DUKE And that thou mayst perceive my fear of this,
Knowing that tender youth is soon suggested,
I nightly lodge her in an upper tower,
The key whereof myself have ever kept;
And thence she cannot be conveyed away.
PROTEUS Know, noble lord, they have devised a mean
How he her chamber window will ascend,
And with a corded ladder fetch her down,
For which the youthful lover now is gone,
And this way comes he with it presently,
Where, if it please you, you may intercept him. (3.1.33-43)
I’m prepared, protests the Duke, because I’ve long been concerned that my daughter might elope (what?)—and that thou mayst perceive my fear of this, knowing that tender youth is soon suggested (young people, especially girls, so easily persuaded, so easily tempted to do stupid stuff and disobey their parents and elope with unsuitable lovers)—well, just in case (and because I’m paranoid) I nightly lodge her in an upper tower, the key whereof myself have ever kept; and thence she cannot be conveyed away. It’s all fine: I keep Silvia locked up in the highest room of the tallest tower, and I’ve got the only key. I lock her in! She can’t escape! She can’t elope! No one can get her out of there! Silvia is an actual fairy princess, a Petrarchan pedestal-dwelling fantasy made flesh.
Er, sorry (not sorry) say Proteus, ever so politely, I don’t mean to rain on your parade or suggest that you haven’t got every possible eventuality covered (or that your daughter is smarter than you think? does Proteus even think of Silvia as a woman with a brain and a mind of her own?) but know, noble lord, they have devised a mean how he her chamber window will ascend, and with a corded ladder fetch her down. They’ve got it all worked out: no need for any Rapunzel stuff, even: they’ve got a rope ladder! And, the youthful lover (Valentine) now is gone to fetch it! And in fact this way comes he with it presently! Look, there he is! With the rope ladder! Where, if it please you, you may intercept him. You can stop him and make him hand it over, right here, right now.