The Two Gentlemen Of Verona
Written by William Shakespeare
4/5
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About this audiobook
William Collins Books and Decca Records are proud to present ARGO Classics, a historic catalogue of classic prose and verse read by some of the world’s most renowned voices. Originally released as vinyl records, these expertly remastered stories are now available to download for the first time.
‘At first I did adore a twinkling star
But now I worship a celestial sun.’
The Two Gentlemen of Verona is one of Shakespeare's earliest plays and also one of the most rarely performed. It's about betrayal, love and disguise.
Valentine sets off from Verona for Milan to see the world. Proteus stays at home because of his love for Julia. She is in love with him, but neither knows of the other's love until Lucetta shows Julia a love letter from Proteus. He is reading her reply when his father, Antonio, sends him to the Duke's court to join Valentine. The lovers take their leave and swear eternal constancy.
All of the Shakespeare plays within the ARGO Classics catalogue are performed by the Marlowe Dramatic Society and Professional Players. The Marlowe was founded in 1907 with a mission to focus on effective delivery of verse, respect the integrity of texts, and rescue neglected plays by Shakespeare’s contemporaries and the less performed plays of Shakespeare himself. The Marlowe has performed annually at Cambridge Arts Theatre since its opening in 1936 and continues to produce some of the finest actors of their generations.
Thurston Dart, Professor of Music at London University and a Fellow of Jesus College Cambridge, directed the music for this production.
The full cast includes: John Barton; David Gibson; Richard Marquand; Terrence Hardiman; George Rylands; Toby Robertson; Roderick Cook; Donald Beves; Clive Swift; David Buck; John Tracy-Phillips; Chris Renard; Olive Gregg; Janette Richer; Penelope Balchin.
William Shakespeare
Born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer and playwright in the English language. In 1594 he founded the acting company the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later the King's Men, in London. He died in 1616.
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Reviews for The Two Gentlemen Of Verona
16 ratings9 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5One rates Shakespeare plays to acknowledge that in art, there are varying responses to the same work. For the drama, "Is this the right director and cast, are the costumes correct, did the spirit of the author's original intent come through?" there's a different set of criteria for single poems, or paintings. Some modest thoughts follow. This is early Shakespeare, and quite readable, but a test bed for a lot of better stuff that came later. Not many famous quotes/clichés in this one, but a workable script.Read seven times.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Not your usual Shakespeare play, but worthy.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When I taught Shakespeare, I would often start with TGV, on the second class myself doingLaunce and his dog Crab, along with removable shoes, a cane--and for a couple years, our English Sheepdog Ugo. The first year he did okay, the second year he headed fro the classroom door, to leavefor a treat from my wife who drove him there. The Launce scenes really take a pro with the props and the stage business: taking off one's shoes,demonstrating the sad scene of parting by designating one of the shoes for each parent etc, meanwhile reprimanding the dog fro being unsentimental. An added tincture of interest for me was the play's MIlan references: Ugo came from Milan,where my daughter has lived for many years.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5While "The Two Gentlemen of Verona" is not considered one of William Shakespeare's greatest works, I still found it to be a pretty enjoyable play. It was one of the bard's earlier comedies so much of it is used again later in this other, stronger works.The story follows Proteus and Valentine, two gentlemen who fall in love with ladies and troubles ensue. There is the typical Shakespeare disguise thrown in for good measure too.This play is pretty readable and was fairly amusing. The ending was kind of forced and wrapped everything up a little too prettily, but other wise I liked this one.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Essential scholarly edition of this early Shakespeare play.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It’s easy to see it’s one of Shakespeare’s earliest. The prose and poetry aren’t as polished, and it prefigured many of his later, better plays in some of the phrasing, and the cross-dressing of a female character in love. Its ending is neatly tied up, though surprising in some of the particulars, like a threat of rape and an overquick, overgenerous forgiveness. For completists, or in anticipation of a production, which is why I read it.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Though it seems rather presumptuous to criticize Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona is not one of the Bard's greatest works. Though an enjoyable read with some truly humorous moments and one particularly beautiful bit of verse (III.i.170-187), the end is hastily tied together and the characters very unbelievable. Still, as one of Shakespeare's earliest works, it is an interesting look at his development as a playwright.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is an interesting play in the world of Shakespeare, though not one of his strongest. It is assumed to be one of his first plays. It has one of his smallest casts and it contains one of the biggest jerks in the whole of Shakespearean literature. The two gentlemen of the title are Valentine and Proteus, best friends living in Verona. One of the two, Proteus, is deeply in love with a woman named Julia. The other, Valentine, is sent to Milan at his father’s bidding, where he falls in love with the Duke’s daughter, Silvia. The horrid Proteus follows Valentine and despite swearing his undying love to Julia, he quickly falls in love with Silvia. Not only is he betraying Julia with this infatuation, he is betrays his best friend. He is a selfish and horrible man and it’s hard to understand why Julia would remain true to him. My favorite scene in the play is between Julia and Silvia. The women find common ground where Silvia expresses her disgust with Proteus for abandoning the woman he swore to love. She had no idea that she was telling this to that same woman and it touches Julia deeply. The play shares a dozen similarities with Shakespeare’s later work. It has a woman following the man she loves and meeting him in disguise when he falls for someone new from All’s Well That Ends Well. It has Thurio, a useless lover picked by the girl’s family ala Paris from Romeo and Juliet. It also has a bit from Twelfth Night with a woman pretending to be the male servant of the man she loves. These elements don’t work well together to make a great play, but each bit is an interesting plot point that is used more successfully in a later play. BOTTOM LINE: This play is definitely a precursor to some of the great work that came later, but it doesn’t have the strongest plot. It contains hilarious puns and beautiful lines. Unfortunately the flip-flopping Proteus’ happy ending is not satisfying to audiences and the play is rarely preformed live. “She is mine own, And I as rich in having such a jewel As twenty seas, if all their sand were pearl, The water nectar, and the rocks pure gold.”
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One of my favorite comedies.