A Dog and His Boy

The predictable play has taken a turn. One nicely suited to such a romance story, as we see Valentine fall in with a rough crowd.

But that's not the highlight of act four. Oh no. The high point of act four comes in with Speed and his dog Crab. Act four scene four opens with Speed talking to Crab about masters and servants in a cleverly doubling way. What's so winning about this brief section, though, is the way that, even 450+ years later, the deeply caring way in which Speed talks to Crab resonates and endears them both all the more.

The introduction to The Two Gentleman of Verona warned that the dog was a scene stealer, and since there would likely have been a live dog on stage (making for a merry display of a trick of its that Speed mentions, perhaps) during performances, this scene would have been all the more touching and comical.

There's some early Merchant of Venice in this act as well. At least, insofar as its one of Shakespeare's early uses of the trope of the cross-dressed lover spying on and speaking to the other lover.

Though, it's very clear that this is an early play based on the scenes between cross-dressed Julia and Proteus, since she isn't as power driven or mischievous as Portia and Nerissa in the Merchant of Venice. Instead, Julia uses her disguise to get close to Proteus and learn his state, and then to assess Silvia, though in such a way that she becomes suspicious of Proteus' new messenger.