This is Julia’s monologue from The Two Gentlemen of Verona, where she’s disguised as a young man serving Proteus (her beloved who has abandoned her for Silvia). Here’s a line-by-line paraphrase for performance:

How many women would do such a message? How many women would deliver a message like this?

Alas, poor Proteus! thou hast entertain’d / A fox to be the shepherd of thy lambs. Poor foolish Proteus! You’ve hired a fox to guard your sheep.

Alas, poor fool! why do I pity him / That with his very heart despiseth me? What a fool I am! Why do I feel sorry for him when he completely rejects me?

Because he loves her, he despiseth me; / Because I love him I must pity him. He hates me because he loves her; I pity him because I love him.

This ring I gave him when he parted from me, / To bind him to remember my good will; I gave him this ring when we said goodbye, hoping it would make him remember my love;

And now am I, unhappy messenger, / To plead for that which I would not obtain, And now here I am, the most miserable messenger alive, begging for something I don’t want him to get,

To carry that which I would have refused, / To praise his faith which I would have dispraised. Carrying messages I wish I could throw away, praising his faithfulness when I want to call him a cheater.

I am my master’s true-confirmed love; / But cannot be true servant to my master, I’m the one who truly loves him; but I can’t be a loyal servant to him

Unless I prove false traitor to myself. unless I completely betray myself.

Yet will I woo for him, but yet so coldly / As, heaven it knows, I would not have him speed. Still, I’ll court her for him, but so half-heartedly that God knows I hope he fails.

Gentlewoman, good day! I pray you, be my mean / To bring me where to speak with Madam Silvia. Good morning! Please help me—could you take me to speak with Silvia?

Performance Note: The emotional journey moves from bitter irony to self-pity to resigned determination. Julia’s disguise creates dramatic irony—she’s literally working against her own interests while hoping to fail.

In Act IV, Scene 4 of “The Two Gentlemen of Verona,” Julia, disguised as the male page Sebastian, enters Milan and encounters her beloved Proteus, who does not recognize her in her disguise. Proteus has been courting Silvia, the Duke’s daughter who is beloved by his friend Valentine, and he employs Julia (still as Sebastian) to carry messages and gifts to Silvia on his behalf. The scene centers on Proteus instructing his unknowing beloved to deliver a ring to Silvia - ironically, the very ring that Julia had given to Proteus when they parted in Verona. Julia is deeply pained by this task but maintains her disguise and agrees to carry out Proteus’s wishes.

The dramatic tension builds as Julia, in her male disguise, must witness firsthand Proteus’s betrayal and infidelity while being forced to participate in his courtship of another woman. When Proteus gives her the ring to present to Silvia, Julia recognizes it as her own token of love, creating a moment of profound dramatic irony. Despite her emotional turmoil, she agrees to deliver the ring and speak favorably of Proteus to Silvia, setting up the subsequent encounters where she will have to advocate for the man who has abandoned her while remaining unrecognized in her disguise.

The Two Gentlemen of Verona follows the friendship and romantic entanglements of Valentine and Proteus, two young gentlemen from Verona. The play opens with Valentine departing for Milan to experience court life, leaving behind his friend Proteus, who is deeply in love with Julia. Soon after, Proteus is also sent to Milan by his father, forcing him to leave Julia, though they secretly exchange rings as tokens of their love. Meanwhile, Julia decides to disguise herself as a young man named Sebastian and follow Proteus to Milan.

In Milan, Valentine has fallen in love with Silvia, the Duke’s daughter, and she returns his affection. However, when Proteus arrives and meets Silvia, he immediately forgets his love for Julia and becomes infatuated with his friend’s beloved. In an act of betrayal, Proteus reveals Valentine’s secret plan to elope with Silvia to her father, the Duke. As punishment, Valentine is banished from Milan and becomes the leader of a group of outlaws in the forest.

The climax unfolds in the forest where all the characters converge. Proteus pursues the disguised Julia (still dressed as Sebastian, who has become his page) and attempts to force his attentions on Silvia, who has fled to find Valentine. Valentine arrives just in time to stop the assault, and when Proteus expresses remorse, Valentine magnanimously offers to give up Silvia to restore their friendship. At this moment, Julia faints and reveals her true identity. The play concludes with the Duke’s arrival, his pardon of Valentine and the outlaws, and the restoration of proper romantic pairings: Valentine with Silvia and Proteus reunited with the forgiving Julia.