Julia

Play

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

Summary

Julia is Proteus's devoted beloved in Verona, who disguises herself as a boy named "Sebastian" and travels to Milan to follow the man who has abandoned her. Employed unwittingly by Proteus as his messenger to Silvia, she endures the humiliation of witnessing his courtship of another woman. Her constancy, wit, and emotional depth make her a direct prototype of Viola in Twelfth Night and Rosalind in As You Like It — the first of Shakespeare's great women-in-disguise heroines.

Notable Quotations

"His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles; / His love sincere, his thoughts immaculate." *(2.7)*

"Because he loves her, he despiseth me; / Because I love him, I must pity him." *(4.4)*

Cross-references

• The Two Gentlemen of Verona — the play
• Comedies
• character_proteus — her faithless beloved
• character_silvia — her rival and, ultimately, sympathizer
• character_lance — fellow servant to Proteus