Today’s Totally Random
Lines
As
one relying on your lordships’s will,
And
not depending on his friendly wish.
Proteus
Two Gentlemen of Verona Act I, Scene iii, Line 61
Okay, first context (not that I knew it; I had to read it on my Shakepseare App): Proteus’s father asks him what’s in the letter he’s reading. Proteus answers that it’s from his buddy Valentine who wishes that Proteus would join him at the emperor’s court. And Proteus’s father asks the lad what he thinks about Valentine’s wish. Proteus’s answer is Today’s Totally Random Line: he will do what his father wants, not what his friend wishes.
Interesting. He will do what his father wants.
Well first off, he’s lying to his father because the letter is actually from
Proteus’s girlfriend, but he doesn’t want his dad to know he’s reading a love
letter. So in that respect, he’s already doing what he thinks his dad won’t
approve of. Secondly, he has no desire to go to the emperor’s court because
that would take him away from his girlfriend. Thirdly, he’s gonna do what his
father wants him to do? What world is this?
You
know, kids marching to their own drum, and not the tune that their parents want
them to march to, has got to be as old as time itself. So, I’ve got to believe
that there were people in the audience in 1590 who would have a good scoff at
this line, if not an outright laugh. And of course, the line could be delivered
with a number of different tones and emphases (that’s the plural of emphasis; I
had to look it up) to add to the effectiveness of the line. But I digress.
Perhaps Proteus should have just been up front with his
dad? And by the way, forget about being careful what you wish for, Proteus
needs to be careful what his friend wishes for. Or, more precisely, he needs to
be careful what he tells his father that his friend wishes for. Well now, that’s a
bit convoluted, isn’t it.
1 comment:
What a nice pencil!
I'll be honest, I didn't fully understand the line until you spelled it out at the end of the first paragraph. And then I thought - wow, that seemed so easy. How did I miss that!?
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