Summary
While leaving Milan, Valentine crosses paths with a band of outlaws. After regaling them of his tale (in which he falsely claims to have killed a man), the outlaws demand that Valentine become their leader, or they will kill him. Valentine agrees, on the condition that they will not harm women.
Proteus and Thurio arrive at Silvia's window with the musicians.
Before they are done playing, however, Proteus ushers Thurio away, saying that he will plead his case for him. When Silvia appears, it looks as though it was only Proteus who was wooing her. He confesses his love, and she accuses him of being false and disloyal. Proteus tells her that Julia is dead, but this is overheard by Julia herself (who is dressed as a page boy, Sebastian, and hiding nearby).
Silvia enlists the help of Sir Eglamour, a widower, to escape from Milan.
Meanwhile, Launce describes how he went to the Duke's dining chamber to deliver Crab as a gift to Silvia. When Crab urinated on the floor, the Duke ordered that the dog be beaten, but Launce took the blame and told the Duke that he was the one who urinated in the chamber. The servants beat Launce instead of Crab.
Proteus meets the page, Sebastian (Julia), and immediately takes a liking to him. He asks Sebastian to deliver a ring to Silvia – the same ring that Julia herself gave to Proteus.
She reluctantly takes the ring to Silvia, who once again accuses Proteus of being disloyal and manipulative. Julia appreciates Silvia's respect for her even though Silvia does not know that Sebastian is Julia in disguise.
Analysis
Despite the relative lack of critical acclaim for The Two Gentlemen of Verona, many will recognize a famous scene from Act Four as one of Shakespeare's early comedic masterpieces. The scene even featured in the 1998 Oscar-nominated film, Shakespeare in Love, when the intimidating Queen Elizabeth watches a performance of The Two Gentlemen of Verona and laughs emphatically at the absurdity of Launce being beaten for having urinated on the Duke's floor. Again, the subplot involving Launce and his unruly dog Crab is an example of Shakespeare's early foray into comic relief, specifically slapstick humor that featured mostly physical jokes involving or ridiculing the body.
But this scene is also, it should be noted, an indication of the extent of Launce's devotion to his dog: rather than allow the dog to be beaten for misbehaving, Launce takes the blame for an absolutely ludicrous act and is in turn beaten himself. Like Julia and Silvia, then, Launce is presented as someone who will go to great lengths for the one he loves. That the object of Launce's affection is an ill-behaved dog only emphasizes the absurdity of Proteus's betrayal of Julia and Valentine.
The end of Act Four also provides audiences with a glimpse into potential – though never truly realized – forms of female friendship.
For a play that often posits romantic love as a threat to homosocial bonds, there is little interaction among the female characters until the very end of the play (most notably because Julia is pretending to be a boy). However, when Sebastian approaches Silvia with a love offer from Proteus, Silvia – not knowing she is speaking directly to Julia herself – expresses her loyalty and respect for Julia despite (she thinks) never having met her. Silvia's condemnation of Proteus's behavior is a comfort to the grieving Julia, who presumes she is going to have to woo another woman on the behalf of the man she loves.
This brief interaction between the two women nods toward a potential counterpart to the homosocial intimacy depicted at the beginning of the play. Indeed, Silvia's respect for Julia appears much stronger and more reliable than the friendship that Proteus is eager to destroy for romantic pursuit.
