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The Two Gentlemen of Verona

The Two Gentlemen of Verona is a comedy by Shakespeare from early in his career. It is dismissively regarded by most critics and seldom performed. The highlight of the play is the comic servingman Lance and his dog Crab.

The two gentlemen of the title are Valentine and Proteus. Valentine leaves Verona to visit Padua, where he soon finds his lustful affections engaged by a honey of an aristocratic lady who is not at all averse to his favors. Valentine, joining him several scenes later, falls for the same high-born lady. The classical triangle is sent spinning when Valentine's lady love puts on man's attire to pay an unexpected visit. Even Lance finds romance when he devises a comic resume of the attributes of a lower-class girl "whose faults exceed her hairs".


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