Chapter: SCENE IV.

Another part of the forest

Enter VALENTINE

  VALENTINE. How use doth breed a habit in a man!
    This shadowy desert, unfrequented woods,
    I better brook than flourishing peopled towns.
    Here can I sit alone, unseen of any,
    And to the nightingale's complaining notes
    Tune my distresses and record my woes.
    O thou that dost inhabit in my breast,
    Leave not the mansion so long tenantless,
    Lest, growing ruinous, the building fall
    And leave no memory of what it was!
    Repair me with thy presence, Silvia:
    Thou gentle nymph, cherish thy forlorn swain.
    What halloing and what stir is this to-day?
    These are my mates, that make their wills their law,
    Have some unhappy passenger in chase.
    They love me well; yet I have much to do
    To keep them from uncivil outrages.
    Withdraw thee, Valentine. Who's this comes here?
                                                   [Steps aside]

          Enter PROTEUS, SILVIA, and JULIA as Sebastian

  PROTEUS. Madam, this service I have done for you,
    Though you respect not aught your servant doth,
    To hazard life, and rescue you from him
    That would have forc'd your honour and your love.
    Vouchsafe me, for my meed, but one fair look;
    A smaller boon than this I cannot beg,
    And less than this, I am sure, you cannot give.
  VALENTINE.  [Aside]  How like a dream is this I see and hear!
    Love, lend me patience to forbear awhile.
  SILVIA. O miserable, unhappy that I am!
  PROTEUS. Unhappy were you, madam, ere I came;
    But by my coming I have made you happy.
  SILVIA. By thy approach thou mak'st me most unhappy.
  JULIA.  [Aside]  And me, when he approacheth to your presence.
  SILVIA. Had I been seized by a hungry lion,
    I would have been a breakfast to the beast
    Rather than have false Proteus rescue me.
    O, heaven be judge how I love Valentine,
    Whose life's as tender to me as my soul!
    And full as much, for more there cannot be,
    I do detest false, perjur'd Proteus.
    Therefore be gone; solicit me no more.
  PROTEUS. What dangerous action, stood it next to death,
    Would I not undergo for one calm look?
    O, 'tis the curse in love, and still approv'd,
    When women cannot love where they're belov'd!
  SILVIA. When Proteus cannot love where he's belov'd!
    Read over Julia's heart, thy first best love,
    For whose dear sake thou didst then rend thy faith
    Into a thousand oaths; and all those oaths
    Descended into perjury, to love me.
    Thou hast no faith left now, unless thou'dst two,
    And that's far worse than none; better have none
    Than plural faith, which is too much by one.
    Thou counterfeit to thy true friend!
  PROTEUS. In love,
    Who respects friend?
  SILVIA. All men but Proteus.
  PROTEUS. Nay, if the gentle spirit of moving words
    Can no way change you to a milder form,
    I'll woo you like a soldier, at arms' end,
    And love you 'gainst the nature of love- force ye.
  SILVIA. O heaven!
  PROTEUS. I'll force thee yield to my desire.
  VALENTINE. Ruffian! let go that rude uncivil touch;
    Thou friend of an ill fashion!
  PROTEUS. Valentine!
  VALENTINE. Thou common friend, that's without faith or love-
    For such is a friend now; treacherous man,
    Thou hast beguil'd my hopes; nought but mine eye
    Could have persuaded me. Now I dare not say
    I have one friend alive: thou wouldst disprove me.
    Who should be trusted, when one's own right hand
    Is perjured to the bosom? Proteus,
    I am sorry I must never trust thee more,
    But count the world a stranger for thy sake.
    The private wound is deepest. O time most accurst!
    'Mongst all foes that a friend should be the worst!
  PROTEUS. My shame and guilt confounds me.
    Forgive me, Valentine; if hearty sorrow
    Be a sufficient ransom for offence,
    I tender 't here; I do as truly suffer
    As e'er I did commit.
  VALENTINE. Then I am paid;
    And once again I do receive thee honest.
    Who by repentance is not satisfied
    Is nor of heaven nor earth, for these are pleas'd;
    By penitence th' Eternal's wrath's appeas'd.
    And, that my love may appear plain and free,
    All that was mine in Silvia I give thee.
  JULIA. O me unhappy!                                  [Swoons]
  PROTEUS. Look to the boy.
  VALENTINE. Why, boy! why, wag! how now!
    What's the matter? Look up; speak.
  JULIA. O good sir, my master charg'd me to deliver a ring to
Madam
    Silvia, which, out of my neglect, was never done.
  PROTEUS. Where is that ring, boy?
  JULIA. Here 'tis; this is it.
  PROTEUS. How! let me see. Why, this is the ring I gave to
Julia.
  JULIA. O, cry you mercy, sir, I have mistook;
    This is the ring you sent to Silvia.
  PROTEUS. But how cam'st thou by this ring?
    At my depart I gave this unto Julia.
  JULIA. And Julia herself did give it me;
    And Julia herself have brought it hither.
  PROTEUS. How! Julia!
  JULIA. Behold her that gave aim to all thy oaths,
    And entertain'd 'em deeply in her heart.
    How oft hast thou with perjury cleft the root!
    O Proteus, let this habit make thee blush!
    Be thou asham'd that I have took upon me
    Such an immodest raiment- if shame live
    In a disguise of love.
    It is the lesser blot, modesty finds,
    Women to change their shapes than men their minds.
  PROTEUS. Than men their minds! 'tis true. O heaven, were man
    But constant, he were perfect! That one error
    Fills him with faults; makes him run through all th' sins:
    Inconstancy falls off ere it begins.
    What is in Silvia's face but I may spy
    More fresh in Julia's with a constant eye?
  VALENTINE. Come, come, a hand from either.
    Let me be blest to make this happy close;
    'Twere pity two such friends should be long foes.
  PROTEUS. Bear witness, heaven, I have my wish for ever.
  JULIA. And I mine.

                Enter OUTLAWS, with DUKE and THURIO

  OUTLAW. A prize, a prize, a prize!
  VALENTINE. Forbear, forbear, I say; it is my lord the Duke.
    Your Grace is welcome to a man disgrac'd,
    Banished Valentine.
  DUKE. Sir Valentine!
  THURIO. Yonder is Silvia; and Silvia's mine.
  VALENTINE. Thurio, give back, or else embrace thy death;
    Come not within the measure of my wrath;
    Do not name Silvia thine; if once again,
    Verona shall not hold thee. Here she stands
    Take but possession of her with a touch-
    I dare thee but to breathe upon my love.
  THURIO. Sir Valentine, I care not for her, I;
    I hold him but a fool that will endanger
    His body for a girl that loves him not.
    I claim her not, and therefore she is thine.
  DUKE. The more degenerate and base art thou
    To make such means for her as thou hast done
    And leave her on such slight conditions.
    Now, by the honour of my ancestry,
    I do applaud thy spirit, Valentine,
    And think thee worthy of an empress' love.
    Know then, I here forget all former griefs,
    Cancel all grudge, repeal thee home again,
    Plead a new state in thy unrivall'd merit,
    To which I thus subscribe: Sir Valentine,
    Thou art a gentleman, and well deriv'd;
    Take thou thy Silvia, for thou hast deserv'd her.
  VALENTINE. I thank your Grace; the gift hath made me happy.
    I now beseech you, for your daughter's sake,
    To grant one boon that I shall ask of you.
  DUKE. I grant it for thine own, whate'er it be.
  VALENTINE. These banish'd men, that I have kept withal,
    Are men endu'd with worthy qualities;
    Forgive them what they have committed here,
    And let them be recall'd from their exile:
    They are reformed, civil, full of good,
    And fit for great employment, worthy lord.
  DUKE. Thou hast prevail'd; I pardon them, and thee;
    Dispose of them as thou know'st their deserts.
    Come, let us go; we will include all jars
    With triumphs, mirth, and rare solemnity.
  VALENTINE. And, as we walk along, I dare be bold
    With our discourse to make your Grace to smile.
    What think you of this page, my lord?
  DUKE. I think the boy hath grace in him; he blushes.
  VALENTINE. I warrant you, my lord- more grace than boy.
  DUKE. What mean you by that saying?
  VALENTINE. Please you, I'll tell you as we pass along,
    That you will wonder what hath fortuned.
    Come, Proteus, 'tis your penance but to hear
    The story of your loves discovered.
    That done, our day of marriage shall be yours;
    One feast, one house, one mutual happiness!     Exeunt


THE END

 Valentine sits alone in the forest, extolling the virtues of life in the middle of nature. He hears shouts in the distance and hides. Proteus, Silvia, and Julia  enter. Proteus pleads with Silvia to give him one kind glance as payment for rescuing her from the outlaws who would have "forced your honour and your love" . Valentine overhears their discourse but decides to wait to reveal himself. Silvia tells Proteus that she would have preferred being eaten by a lion to being saved by him. She emphasizes her love for Valentine and her hatred for Proteus' willingness to betray his friend. " In love/Who respects friend?" he asks her, "All men but Proteus" she replies . Proteus grows enraged at Silvia and moves to rape her. When Silvia cries out, Valentine angrily leaps out of the bushes and curses Proteus for his betrayal. Proteus begs for Valentine's forgiveness. Valentine immediately pardons Proteus and offers Silvia to him, at which point Sebastian faints. When Sebastian regains consciousness, he explains that he fainted because he forgot to give Proteus' ring to Silvia. Sebastian then produces two rings: that which Julia had given to Proteus, which he later intended for Silvia, and that which Proteus had given to Julia. When Proteus queries Sebastian on how he came to possess Julia's ring, Julia reveals her identity. Proteus immediately decides that Julia is more beautiful after all and decides to marry her instead of Silvia. Thurio, the Duke and the outlaws arrive. Thurio claims Silvia as his, but Valentine threatens to kill him if he touches her. Thurio confesses that he doesn't really love Silvia, and that it would be stupid to be killed for someone he doesn't love. The Duke tells Thurio that he is a "degenerate," and applauds Valentine's noble behavior: "... by the honour of my ancestry/I do applaud thy spirit... Sir Valentine,/Thou art a gentleman, and well derived" . The Duke grants Valentine's request for clemency for his band of gentlemanly outlaws and Valentine decrees that both couples should be married on the same day.

