ANTONIO       My will is something sorted with his wish.

Muse not that I thus suddenly proceed,

For what I will, I will, and there an end.

I am resolved that thou shalt spend some time

With Valentinus in the Emperor’s court.

What maintenance he from his friends receives,

Like exhibition thou shalt have from me.

Tomorrow be in readiness to go.

Excuse it not, for I am peremptory.            (1.3.63-71)

Well, son, it’s absolutely your lucky day, says Antonio, because my will is something sorted with his wish! You’ve just told me that Valentine wishes you were in Milan with him, in that letter there—and I’ve just decided that’s exactly what you should do! I’m totally on the same page! Muse not that I thus suddenly proceed—has Proteus made a gesture of prevarication at this apparent haste? or pulled a face?—I’m not being at all hasty in this, not at all, and what I will, I will, and there an end. I’ve made up my mind, and that’s that; I want you to go to Milan and so you’re going to Milan. I am resolved that thou shalt spend some time with Valentinus in the Emperor’s court: you can go and hang out with your mate! And don’t worry, I’ll give you a decent allowance, your expenses will be more than covered, to the same extent as Valentine: what maintenance he from his friends receives, like exhibition thou shalt have from me. (Has this been an objection in the past, that it’ll cost too much to send Proteus off travelling, especially to Milan? Is there a suggestion that, despite their shared status as gentlemen, Valentine is better off than Proteus? Perhaps; an early modern audience would be sensitive to such distinctions and discrepancies.) And—what’s the point in delaying? Tomorrow be in readiness to go. Go and pack! You can leave tomorrow! Excuse it not—more gestures of unwillingness, uncertainty from Proteus?—for I am peremptory. My mind’s made up: you’re going to Milan tomorrow, and that’s final.

Antonio can be the heavy, authoritarian father here, but it’s perhaps more interesting if he’s been uncertain about the financial outlay, a bit of a ditherer, anxious about Proteus going away. But then he gets nudged by his exchange with Pantino, starts to worry that he’s putting his son at a disadvantage by keeping him at home in Verona—he makes a decision and acts immediately, even impetuously. Like father, like son?