6.2.5. The opposition dynamics.

The play begins in full conflict whis is unfolded in successive oppositions. First, the family
inheritance and Orlando's complaint, who entrusts the situation to Adam, his old servant. Then
through the conversation between the two cousins Rosalind and Celia, the second oppostion
unfolds: the legitimate duke, Rosalinds father, has been dismissed by his brother Frederick, Celias
father. The parallelism between public and private is evident. The elder brother, Oliver, plots his
younger brother Orlando's death through a fight and dismisses Adam. For this reason, the usurping
duke expels Rosalind. The court and the urban are governed by a masculine code at the service of
power. The parallelism is reinforced with Orlando, who provokes the aversion of Oliver and Duke
Frederick, for which he flees. Celia and Rosalind also flee and the Celia suggests to play to fall in
love and wait resigned the ups and downs of fortune. The amusement offered is the fight, which
according to Touchstonenot is not very appropriate for the ladies, but Celia and Rosalind attend the
fight anyway and they meet Orlando, who falls in love with Rosalind at first sight. Duke Frederick
orders Rosalind to leave the court, at threat of death, and both Rosalind and Celia decide to go
together to meet freedom and not punishment, thanks to a new world of possibilities that opens up
to them with the adoption of another identity through disguise. Celia disguises herself as a poor
woman and frees herself from paternal despotism, adopting a new name which refers to this fact:
Aliena. Meanwhie, Rosalind disguises herself as a man because of its potential for appearance and
representation and the freedom women can not access. The amorous explosion is a pretext for a
parody of the poetic conventions of the time and the expressions of unrequited love the poetry, a
poetry which Shakespeare himself wrote. Couples are structured in oppositions. The passion of
Touchstone and Audrey is the most physical one and is not filled with deep love but mere sexual
attraction. The fool is allowed to freely say what others are silent about and mocks the truth claims
of the love poetry. The infatuation of Celia and Oliver falls within the pastoral convention and
subverts it. It takes place in a context of nature where pretense is out of place. Arden is a space of
freedom without patriarchal obstacles. Rosalind decides not reveal herself when she meets her
father, prolonging her independence. She decides when and how to restore her identity, making sure
everything goes according to her wishes. Nothing is more challenging for men than the
independence of the two cousins expressed in the naturalness of their love relationships. The pair of
shepherds serves as a pretext for a parody of the tyranny of unrequited love, and Phebe agrees to
marry Silvius if Ganymede can not do so with her. The culmination of the opposition game is
played by Rosalind and Orlando. The masculine attire gives her vigor and daring, while Orlando
becomes effeminate, unlike in the court, where he was strong, determined, rebellious and
combative. In this case, he follows meekly the game of Ganymede who assures him that he (she
disguised as he) will cure his pain. Shakespeare ends the ridicule of the excesses of love poetry with
a game of oppositions in two scenes where he parodies the misogynist clichés of the fabliaux
convention. The coup de grace is the elision of responsibility for authorship. Who speaks is a man,
but we know that his words are those of Rosalind, who is played by a male actor. The disguise
allows all sorts of dramatic ironies and games of meaning.