The Two Gentlemen of Verona Love Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Act.Scene.Line). Line numbers correspond to the Norton edition.

Quote #4

JULIA
His little speaking shows his love but small.
LUCETTA
Fire that's closest kept burns most of all.
JULIA
They do not love that do not show their love.
LUCETTA
O, they love least that let men know their love. (1.2.29-32)

Julia thinks that a man's love can be measured by the words he speaks, as if love is somehow quantifiable. This sort of reminds us of King Lear, who famously asks his daughters, "Which of you shall we say doth love us most?" (King Lear, 1.1.2).

Quote #5

PROTEUS
Sweet love, sweet lines, sweet life!
Here is her hand, the agent of her heart;
Here is her oath for love, her honor's pawn.
O, that our fathers would applaud our loves
To seal our happiness with their consents.
O heavenly Julia! (1.3.46-51)

Proteus is madly in love with Julia and wishes that their dads would get on board with their relationship. In the play (and in Shakespeare's time), young couples typically married only after their fathers' gave permission.

Quote #6

SPEED
Marry, by these special marks: first, you have
learned, like Sir Proteus, to wreathe your arms, like
a malecontent; to relish a love-song, like a robin
redbreast; to walk alone, like one that had the
pestilence; to sigh, like a school-boy that had lost his
ABC; to weep, like a young wench that had buried
her grandam; to fast, like one that takes diet; to
watch like one that fears robbing; to speak puling,
like a beggar at Hallowmas. You were wont, when
you laughed, to crow like a cock; when you walked,
to walk like one of the lions. When you fasted, it was
presently after dinner; when you looked sadly, it
was for want of money: and now you are metamorphosed
with a mistress, that, when I look on you, I
can hardly think you my master. (2.1.18-32)

When Valentine travels to Milan, he falls in love with Silvia. (So much for the cynical Valentine we saw in Act 1, Scene 1.) Here, Speed mocks him for having been "metamorphosed" by love and suggests that Valentine has changed so much that he's hardly recognizable.