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ii. The remainder of the play occurs on the seventh day.

The period is indicated only by an allusion to the Emperor in his royal court,' which may be the time of Charles V, who was lord of Milan about 1530.

DATE OF COMPOSITION

The Two Gentlemen of Verona' belongs to the early group of comedies, and certainly antedates 1598. Francis Meres, in his Palladis Tamia,' mentions it in that year. Its date cannot be definitely established, but internal evidence places it among the earliest. Its uncertain style and unstable plot, nice balancing of characters, regularity of blank verse, alliteration, and alternate rhymes are among the sure indications of an early period.

The subject has already been seen to identify itself with a species of romance in vogue about 1590, and forms a link between the pre-Shakespearian stories and the later dramas.

Its characters also belong to the early group, several of them prefiguring later and more finished types. Julia's page-play appears again in Viola, Portia, Rosalind, and Imogen. Julia and her maid are paralleled by Portia and Nerissa. The friar's cell gives a hint of Friar Lawrence in Romeo and Juliet.' Launce the clown has a more complete development in Launcelot Gobbo.

In brief, the play as a whole seems a preliminary study to later work. The closing scene shows undeniable haste, especially in Valentine's renunciation of Silvia upon the first weak-kneed apology of his false friend. This is neither natural nor plausible, and points to ancient Greek models where friendship is made to outrank love. In certain of Shakespeare's sonnets (XL,

XLI, and XLII) the same influence is seen

an additional link in the chain of evidence placing this among the earliest of the plays.

Malone placed it at 1591; Chalmers, Drake, and others at 1595. The earlier date seems a safe sur

mise.

EARLY EDITIONS

There is no mention of this play's having been performed during the lifetime of the author. Nor did it appear in print in the early Quartos. Its first appearance is in the First Folio of 1623, where it follows immediately after the first play, The Tempest,' with the same number of pages, nineteen. Since it has no masque or interlude, it becomes even shorter in presentation than that short play.

6

Like The Tempest,' also, this play is comparatively free from errors in the text, although three strange ones are seen, in Acts II, III, and V, where Padua' and Verona' occur instead of Milan.' The Names of all the Actors are given at the end.

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THE TWO GENTLEMEN

OF VERONA

T.G.V.I.

[DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

DUKE OF MILAN, father to Silvia.

VALENTINE,

PROTEUS,

the two Gentlemen.

ANTONIO, father to Proteus.

THURIO, a foolish rival to Valentine.
EGLAMOUR, agent for Silvia in her escape.
HOST, where Julia lodges.

OUTLAWS, with Valentine.

SPEED, a clownish servant to Valentine.
LAUNCE, the like to Proteus.

PANTHINO, servant to Antonio.

JULIA, beloved of Proteus.

SILVIA, beloved of Valentine.

LUCETTA, waiting-woman to Julia.

Servants, Musicians.

SCENE: Verona; Milan; the frontiers of Mantua.]

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