Comparing Proteus In Ovid, Rape And The Two Gentlemen Of Verona

To analyze the character of Proteus in Two Gentlemen of Verona is to address the conflict between Proteus’ reprehensible behavior throughout the play, and the implications of his rapid redemption at the end of the play, that his betrayals were all the result of a temporary delusion. If Proteus’ actions were shaped by external forces – specifically the irresistible and transformative power of love – then perhaps he would be less culpable for his shifting loyalties and therefore as easily redeemable as the ending would imply. But both William Carroll in “Ovid, Rape, and The Two Gentlemen of Verona” and William Scott in “Proteus in Spenser and Shakespeare: The Lover’s Identity” recognize that the conflict is inherent to Proteus’ very characterization. Scott claims that Proteus’ actions are actually a manifestation of his “true self” warring with his “false self,” making the ending simply a conclusive, …show more content…
But Proteus has counted the cost of his love for Julia and refuses to regret it, arguing that Julia’s love has “metamorphosed” him. Scott seems to agree with Proteus’ claim, as evidenced by his argument that the restoration of Proteus’ “true relations with other people” at the end of the play is only possible “because Julia has kept him bound all this time” (Scott 512). But in doing so, Scott, like Proteus, places too much responsibility on Julia’s shoulders and not enough on Proteus’ own. Julia and her love are not the external forces that change Proteus one way or another; his change is intrinsically motivated, because, as mentioned earlier, Proteus’s desires as “helplessly metamorphic” and a “triumph of pure unconstrained desire” (Carroll 57-58). Proteus has wrapped his identity up in fulfilling his desires, so as his desires change, his identity must change too. To serve his ambition, he was studious; now, to serve his desire for Julia, he is