Study Questions
Discuss the importance of the servant-master relationship.
How does Julia's disguise affect her gender identity?
What is the role of the forest in this play? Can you compare it to settings in any other texts, Shakespearean or otherwise?
Which characters do you believe are truly in love? Why?
What type of moral vision do you think Shakespeare is proposing based on the play's turn of events?
What is Launce's relationship to his dog? What is his relationship to his betrothed? How does this make him a unique character in the play?
Compare the play's opening scene to its finale. Can you justify the play's conclusion?
How does The Two Gentlemen of Verona portray gender roles? In what ways is Shakespeare reinforcing the gender roles of the Elizabethan era? In what ways is he challenging these attitudes toward gender? What is the role of homoeroticism in the play?
Many Shakespearean scholars criticize this play for its rough quality. What elements of the play are they criticizing? Can you cite specific examples in which their criticisms seem justified? Where do you disagree with them? Why?
Perhaps the frankest discussion between any set of characters occurs in Act IV, scene iv, between Sebastian/Julia and Silvia. Why does this passage stand out from the rest of the play? What does the reader learn about the characters from this interaction?
