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MonkeyNotes-The Two Gentlemen of Verona by William Shakespeare
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Minor Theme
Appearance vs reality is a minor theme of the play that is closely
linked to the main theme. Throughout the play, what appears to be
is often not reality. Proteus appears to be Julia's faithful lover and
Valentine's faithful friend. In reality, he betrays both of them
without a second thought. Julia pretends to be a page to protect
herself against lascivious men on the way to Milan. When she
arrives and finds her true love not really true, she continues her
appearance as a page in order to serve Proteus and hopefully steer
him in the right direction. The reality of her identify is not revealed
until late in the last scene.
Valentine appears to the bandits as a "tough" man who has been
banished for killing a man; in truth, he is a meek and gentle soul
who begs for kindness to women and poor people. The Duke
appears to Valentine as a man desperately in love trying to make
plans to elope; in reality, he is lying to entrap Valentine, which he
successfully accomplishes. Since the audience or reader always
understands the false appearance of the characters in the play,
Shakespeare creates masterful dramatic irony. He also shows that a
person cannot always be judged by appearances. Table of Contents
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