To leave my Julia, shall I be forsworn;
To love fair Silvia, shall I be forsworn;
To wrong my friend, I shall be much forsworn.
And e’en that power which gave me first my oath
Provokes me to this threefold perjury.
Love bade me swear, and Love bids me forswear.
O sweet-suggesting Love, if thou hast sinned,
Teach me, thy tempted subject, to excuse it.
At first I did adore a twinkling star,
But now I worship a celestial sun.
Unheedful vows may heedfully be broken,
And he wants wit that wants resolved will
To learn his wit t’ exchange the bad for better.
Fie, fie, unreverend tongue, to call her bad
Whose sovereignty so oft thou hast preferred
With twenty thousand soul-confirming oaths.
I cannot leave to love, and yet I do;
But there I leave to love where I should love.
Julia I lose, and Valentine I lose;
If I keep them, I needs must lose myself;
If I lose them, thus find I by their loss,
For Valentine, myself; for Julia, Silvia.
I to myself am dearer than a friend,
For love is still most precious in itself,
And Silvia—witness heaven that made her fair—
Shows Julia but a swarthy Ethiope.
I will forget that Julia is alive,
Remembering that my love to her is dead;
And Valentine I’ll hold an enemy,
Aiming at Silvia as a sweeter friend.
I cannot now prove constant to myself
Without some treachery used to Valentine.
This night he meaneth with a corded ladder
To climb celestial Silvia’s chamber window,
Myself in counsel, his competitor.
Now presently I’ll give her father notice
Of their disguising and pretended flight,
Who, all enraged, will banish Valentine,
For Thurio he intends shall wed his daughter.
But Valentine being gone, I’ll quickly cross
By some sly trick blunt Thurio’s dull proceeding.
Love, lend me wings to make my purpose swift,
As thou hast lent me wit to plot this drift.
If I leave Julia, I break my vow; if I love Silvia, I break my vow; if I betray my friend, that's the greatest betrayal of all. Yet the very force that made me swear is now driving me to break these three oaths. Love made me promise, and Love now makes me break that promise. Sweet seductive Love, if you yourself have sinned, teach me—your tempted subject—to excuse it. At first I worshipped a twinkling star, but now I worship the full sun in the sky. Careless vows can be broken with good reason, and the man who lacks the will to swap the bad for something better lacks intelligence. Shame on me for calling her bad—that woman whose superiority I've confirmed with twenty thousand oaths. I cannot stop loving, yet I do; but I'm just replacing one love with another. I'm losing Julia and I'm losing Valentine. If I keep them both, I lose myself; if I lose them, here's what I gain through their loss: in place of Valentine's friendship I gain my own self-interest; in place of Julia I gain Silvia. I care for myself more than any friend, because love is always most precious to yourself. And Silvia—heaven knows she's beautiful—makes Julia look like a dark-skinned stranger. I'll forget Julia is alive, remembering that my love for her is dead. And Valentine will be my enemy as I pursue Silvia as a sweeter companion. I can't stay true to myself without betraying Valentine. Tonight he plans to climb to Silvia's window with a rope ladder—I'm part of his plan. Now I'll tell her father about it. When he finds out, he'll banish Valentine for his attempted theft. And Thurio is supposed to marry her. But once Valentine is gone, I'll use some trick to get past the dull Thurio. Love, give me wings to make my plan happen fast, as you've given me the cunning to plot this scheme.
If I leave Julia I'm breaking my promise; if I fall for Silvia I'm breaking my promise; if I betray my best friend that's the worst thing I could do. But the same Love that made me swear these oaths is now telling me to break them. Love, if you're guilty of this, teach me—your desperate victim—how to justify it. I used to admire a little distant star, but now I'm dazzled by the sun itself. Some promises don't matter as much, and if you're smart enough to trade something bad for something better, you should. How dare I call her bad—I've sworn to her superiority thousands of times. I can't stop loving, but I can switch which person I love. I'm losing Julia and I'm losing Valentine. If I keep them I lose myself; but if I lose them, here's the trade-off: I give up Valentine's friendship and get my own interests, I give up Julia and get Silvia. I matter to myself more than any friend matters, because love always comes first for yourself. And Silvia—God made her beautiful—next to her Julia looks plain. I'll stop thinking about Julia since my love for her is over. And Valentine will become my enemy as I chase Silvia instead. I can't be true to myself without screwing over Valentine. He's planning tonight to sneak up to Silvia's window with a rope—I know all about it. Now I'll tell her father. He'll go crazy and exile Valentine. Then Thurio will marry her. But once Valentine's gone I'll outsmart the stupid Thurio somehow. Love, give me speed to make this work, like you've given me the brains to plan it.
break my vow to julia break my vow for silvia betray my best friend love makes me do this julia's a dim star silvia's the sun i need myself more than i need valentine lose valentine = gain selfish me lose julia = gain silvia silvia next to julia? silvia wins silvia's way hotter i'm telling her dad valentine's coming tonight her dad will kick him out then silvia's mine silvia i'm coming for you
The Reckoning
In this soliloquy Proteus reasons his way, step by step, into betraying his sweetheart and his best friend. He knows the oath-breaking is wrong and says so, calling it a 'threefold perjury', and then uses clever logic to excuse it: careless vows can carefully be broken, and loving himself is the truest love. Watch how the wordplay on 'lose' and 'find' turns selfishness into something that sounds like wisdom. His praise of Silvia also depends on a racist put-down of Julia as a 'swarthy Ethiope', which shows how quickly adoration turns to contempt. The plan to inform the Duke turns the comedy dark, and the audience now knows more than Valentine does.
If this happened today…
Your best friend tells you his plan to propose to the person you've just fallen for, and he wants your help setting it up. You go home and spend an hour talking yourself into something you know is ugly. Promises made when you were younger don't really count. You deserve to be happy too. Your own partner was never really right for you. By midnight you've drafted the anonymous message to her parents that will blow up his plan, and you've half-convinced yourself it's the honest thing to do.