The Two Gentlemen of Verona


© Susan Keeping
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Aug 28, 2001


According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, The Two Gentlemen of Verona is "an early play in five acts...performed 1594-95 and published in the First Folio of 1623 from a transcript of a promptbook, probably of a shortened version. It is a pastoral story about two young friends who travel to Milan and are educated in courtly behaviour". They go on to give some background into the source of the play:
"The main source of the play's plot is a translation of a long Spanish prose romance entitled Los siete libros de la Diana by Jorge de Montemayor. Shakespeare is thought to have adapted the relationship of the two gentlemen of the title and the ending of the play for Thomas Elyot's The Boke Named the Governour (1531)."

The authorship of the play has been disputed by some who claim it was written by Christopher Marlowe. Of course, there is no proof of this. The Two Gentlemen of Verona is mentioned in the film Shakespeare in Love, sort of. In that film, Shakespeare is owed money for his play, One Gentleman of Verona.

This is one of Shakespeare's plays that has been filmed very few times, only twice in fact.

The first filmed version of The Two Gentlemen of Verona was a German production with the title of Zwei Herren aus Verona. It was directed by Hans-Dieter Schwarze in 1963. It starred Rolf Becker, Hans Karl Friedrich, and Norbert Hansing.

The next filmed version of the play was a BBC-TV production from 1983. It was directed by Don Taylor and starred Jeanne Pearce, John Hudson, and Frank Barrie.

I am not sure why this play has been filmed so infrequently. In comparison, next week's article will be about A Midsummer Night's Dream which has been filmed at least 18 times, in various adaptations and versions.

Related websites:

The online text of The Two Gentleman of Verona

From Shakespeare Illustrated, a painting of Act 3, Scene 1.

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Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: View all related messages
2.   Sep 20, 2001 9:47 AM
In response to message posted by roslinds:

Glad you liked it :) ...

-- posted by billie0
1.   Sep 19, 2001 5:45 PM
Susan... Two Gentlemen of Verona was my first introduction to SHAKESPEARE... I love his plays and the MUSIC associated with them... Good article... Thanks.. Classical Diva ...

-- posted by roslinds



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