he idea of her. This is where we see a friendship go astray and the power of love take hold. We see that Proteus is willing to give up a friendship with Valentine, so that he can fall in love with Silvia. This act may also show a subtle way in which Proteus feels that if he is no longer friends with Valentine he will not have to feel guilty about his feelings for Silvia. "Methinks, my zeal to Valentine is cold; And that I love him not." (2.4.206-207) Valentine being none the wiser tells of his plan to elope with Silvia, and this enables Proteus to eliminate one of the competition.We see how much of a low life Proteus becomes when the Duke want to eliminate the memory of Valentine from Silvia head. Proteus is willing to completely destroy Valentine's reputation in front of Silvia, so that he might look all the better. Proteus is now going to woe Silvia and use the fact that he is doing it for Thurio to openly make his case to Silvia. Unlike the scoundrel Proteus, Silvia is willing to stick by the man she loves, Valentine, and dismisses the advances of Proteus even after Proteus tells her Valentine is dead. "I likewise hear that Valentine is dead. And so suppose I am, for in his grave assure thyself my love is buried." After this encounter Julia reenters the scene as a page to Proteus, which he uses to pursue Silvia. The final scenes has all the characters go into the forest Silvia to find Valentine, Proteus to pursue Silvia, and Julia to Pursue Proteus. While on the forest path Silvia is captured by the outlaws that live their, and Proteus in turn rescues her, but not because he is a gentleman, but because of selfish interests. As Julia disguised as a page encounters Proteus and Silvia he is pursuing her harder than ever, and is even willing to force himself upon her. "I'll force thee yield to my desire." (5.4.59) Valentine now steps in and Disowns Proteus as a friend. Proteus on the other hand like his name states is willing to change...
