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In Websters Dictionary, loyalty is defined as the quality or state or an instance of being loyal and loyal is defined as an unswerving in allegiance. In Elizabethan England, loyalty was believed to be the ultimate test of a gentleman's character, that only those who passed this test could be considered the perfect Elizabethan gentleman. Shakespeare believed this too. In, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, loyalty is a very prevalent theme throughout the comedy.
In Act I, the friendship of Proteus and Valentine is quickly established. Valentine is leaving Verona to continue his education in the court of the Duke of Milan, leaving his friend behind. Proteus passion for Julia has caused him to be stationary, a virtual prisoner of love. Before departing, Valentine observed, Love is your master, for he masters you (Act I. Scene I.
Line 42). He is, in essence, warning Proteus that he should love, but love wisely, and not abandon all else in his pursuit of passion. It is established that the bond between the two men is strong and Valentine exhibits genuine concern for his friend. It is also apparent that Proteus is deeply in love with Julia, and when his father, Antonio, suggests that he join his friend Valentine by going to Milan, Proteus is genuinely distressed about being separated from his beloved Julia. However, he does as hes told, demonstrating loyalty to his father. Meanwhile, in Milan, Valentine has fallen in love with Silvia, the Duke of Milan's daughter.
Like Proteus for Julia, Valentine is utterly love-struck, and suddenly, he understands what it means to be ruled by ones heart, rather than ones head. Silvia returns Valentines affections, but unfortunately, the Duke has other ideas. He prefers Thurio as a more suitable match for his daughter. In Act II, with Proteus arrival just round the corner, the Duke inquires as to his character, and Valentine glowingly describes Proteus as, His years but young, but his experience old; His head un mellowed, but his judgment ripe; And in a word, for far behind his worth Come all the praises that I now bestow, He is complete in feature and in mind, With all good grace to grace a gentleman (Act II. Scene IV. Lines 69 - 74).
In this Valentine has demonstrated his unconditional loyalty to Proteus. Unfortunately, loyalty does not seem to mean the same to Proteus. When he first sees Silvia, Proteus falls immediately in love. His dual disloyalty is revealed when he express, She is [Silvia] fair; and so is Julia that I love, That I did love, for now my love is thawed, Which, like a waxen image gains a fire, Bears no impression of the thing it was.
Methinks my zeal to Valentine is cold, And that I love him not as I was wont. O, but I love his lady too too much; And thats the reason I love him so little (Act II. Scene IV. Lines 209 - 216). Loyalty to others, for Proteus, seems to be little more than a shallow emotion, which he manipulates for the sake of appearances. Clearly, the only loyalty, which sufficiently motivates Proteus, is to himself.
Unaware of Proteus desire for Silvia, Valentine confides to him that because the Duke will not sanction their marriage, the two lovers have decided to elope. Rather than honor his friendship, Proteus chooses to inform the Duke of the planned elopement, concluding, And Valentine Ill hold an enemy, Aiming at Silvia as a sweeter friend. I cannot now prove constant to myself, Without some treachery used to Valentine (Act II. Scene VI. Lines 29 - 32). It quickly becomes apparent that with friends like Proteus, there is no need for enemies.
He is a man ruled only by his passions, completely oblivious to characteristics like honor and loyalty. Meanwhile, Julia cannot bear to be apart from Proteus any longer. She tells her lady in waiting, Lucetta, that she intends to leave for Milan, disguising herself as a page, in order to be closer to her lover. Lucetta has long been suspicious of Proteus, but she demonstrates her loyalty to Julia by assisting with her disguise. Blissfully unaware of Julia's intention, Proteus proceeds with his manufactured back-stabbing of Valentine. He confronts the Duke of Milan, and, again, gives himself false airs.
Proteus makes it appear that he is suffering a moral dilemma and is uncertain whether he should choose friendship or loyalty to his Duke. He tells the Duke, The law of friendship bids me to conceal, But when I call to mind your gracious favors, Done to me, undeserving as I am, My duty pricks me on to utter that, Which else no worldly good should draw from me (Act III. Scene I. Lines 5 - 9). Deception obviously comes much easier to Proteus than does faithfulness and loyalty. When the elopement plans are revealed, the Duke promptly banishes Valentine, who ends up in the forest and becomes the leader of a group of outlaws.
Despite Valentines exile, Silvia remains faithful to both him and their love. She rejects all Thurio's attempts to win her favor by bad-mouthing the absent Valentine, at the urging of the manipulative Proteus, who is really only looking out for himself. It is all to no avail. Silvia's heart belongs to Valentine.
Frustrated by his efforts to win Silvia, Proteus indulges in some self-pity: Already have I been false to Valentine, And now I must be as unjust to Thurio. Under the color of commending him, I have access my own love to prefer (Act IV. Scene II. Lines 1 - 4). Proteus puts himself first and foremost, and if others suffer as a result, that is an unfortunate, but nonetheless, necessary means to an end.
While Julia is disguised as Sebastian, the page, she overhears the deceitful Proteus lie that both his ladylove and Valentine are dead. Silvia is appalled that Proteus could treat his relationships in such a cavalier manner, and states that if Valentine is truly dead, And so suppose am I, for in his grave, Assure thyself my love is buried (Act IV. Scene II. Line 120 - 121).
Julia, naturally, is devastated by her lovers betrayal, but she is still in love with Proteus. When Proteus implores the page to give Silvia the ring that Julia had given him as a token of love, the request is obliged, because Julia's loyalty to Proteus knows no bounds. She wants his happiness above all else, even if it is not with her. The Two Gentlemen of Verona reaches its climax when the characters all find themselves in the forest, and Proteus betrayal of Julia and Valentine is exposed to all. In a rather contrived moment of self-realization, when Proteus is confronted with the gravity of his actions, he begs Valentine for forgiveness, and Valentine, in turn, offers his beloved Silvia to Proteus as a gesture of friendship.
But when Proteus realizes to what lengths Julia went through to be with him, he acknowledges that he mistook infatuation for love, and that Julia was his one true love. While The Two Gentlemen of Verona ends happily with a double wedding and the restored friendship of Proteus and Valentine, one is left to wonder if Proteus has really changed, or if his opportunistic nature is merely making the best of a bad situation. Valentine, Silvia and Julia were unwavering in their loyalties to those they loved, while Proteus, time and time again, sacrificed those supposedly dearest to him in order to satisfy his own needs. It is difficult to believe that Proteus saw the light and would never again act with disloyalty towards his friends and lovers.
Professing loyalty in words and demonstrating it with action are two different things. Actions speak louder than words, and Proteus ease in choosing disloyalty over loyalty speaks volumes. 335
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