SOURCE: Leech, Clifford. Introduction to The Arden Edition of the Works of William Shakespeare: The Two Gentlemen of Verona, edited by Clifford Leech, pp. lii-lxxv. London: Methuen and Co., 1969.

In the following excerpt, Leech presents a critical evaluation of The Two Gentlemen of Verona, including an analysis of plot and characters, as well as an evaluation of the play's place among Shakespeare's other works.

Vi. the Comedy

The Two Gentlemen of Verona has been the recipient of indulgence rather than praise. Rowe, noting that it immediately follows The Tempest in the Folio, was sure that it was written long before that play: ‘if his Fire may be suppos'd to abate in his Age, yet certainly his Judgment increas'd, but most of the Faults of this Play are Faults of Judgment more than Fancy.’¹ He added that ‘Silvia and the rest’ do not behave themselves ‘like Princes, Noblemen or...