Proteus: enough talking; what I want, what I’m owed–I take (5.4.53-60) #2Dudes1Dog #SlowShakespeare

CW: sexual violence, threat, attempted rape

 

PROTEUS       In love,

Who respects friend?

SILVIA             All men but Proteus.

PROTEUS Nay, if the gentle spirit of moving words

Can no way change you to a milder form

I’ll woo you like a soldier, at arm’s end,

And love you ’gainst the nature of love – force ye.

SILVIA O heaven!

PROTEUS I’ll force thee yield to my desire.                       (5.4.53-60)

In love, who respects friend? asks Proteus, furiously: what’s friendship got to do with it? why should I have any regard to friendship, to Valentine, this is about you and me—this is about love. Silvia doesn’t dispute that aspect of what he’s arguing—because whatever this is, it’s not love—but instead continues to focus on Proteus’s betrayal of his friend Valentine: all men but Proteus, that’s who, that’s who respects the bonds of friendship and loyalty. Everyone else but you, loser. (Maybe she thinks that there’s still some hope in appealing to his honour as a gentleman.) But Proteus isn’t listening, he’s flipped completely, and he’s talking to himself as much as to her, justifying what he’s about to do. Nay, if the gentle spirit of moving words can no way change you to a milder form—if you’re not going to listen to all the nice things I’ve been saying about you, to all my pleas and entreaties, if you’re not going to be open to persuasion, if you’re not going to do as I ask when I’ve been asking so nicely, if you’re not going to be a good girl and do as you’re told—well then, I’ll woo you like a soldier, at arm’s end, and love you ’gainst the nature of love—force ye. No more Mr Nice Guy, the time for talking’s past; what I want, I’ll take, by violence if necessary. I’m armed. O heaven! is all that Silvia can say, as they struggle, as she fights back, as Julia and Valentine watch, appalled, but Proteus is obsessed, and strong, entitled, desperate, and mad. I’ll force thee yield to my desire. You owe me, and yes, this is rape, or about to be, but I don’t care.

Not funny, not funny at all any more. And a real challenge in modern performance…

 

 

 

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