus. THURIO, a foolish rival to Valentine. PANTHINO, Servant to Antonio. Host, where Julia lodges. Outlaws with Valentine. JULIA, beloved of Proteus. SILVIA, beloved of Valentine. LUCETTA, Waiting-woman to Julia. Servants, Musicians. SCENE: sometimes in Verona; sometimes in Milan, and This list of characters, with the heading, "The names of all the Actors," is printed at the end of the play in the folio, 1623; but no information is given as to the places where the scene is laid. Enter VALENTINE and PROTEUS. Val. Cease to persuade, my loving Proteus: Pro. Wilt thou begone? Sweet Valentine, adieu. When thou dost meet good hap; and in thy danger, Commend thy grievance to my holy prayers, Val. And on a love-book pray for my success. |