Not a hair on his head but 'tis a Valentine

“...there's not a hair on [his] head but 'tis a Valentine.”

Two Gentlemen of Verona (3.1.195-195)

This line is spoken about Valentine, one of the two main characters in the play.

Two Gentlemen of Verona is an early Shakespeare play based on a Spanish source among others.
It also contains many elements that show up in his later plays:

- A woman (Julia) disguised as a man (Sebastian), an element also found in
Twelfth Night,
As You Like It,
The Merchant of Venice, and
Cymbeline;

- A character who (sometimes) goes by the name Sebastian (as in Twelfth Night);

- Talk of a couple eloping with a rope ladder (sort of like Romeo and Juliet);

- Couples escaping to the woods (also a theme in
As You Like It and
A Midsummer Night’s Dream).

- A resolved love triangle: Proteus who had been engaged to Julie thinks he is in love with Silvia
(similar to Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream,
who had been in love with Helena, but who thinks he loves Hermia,
and Hermia’s love, Lysander, confused in the woods, thinking he loves Helena).

Some elements from Two Gentlemen of Verona will be reworked in a Shakespeare collaboration with John Fletcher, The Two Noble Kinsmen, based on “The Knight’s Tale” by Chaucer.

If your Valentine’s Day includes any Shakespeare plays or poems, enjoy!
And let every hair on your head be a Valentine!


IMAGE:
Angelica Kauffmann  (1741–1807)
Valentine Rescues Silvia in The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1789).
Public domain via https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Scene_from_(Kauffmann).jpg


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
YOU CAN SUPPORT ME on a one-time "tip" basis on Ko-Fi:
https://ko-fi.com/pauladrianfried

IF YOU WOULD PREFER to support me on a REGULAR basis,
you may do so on Ko-Fi, or here on Patreon:
https://patreon.com/PaulAdrianFried
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disclaimer: If and when I quote or paraphrase bible passages or mention religion in many of my blog posts, I do not intend to promote any religion over another, nor am I attempting to promote religious belief in general; only to explore how the Bible and religion influenced Shakespeare, his plays, and his age.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for reading!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My current project is a book tentatively titled Hamlet’s Bible, about biblical allusions and plot echoes in Hamlet.

Below is a link to a list of some of my top posts (“greatest hits”), including a description of my book project (last item on the list):

https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/12/top-20-hamlet-bible-posts.html

I post every week, so please visit as often as you like and consider FOLLOWING.
To find the FOLLOW button, go to the home page: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/
see the = drop-down menu with three lines in the upper left.
From there you can click FOLLOW and see options.