Romantic Ideals in 'As You Like It'

How does Shakespeare use the 'relationship' between Touchstone and Audrey to develop ideas about romantic ideals in As You Like It? Support your answer by close reference to the play. In the novel As You Like It, Shakespeare utilizes the idea of romantic ideals by exploring Touchstone and Audrey's relationship. Shakespeare uses juxtaposition to contrast ideas about romantic ideals. By placing Touchstone, a man from the court, and Audrey, a woman from the countryside, together, he develops a contrast between the two different perspectives of romantic ideals. Touchstone's method of flirting with Audrey is an accurate representation of the way love is in the court. Touchstone uses complex and intelligent wordplay to seduce Audrey, "For honesty coupled to beauty is to have honey a sauce to sugar". Touchstone's use of the metaphor 'honey a sauce to sugar' shows us how a stereotypical courtly lover would seduce his love. The use of a metaphor shows us that courtly love is not direct, but subtle and implied. The language used in Touchstone's remark is also very formal and embellished, giving us an idea of what a courtly lover's idea of a romantic ideal is. Audrey's replies to Touchstone's courtly and witty remarks reveal the nature of pastoral love, "I do not know what 'poetical' is. Is it honest in deed and word?" Audrey replies to Touchstone's remark of how he wishes her to be

  • Word count: 785
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Genre Defense of Shakespeare's As You Like It

Christen Hall Fine Art: Theatre Mr. Eric Phillips December 8, 2004 Genre Defense of Shakespeare's As You Like It "As You Like It represents, together with Much Ado About Nothing and Twelfth Night, the summation of Shakespeare's achievement in festive, happy comedy during the years 1598-1601," proclaims David Bevington his The Complete Works of Shakespeare (288). Bevington is obviously not the first editor to have categorized Shakespeare's plays. In fact, part of the plays' popularity might be based upon the fact that audiences know what to expect when they begin viewing the productions. For example, As You Like It's title hints that audiences should expect the play to end happily. This play's name is not, however, all that helps classify it as a comedy. Every element of the play drips with comedic elements, as Shakespeare characteristically critiques love, while highlighting the pastoral motif. The theme of the play is an obvious remark on its classification. Shakespeare exploits literary convention by mocking the foolishness love generates in us all. Kenneth Muir, in Shakespeare's Comic Sequence, declares, "His [Shakespeare's] lovers-Rosalind, Orlando, Celia, Oliver and Phoebe-would all make answer to Marlowe's question 'Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?' with a chorus of 'No one.'(88)" Each of the characters do and say impulsive things based solely

  • Word count: 1580
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Character study of Rosalind from As You Like It.

Michael Gallagher AP English Literature Ms. Garforth August 31, 2004 Rosalind, throughout William Shakespeare's As You Like It, uses her ability to control language to attain her goals. Using creative speech, Rosalind enables herself to control and manipulate every situation that she is involved with, especially those concerning Orlando and Phoebe. Rosalind dominates many scenes in As You Like It and, ultimately, everything that Rosalind wants to occur does. She even changes her identity to do so. By using ingenious language, Rosalind facilitates the accomplishment of all of her objectives throughout the play. The first situation in which Rosalind displays her dominance in language is in the Forest of Ardenne, disguised as Ganymede, a male. She, knowing that Orlando is yearning for her love, comments on his obvious unrequited love, saying, "Then there is no true lover in the forest; else sighing every minute and groaning every hour would detect the lazy for of time as well as a clock." (111) By implying that Orlando's love is not true love, she immediately inspires Orlando to prove her wrong. Orlando, becoming a little suspicious, inquires why her accent is not rough as a result of her living in the secluded forest her entire life. She retorts almost immediately with an elaborate story in which she states, "But indeed and old religious uncle of mine taught me

  • Word count: 1125
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

As You Like It by William Shakespeare: Essay Question

Q. To what extent is the Forest of Arden an ideal place A. The Forest of Arden at first glance, is a country life of arcadian contentment, rustic tranquility, a 'golden world' in all its glory. A place to while away the hours like, 'the old Robin Hood of England.' And so is portrayed and backed up with the seemingly content Duke Senior and his merry men. Duke Senior praises the effects of Arden on him stating its different virtues in the forms of a healer, a nurturer and a counselor. Its effects on the people who come from the court are drastic if not almost instantaneous and bring out some unique aspect of their personality which is not yet known. For Oliver and Duke Frederick, there is an almost impossible change for the better as Duke Frederick 'is converted both from enterprise and from the world.' Furthermore the previously non-existent bond of brotherly love is created between Orlando and Oliver which in turn leads to Oliver's 'conversion.' In Rosalind's case, the Forest provides a source of unimaginable freedom to express herself without the barriers of court conventions (though this may be the result of the disguise alone). It is the place where she can love Orlando without the strict rules and regulations that governed her previous residence. Likewise Orlando is provided an escape from his brother' oppression where he can leisurely convey his love for

  • Word count: 546
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Review and history of Shakespeare's play 'As You Like It'.

It is unknown when Shakespeare's play 'As You Like It' was first written but it is thought to have first been performed in the Globe theatre in 1599 and first published in 1623 in the First Folio. When writing 'As you like it', it was probable that Shakespeare created the character of Rosalind with the popular prose 'Rosalynde' by Thomas Lodge firmly in mind. However, whilst writing 'As you like it', Shakespeare was also heavily influenced by the pastoral and romantic traditions popular in plays and literature of the period. Pastoral traditions typically depicted the countryside as an idyllic, natural, rural paradise, which brought out the good nature of all. The country was viewed as being wholly better than the unjust, unnatural, corrupt court, where evil-doers resided. The country, as represented in the pastoral romance tradition, was a "golden world" and a place of escape, populated by shepherds, shepherdesses and exiled high-ranking nobles disguised as simple country folk. Similarly, the romance tradition prevalent in many of Shakespeare's plays (including 'As you like it') presents love as an idealised, sexless act, which often involves a couple falling in love at first sight and eventually marrying, after overcoming many trials and tribulations. Subsequently, these two much loved traditions merged together to form the pastoral romance tradition, which is predominate

  • Word count: 3190
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
Access this essay

Character analysis of Celia in "As you like it ".

Character Analysis Celia is the daughter of Duke Frederick, cousin to Rosalind, and a general balance to Rosalind's foolish love. Celia and Rosalind, Together Forever Celia values her relationship with Rosalind so much that very little else matters to her, which is why she runs away with Rosalind to the Forest of Arden (disguised as Aliena). This makes sense, as the girls initially seem like twin sisters: [..] if she be a traitor, Why so am I; we still have slept together, Rose at an instant, learn'd, play'd, eat together, And wheresoever we went, like Juno's swans, Still we went coupled and inseparable. (1.3.12) Initially, Celia and Rosalind are partners in crime, jesting together, running off together, changing their identities together (Celia becomes Aliena), and generally having fun�together. Celia even declares their trip into the forest isn't banishment, but a chance at liberty, as they get to be the women they want to be (together). Celia and Love Celia and Rosalind's relationship changes once Orlando enters the scene. Celia is relegated to dealing with Rosalind's constant lovesickness and hijinks as Rosalind/Ganymede. As the play develops, Celia is confined more and more to simply reacting to Rosalind's antics. Through Celia, we get to investigate Rosalind's changing attitude toward love, which is contrasted by

  • Word count: 504
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Belonging "Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock" "As You Like It"

Belonging: Additional texts summary sheet Text Type: Poem Title: Loves Song of J. Alfred Prufrock Author: T.S Elliot Published: 1915 Audience: Adolescents, Adults Brief description of text (No more than 100 words) "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is a poem through the eyes of a man yearning for a sense of belonging, both with females and society. It is through fear of humiliation and constant postponement that Prufrock is unable to cast off the shell in which he lives and be more than a mere bystander in life. Prufrock eventually resigns himself to the mindset that life and the opportunity to belong has passed him by, leaving him alienated and with an awareness of his own inadequacy. Identify at least two thesis statements relevant to your text (Use point form) - The greatest barrier to belonging is one's own self perception - In order for a sense of belonging to be expressed security must be forfeited Explain how your thesis statements relate to your prescribed text. Through the forfeit of security and alteration of self perception characters experience a sense of belonging. The speech of the banished Duke Senior (Act 2) emphasises that although in unfamiliar surroundings away from the security of the court Duke Senior is comfortable in his new setting, accepting the environment which he deems real seeing merit in it unlike the "painted pomp" of the court

  • Word count: 1068
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Character Studies of Rosalind & Celia (As You Like It - Shakespeare).

Character Studies of Rosalind & Celia Rosalind Rosalind's function in the plot of As You Like It is vital. Once circumstances have driven all the major characters to the Forest of Arden, Rosalind either causes or contributes to all the major conflicts. It is she who resolves them all in the end. She's a complex and deeply human character. In Act I, you are first struck by her wit as she and Celia joke about such subjects as love and luck. At the same time, Shakespeare reminds you that Rosalind is an outsider, even in the court where she has grown up. Her father, the rightful duke, has been exiled. Although Rosalind misses him terribly, she will laugh and joke for her friend Celia's sake. Rosalind has the ability to rise above her own deeply felt emotions. Her love for Orlando makes her feel as giddy as any lovesick adolescent. (Look at her excitement when she learns that Orlando is in the forest.) She could easily surrender to the temptation to run around reciting poetry and swearing to die for love. Instead, she administers a love cure to Orlando that makes both of them stand back and take a good look at how ridiculous many conventional attitudes toward love really are. Thus, she avoids confusing the "idea of love" with love itself. She is also remarkably clever. She makes up the love cure on the spot and quickly invents an uncle and a magician to justify the stories

  • Word count: 533
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Forest life changes the characters in As you like it, do you agree?

'Forest life changes the characters in As you like it', do you agree? In Shakespeare's As you like it, we find the characters attempting to escape the court. What they specifically are escaping from are the 'briars' of the 'working day world'. The imagery of briar bushes specifically enacts a form of entanglement; that the world of the court is entrapping and the people in it are reflected as such. What is 'comely envenoms him that bears it', highlighting a reverse polarisation of morality, that what is good is a hindrance in the world of the court. This is paralleled by what Touchstone (who represents the court as a jester, whom were always in the service of the court) says; 'The sweetest nut hath the sourest rind'. Indeed, the usurper is viewed as the rightful ruler of the court whereas the rightful ruler is branded an outlaw. So the characters escape to the forest in order to cleanse themselves of 'th'infected world' (Playing upon the previous mention of 'envenoms' as a form of physical affliction that requires cathartic release). One can argue that the characters do respond to the forest, and their characters change as such. One particularly significant example is how Shakespeare constructs the forest as a place of alternative knowledge; Duke Senior finds that the 'winds are his councillors' and that the 'trees shall be my (his) books', that they find 'sermons in

  • Word count: 1149
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

As You Like It: The presentation of the theme's of love

As You Like It Coursework Examine the presentation of the theme of Love in 'As You Like It'. 'As You Like It' is written by William Shakespeare and is one of his most well known and successful plays. Love is a central theme and Shakespeare uses many different styles and writing techniques to present it via the characters in the play; form and structure also contribute greatly to the presentation of love. Love comes in a number of different forms. There is the romantic hero-heroine love between Rosalind and Orlando in which they fall in 'love at first sight', woo and then they are married, unrequited love with Silvius and Phoebe, Touchstone and Audrey's seductive love, family ties and love shared between Rosalind and Celia and Adam and Orlando. Rosalind and Orlando's relationship is not a typical hero-heroine love, Shakespeare adds to it with Rosalind's strong personality and with the humour brought on by the relationship between Orlando and Ganymede (Rosalind's Guise). The way that the two meet is traditional to a typical hero-heroine love, Rosalind is won over by Orlando's good looks and masculinity at the wrestling match with the Court's wrestler, Charles, they fall in love at 'first sight', which is shown for the most part through the language used- Sir, you have wrestled well and overthrown more than your enemies' 'what passion hangs these weights upon my tongue?',

  • Word count: 2298
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
Access this essay