Character guide

Valentine

major

Also known as Sir Valentine, young Valentine, Hapless Valentine, Sweet Valentine

Valentine opens the play trading barbs with Proteus about whether love or worldly experience makes a man, then leaves Verona for Milan to seek his fortune. There he falls for Silvia, who is promised to another and locked away by her father, and his romantic scheming puts him on a collision course with both the Duke and his oldest friend. His arc turns on whether the man who mocked 'shallow story of deep love' can prove constant when friendship, exile, and betrayal test him.

Proteus

major

Also known as Sir Proteus, gentle Proteus, Poor forlorn Proteus

Proteus stays behind in Verona, mooning over Julia and confessing that love has 'metamorphosed' him into someone who wars with good counsel. When his father sends him to Milan, he is reunited with Valentine and immediately falls for Silvia, setting friendship and romantic loyalty against each other. His capacity for self-betrayal, announced in his very first soliloquy, makes him the play's engine of conflict and its most uncomfortable mirror.

Silvia

major

Also known as Mistress Silvia, sacred Silvia

Silvia is confined by her father, who has pledged her to a wealthy suitor and barred her from male company, yet she risks everything to love Valentine. She scorns the Duke's gifts and eloquence, showing a will that resists being traded like property. Her steadfastness under pressure raises the stakes of the play's central rivalry and gives the romantic plot its moral center.

Julia

major

Also known as sweet Julia, gentle Julia, Madam Julia

Julia's early scene with her maid Lucetta shows a young woman caught between modesty and desire, chiding the go-between she secretly wants to keep. She tears up Proteus's letter, then scrambles to piece it back together, an image of love's contradictions in miniature. Her willingness to abandon reputation and travel in disguise makes her the play's most active and self-sacrificing lover, and her fidelity stands in sharp contrast to Proteus's wandering heart.

Launce

supporting

Also known as Signior Launce

Launce is the clown of the Verona household, given to long, rambling monologues about his family, his milkmaid, and above all his dog Crab, who urinates on ladies and refuses to behave. His loyalty to a dog that embarrasses him everywhere mirrors the play's obsession with misplaced affection and unearned devotion. His scenes offer comic relief that quietly undercuts the high-flown love-talk of his masters.

Speed

supporting

Speed is the sharper of the two servants, forever arriving late, trading quips, and turning his master's love-struck behaviour into a running joke. His banter with Launce about sheep, shepherds, and straying sets up the play's recurring theme of masters and servants, love and folly. He matters as the voice of dry observation, letting the audience laugh at the gentlemen even as their passions drive the plot.

Duke of Milan

supporting

Also known as Duke, Sir Valentine

As Milan's ruler, the Duke treats his daughter's marriage as a matter of dynastic strategy, favoring the wealthy but witless Thurio over the worthy Valentine. His authority is absolute until it meets the stubborn loyalty of young love, and his willingness to banish a gentleman of Verona sets the play's wanderings in motion. He is the wall that courtship must climb, and his eventual change of heart measures how far the lovers have traveled.

Thurio

supporting

Also known as Sir Thurio, gentle Thurio

Thurio is the Duke's preferred match for Silvia: well-born, well-funded, and utterly without wit or courage. He hires Proteus to plead his suit and swallows every backhanded compliment, mistaking flattery for progress while Silvia pities his possessions and his person alike. His absurd vanity and eventual surrender of Silvia expose the difference between a suitor who wants a wife and one who wants to be admired.

Lucetta

supporting

Also known as Gentle Lucetta

Lucetta serves Julia as confidante, go-between, and comic foil, delivering Proteus's letter while pretending she merely picked it up. When Julia chides her for encouraging a suitor, Lucetta parries with puns about tunes and burdens, turning the scolding into a duet about love's contradictions. Her knowing banter gives the play its first portrait of courtship as a game played with words, and her loyalty to Julia anchors the women's side of the story.

Antonio

minor

Proteus's father who sends him to court.

Panthino

minor

Antonio's servant who advises sending Proteus abroad.

Sir Eglamour

minor

Also known as Eglamour

Knight who helps Silvia escape to the forest.

Crab

minor

Launce's ill-mannered dog.

Friar Laurence

minor

Friar who officiates Valentine and Silvia's secret betrothal.

Sebastian

minor

Julia's male disguise name when she serves Proteus.

Host

minor

Innkeeper who aids Julia in her disguise.

Ursula

minor

Silvia's attendant mentioned briefly.

Friar Patrick

minor

Also known as Patrick

Friar who assists Silvia's escape plan.