The Two Gentlemen of Verona

William Shakespeare

Macmillan, 1905 - Drama - 119 pages

Professor Schlueter approaches this early Shakespearean comedy as a parody of two types of Renaissance educational fiction: the love-quest story and the test-of-friendship story, which by their combination show pitfalls of high-flown human ideals. A thoroughly researched, illustrated stage history reveals changing conceptions of the play, which has tempted many nineteenth and twentieth century directors and actors, who often fail, nevertheless, to come to terms with the play's subversive impetus.

Popular passages

Page 48 - Who is Silvia ? what is she, That all our swains commend her? Holy, fair, and wise is she, The heaven such grace did lend her, That she might admired be. Is she kind as she is fair? For beauty lives with kindness: Love doth to her eyes repair, To help him of his blindness ; And, being help'd, inhabits there.‎

Page 12 - O, how this spring of love resembleth The uncertain glory of an April day, Which now shows all the beauty of the sun, And by and by a cloud takes all away ! Jie-enter PANTHINO.‎

Page 24 - Not for the world : why, man, she is mine own ; And I as rich in having such a jewel, As twenty seas, if all their sands were pearl, The water nectar, and the rocks pure gold.‎

Page 21 - Made use and fair advantage of his days: His years but young, but his experience old; His head unmellow'd , 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. Duke. Beshrewme, Sir, but, if he make this good , He is as worthy for an empress' love , As meet to be an emperor's counsellor.‎

Page 29 - The current, that with gentle murmur glides, Thou know'st, being stopp'd, impatiently doth rage ; But, when his fair course is not hindered, He makes sweet music with the enamel'd stones, Giving a gentle kiss to every sedge He overtaketh in his pilgrimage ; And so by many winding nooks he strays With willing sport to the wild ocean.‎

Page 2 - And writers say, As the most forward bud Is eaten by the canker ere it blow...‎

About the author

William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616 Although there are many myths and mysteries surrounding William Shakespeare, a great deal is actually known about his life. He was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, son of John Shakespeare, a prosperous merchant and local politician and Mary Arden, who had the wealth to send their oldest son to Stratford Grammar School. At 18, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, the 27-year-old daughter of a local farmer, and they had their first daughter six months later. He probably developed an interest in theatre by watching plays performed by traveling players in Stratford while still in his youth. Some time before 1592, he left his family to take up residence in London, where he began acting and writing plays and poetry. By 1594 Shakespeare had become a member and part owner of an acting company called The Lord Chamberlain's Men, where he soon became the company's principal playwright. His plays enjoyed great popularity and high critical acclaim in the newly built Globe Theatre. It was through his popularity that the troupe gained the attention of the new king, James I, who appointed them the King's Players in 1603. Before retiring to Stratford in 1613, after the Globe burned down, he wrote more than three dozen plays (that we are sure of) and more than 150 sonnets. He was celebrated by Ben Jonson, one of the leading playwrights of the day, as a writer who would be "not for an age, but for all time," a prediction that has proved to be true. Today, Shakespeare towers over all other English writers and has few rivals in any language. His genius and creativity continue to astound scholars, and his plays continue to delight audiences. Many have served as the basis for operas, ballets, musical compositions, and films. While Jonson and other writers labored over their plays, Shakespeare seems to have had the ability to turn out work of exceptionally high caliber at an amazing speed. At the height of his career, he wrote an average of two plays a year as well as dozens of poems, songs, and possibly even verses for tombstones and heraldic shields, all while he continued to act in the plays performed by the Lord Chamberlain's Men. This staggering output is even more impressive when one considers its variety. Except for the English history plays, he never wrote the same kind of play twice. He seems to have had a good deal of fun in trying his hand at every kind of play. Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets, all published on 1609, most of which were dedicated to his patron Henry Wriothsley, The Earl of Southhampton. He also wrote 13 comedies, 13 histories, 6 tragedies, and 4 tragecomedies. He died at Stratford-upon-Avon April 23, 1616, and was buried two days later on the grounds of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. His cause of death was unknown, but it is surmised that he knew he was dying.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Two Gentlemen of Verona; Volume 91 of Cassell's National Library; Macmillan's English classics; The Brandes Shakespeare; The plays of Shakespeare; The red letter Shakespeare; Tutorial Shakespeare
• Author: William Shakespeare
• Editor: Kenneth Deighton
• Contributor: Kenneth Deighton
• Edition: large print
• Publisher: Macmillan, 1905
• Original from: Harvard University
• Digitized: Feb 13, 2006
• ISBN: 0758335172, 9780758335173
• Length: 119 pages
• Subjects: Drama / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh