The Two Gentlemen of Verona Analysis and Themes The primary
theme addressed in Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona is
the conflict between loyalty to friends and submission to
passion. While the play ultimately aligns itself with the
tradition of espousing one side of the debate (the
reestablishment of the friendship between Valentine and Proteus
leads to a resolution of the non-platonic relationships), the
moral twists and turns that each character takes in order to
reach the drama's unlikely conclusion involve a host of other
themes. Additionally, by writing a play about friendship versus
love, the young bard was entering into a debate with writers
who, at the time, were more established than he--namely,
Chaucer, Lyly and Francis Bacon. By offering a view that
challenged the works of these household names, Shakespeare
presented himself as a competitor to the moral and narrative
stance proposed by the great writers of his time. The servants
Launce, Speed, and Lucetta act as foils to their respective ma