Subversive and socially uncomfortable discussions are placed in the mouths of the servants, who take charge of dealing with such tension-ridden subjects as non-standard sexuality, status via wealth, and the treachery of the upper classes. The servants also act as foils to their masters, helping illustrate their respective masters' attributes. Launce loves his dog Crab so much that he takes a beating for the dog's ill-bred behavior. His master, Proteus, on the other hand, is unable to commit to Julia, casting aside his emotions for her when he catches sight of Silvia. Lucetta, concerned about the practical emotions of marriage, maintains a pragmatic approach to love, while Julia naïvely lets her passionate emotions control her.
Julia disguises herself in order to visit Proteus in Milan, and by assuming a male sexual persona (embodied by her wearing of a codpiece), gains access to the male world. Her willingness to stray from 16th-century standards of female propriety demonstrates her love and devotion to Proteus, in addition to her discomfort with the restrictions that her society imposes on her as a woman. Julia's fear that Proteus may be cheating on her is grounded in the fact that such wanton behavior in males was socially acceptable in the Elizabethan era. This understanding of the gender expectations of her social milieu staves off the fate common to women of Julia's era—that of being hoodwinked by a deceitful lover.
The greenwood, not unlike the strange forest in