JULIA And Julia herself did give it me,
And Julia herself hath brought it hither.
[Julia reveals herself]
PROTEUS How? Julia?
JULIA Behold her that gave aim to all thy oaths
And entertained ’em deeply in her heart.
How oft hast thou with perjury cleft the root?
O Proteus, let this habit make thee blush.
Be thou ashamed that I have took upon me
Such an immodest raiment, if shame live
In a disguise of love. (5.4.96-105)
The game’s up, precipitated by this wretched ring: and Julia herself did give it—the ring—me, and Julia herself hath brought it hither. Because I’m Julia, as well as ‘Sebastian’, and this is the ring you gave me when you left Verona. Surprise! (The most obvious thing for Julia to do is take off her cap and loose her hair. In some productions, however, in modern dress, she shows Proteus that she’s wearing a chest binder.) Proteus is A-MAZED (as are Silvia and Valentine, presumably): how, Julia? Yes, beneath that completely impenetrable disguise, it’s me…
But Julia’s not finished yet. Behold her that gave aim to all thy oaths and entertained ’em deeply in her heart. Yes, it’s me, the one to whom you made all your vows—the woman you swore you loved. And I believed you, I treasured your words; they lived in me, they kept me going. She turns the knife: how oft has thou with perjury cleft the root? If my heart was the target, the aim of all the oaths you’ve sworn, then your betrayal, your double-dealing, your playing false has shattered it. You broke my heart! (She can be pathetic, but she can also be magnificent.) O Proteus, let this habit make thee blush. Look what you reduced me to, this pathetic disguise, thinking I could follow you? (Perhaps. In early modern terms it’s more like, look how shamefully I’ve acted, how immodest I’ve been, dressing as a boy!) Be embarrassed for me. And be thou ashamed that I have took upon me such an immodest raiment—beashamed, properly ashamed, that I have done such a crazy, dangerous, scandalous thing—if shame live in a disguise of love. That’s another turn. I did it for love, I did it all for you—and so it can’t be shameful, can it?