A Midsummer Night’s Dream

As one of Shakespeare’s most frequently performed plays, A Midsummer Night’s

Dream has acquired a number of performance traditions: from fantastical fairies to
elaborate forest set designs and that donkey costume, it’s likely that many audiences
members will arrive with set expectations of any new production.

One of the reasons why Filter’s ‘remix and rework’ of the Dream works so well is the way
in which it playfully manipulates these expectations. A mischievous quality is clear from
the very start when Ed Gaughan’s Peter Quince welcomes the audience much in the
manner of a stand up comic. Having asked ‘What do we know about Shakespeare’s
play?’, his own answer is a mix of topical humour and a glib assessment of the text
which includes a reference to The Matrix. When the curtain finally goes up, Hyemi
Shin’s set is also not what we might have expected. Plain, off-white paper walls make up
much of it, and there’s a small section of faded white tiles, complete with leaking filter
system; the music and sound equipment of the ‘Mechanicals’ band’ is the most eye
catching thing on stage. It’s about as far from the magical night-time world of the fairies
as you’re likely to get.

Another unexpected element is the wilful miscasting. Ferdy Roberts’ Puck towers over
his master, the smaller, impish and youthful Oberon, played by Jonathan
Broadbent. This choice of performer, much like Oberon’s bright blue superhero
costume, alters the power dynamics of the play in interesting ways; at times, the fairy
king’s disruptive magic seems like the bad behaviour of a spoilt child.

On this stark, plain stage, it is Tom Haines’ excellent music and sound design that
creates the atmosphere of the enchanted forest: twinkling fairy noises, night time
crickets and magical sound effects encourage the audience to create their own mental
images. Even Bottom’s transformation into a donkey is achieved through sound: the
clip-clop of hooves and amplified ‘hee haws’. No costume change required.
Certain speeches of the play are set to music, the actors delivering their lines into
microphones over the sound of the Mechanicals’ band. This does much to bring out the
inherent musicality of the play’s verse and forms part of the production’s willingness to
cut, play with and stray from Shakespeare’s text. Most notably in the Mechanicals’
scenes, modern English and contemporary references interweave surprisingly well with
Shakespeare’s language.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a metatheatrical text whose climax is a play-within- a-

play. This allowed Shakespeare to satirize his own industry. Filter’s production picks up
and runs wild with this aspect of the play. Roberts’ Puck is a comically weary roadie-
cum-back stage technician figure; with his Lyric Hammersmith T-shirt and tool belt, he
bursts grumpily through the walls of the paper set, exposing a drab backstage area with
chairs and microphones. When problems arise, Quince is obliged to call for company
stage manager Claire Bryan to help him out. Both Oberon and Puck constantly have to
remind other characters that they are supposed to be ‘invisible’. The cumulative effect is
to make the audience feel that the entire play is, like the Mechanicals’ scenes, a
shambolic rehearsal, and that they too dreamed ‘through parted eyes/When everything
seems double’.

At times, this sense of the chaotic is taken too far, and the fourth wall broken a few too
many times, in ways that detract from the play’s own momentum. However, in the main
Filter has managed something rare: they have taken one of the best known of all
Shakespeare’s plays and made from it something innovative, irreverent and unexpected.

Forgiveness and Reconciliation in The Tempest

Many scholars argue that, along with Shakespeare's other late romances, The
Tempest is a play about reconciliation, forgiveness, and faith in future
generations to seal such reconciliation. However, while it is clear that the
theme of forgiveness is at the heart of the drama, what is up for debate is to
what extent the author realizes this forgiveness. An examination of the
attitudes and actions of the major characters in the play, specifically Prospero,
illustrates that there is little, if any, true forgiveness and reconciliation in The
Tempest.

We must first set a standard by which to judge the effectiveness of

forgiveness in the play. Undoubtedly, the most important Christian lesson on
the true nature of forgiveness can be found in Christ's Sermon on the Mount:

But I say to unto you which hear, love your

enemies, do good to them which hate
you
Bless them that curse you, and pray for them
which despiseth you... For if ye love them
which love you, what thank have ye? For
sinners also do even the same. But love
your enemies, and do good, and lend,
hoping for nothing again... (Luke 6:27-35)

Prospero's conduct from the moment the play begins seems to contradict the
basic tenets of Christian forgiveness. Fortune has brought his enemies within
his grasp and Prospero seizes the opportunity for revenge. "Desire for
vengeance has apparently lain dormant in Prospero through the years of
banishment, and now, with the sudden advent of his foes, the great wrong of
twelve years before is stirringly present again, arousing the passions and
stimulating the will to action" (Davidson 225). While it is true that Prospero
does not intend to harm anyone on the ship, and asks his servant sprite with
all sincerity, "But are they, Ariel, safe?" (1.1.218), he does not hesitate to put
the men through the agony of what they believe is a horrible disaster resulting
in the death of Prince Ferdinand. Prospero insists that those who wronged
him suffer for their crimes, before he offers them his forgiveness, even if it
means innocent and noble men, like Gonzalo, suffer as well. Later in the
drama Ariel tells Prospero that "The good old lord, Gonzalo/His tears run
down his beard" (5.1.15-6), and it is Ariel's plea that convinces Prospero to
end their misery: "if you now beheld them / Your affections would become
tender" (5.1.19-20).

Some critics believe that, through Ariel's expression of genuine concern for
the shipwrecked men, Prospero undergoes a transformation – that he comes
to a "Christ-like" realization (Solomon 232). A close reading of the magician's
response reveals that his newfound regard for the command "love thine
enemies" comes after he has achieved his revenge:

...the rarer action is

In virtue than in
vengeance: they being penitent,
The sole drift of my purpose doth extend
Not a frown further.

Prospero feels free to forgive those who sinned against him only after he has
emerged triumphant and has seen the men, now mournful and "penitent", pay
for their transgressions. Further evidence to support the claim that Prospero's
quality of mercy is strained, and that a truly sincere reconciliation fails to
develop, comes when Prospero finally confronts King Alonso, Sebastian, and
Antonio and announces that he is the right Duke of Milan.

Prospero hopes that his plan to shipwreck the King and his courtiers will result
in both their ultimate acceptance of him as Duke and their deep apologies for
wronging him. But King Alonso's initial reaction is not profound regret for
setting Prospero out to sea in a rickety boat and stealing his title, but profound
relief that someone on the island, be he real or no, has bid him a "hearty
welcome" (5.1.89). Alonso does ask Prospero to pardon his wrongs, but the
regret seems perfunctory and matter-of-fact, rather than genuine. It seems
that Alonso's only true regret is that his betrayal of Prospero has resulted in
the loss of his son, Ferdinand. Nevertheless, Alonso's brief and conciliatory
"pardon me" is enough to please Prospero: "First, noble friend/Let me
embrace thine age, whose honor cannot be measured or confined" (5.1.124-
6). This exchange of pleasantries confirms Prospero's penchant for
forgiveness and the reconciliation of the two men, but only in the most
superficial sense. And does Prospero truly forgive those who "hate" him? His
reaction to Antonio speaks volumes:

For you, most wicked sir, whom to call brother

Would even infect my mouth, I do forgive
Thy rankest fault, -- all of them; and require
My dukedom of thee, which perforce, I know,
Thou must restore. (5.1.130-4)

Prospero goes through the motions of forgiveness, but his sincerity is lost to
us. Moreover, there is clearly no reconciliation amongst Prospero, Sebastian,
and Antonio. Prospero still considers Antonio a "most wicked sir" (5.1.130)
and Antonio, focussed on slaying the island fiends, will not even acknowledge
Prospero.

A thorough discussion of the themes of forgiveness and reconciliation in the

play must consider Prospero's treatment of Caliban. When Prospero came to
the island he taught Caliban his language and mannerisms. At the beginning
Caliban welcomed Prospero, delighting in the attention he would receive:
"Thou strok'st me, and made much of me" (1.2.334). In return, Caliban
showed Prospero "all the qualities o' th' isle" (1.2.339), as there was little else
he could give his new master. But Caliban, in an expression of his natural
instincts, tried to ravage Miranda. It is an atrocious deed, but, to Caliban, it is
a basic biological urge, springing from no premeditation but his simple desire
to procreate, and can be equated to the crimes of a child, which is itself an
ironic juxtaposition. Caliban is "unlike the incontinent man, whose appetites
subdue his will, and the malicious man, whose will is perverted to evil ends"
(Kermode, xlii). Caliban is, in fact, "the bestial man [with] no sense of right and
wrong, and therefore sees no difference between good and evil. His state is
less guilty" (Kermode, xlii). While he should have taken measures to prevent
such an occurrence from ever happening again, Prospero goes further to
ensure that Caliban pay dearly for his actions. He threatens continually to
"rack [him] with old cramps" (1.2.371), and confines him "in this hard rock"
(1.2.345) away from the rest of the island. For Caliban Prospero has no mercy
or forgiveness. Prospero brands him "a born devil, on whose name/Nurture
can never stick" (4.1.188-9), and vows, "I will plague them all" (4.1.192).

It is also true that Caliban is guilty of planning the murder of Prospero after he
finds a new master, Stephano, whom, he believes, will treat him better than
Prospero. But, again, Caliban, in his primitive (and drunken) state cannot be
held accountable. Even though Prospero understands that Caliban's bad
behaviour is like that of a child, he does not offer mercy and forgiveness as
freely and earnestly as one should. The best Prospero can do is couch a
rather lackluster pardon inside a command:

Go, sirrah, to my cell;

Take with you your companions; as you look
To have my pardon, trim it handsomely. (5.1.292)

Shakespeare no doubt understood that ending the play with this sour meeting
would leave the reader wanting, so he crafts the union of Miranda and
Ferdinand as a vehicle by which the two fathers can further their
reconciliation. It is fitting that the most innocent and virtuous of all the
characters in the play, Gonzalo, should express the most hope for the future:

Was Milan thrust from Milan, that his

Issue
Should become kings of Naples? O rejoice
Beyond a common joy, and set it down
With gold on lasting pillars: in one voyage
Did Claribel her husband find at Tunis,
And Ferdinand her brother found a wife
Where he himself was lost: Prospero his dukedom
In a poor isle; and all of us ourselves,
Where no man was his own. (5.1.204-12)

With these words of hope invested in the new royal couple, Alonso and
Prospero rejoice together as the play comes to a close. But, despite the
traditional happy ending befitting a Shakespeare comedy, ultimately, we are
left with the feeling that true forgiveness and reconciliation have not been
realized.

Colonialism and Post-Colonialism in The

Tempest
Colonialism began much earlier with the discovery of America. It was a big issue during
Shakespeare's time. The opening up of new frontiers and new land being discovered stimulated
European information. Shakespeare's imagination has taken this into account. Exploration of new
geographical spaces and control of those lands by the explorers is basically what we know by
colonialism.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Interpreted as white man's burden, colonization was a means of conquering new lands
and imposing the colonizer's culture from on the native people. Prospero's capture of
Sycorax's land and his treatment of the natives of the island have prompted many critics
to interpret the play as working out the drama of colonization. Caliban's protest against
Prospero and his resistance to colonial power using the language taught by the
colonizer helps us interpret the play as a postcolonial text.

The Tempest has often been interpreted as a play about colonialism primarily because
Prospero comes to Sycorax's island, subdues her, rules the land and imposes his own
culture on the people of the land. In this interpretation, Prospero is not seen primarily as
a kind father of Miranda and kind ruler instead usurping Caliban's Island from him
(Caliban). But putting him under slavery and undermining him as a monster, we can
take Prospero as a representative of the Europeans who usurped the land of native
Americans and enslaved them. He, as a sense of superiority, takes Caliban as half
man. Pushing the native to the side, he places himself at the helm of affairs. He
displaces Caliban's mother and treats her as a beast. He has full control over everything
on the island. He makes Caliban work as his servant and calls him a thing of darkness.
Caliban is being dehumanized or treated as subhuman. Like European fantasizes the
other people as a wild man, Prospero, in this play, describes Caliban as deformed, evil
smiling, treacherous, drunkard, violent, savage, and devil worshipping etc. According to
Prospero, he is not even human rather born devil.

Prospero; ''This thing of darkness, I call my own''

This shows the colonizer's attitude of looking down on the colonized people. Caliban is
seen as a despicable entity. The whites looked down on the people of another color.
Some are born to dominate while others are born to be dominated. Caliban is treated as
inferior. The colonizer used words like light, knowledge and wisdom to refer himself
while he used terms like darkness, ignorance and elemental to describe the colonized.
This binary opposition shows how Prospero as a colonizer creates essences about the
colonized people. Prospero sees himself as a ruler carrying out the project of civilization
mission. The way light dispels darkness and knowledge dispels ignorance Prospero as
a colonizer educates and civilizes Caliban but without much success. The civilizing
mission is always accompanied by the politics of domination over the colonized. These
elements allow us to study the play in the light of colonialism.

In colonial perspective, we see the play through the eyes of colonizers. But if we see the
play from post-colonial perspective, Caliban is emerging against from the very
beginning of domination. The hatred towards the colonizer is very great and strong
among the colonized. Prospero manipulates everybody and every action in the play.
Everybody on the island is manipulated by Prospero the way a puppet master controls
his puppets. Caliban as a colonized wants to strike back on the colonizer. Caliban is
disobedient and creates problems for the colonizer. He attempts to rape Miranda and it
is a threat posed to the safety of the colonizer. He tells Prospero that the land that
Prospero rules was forcefully taken away from his mother. Like Caliban's protest, in
world history, too protest has begun with the birth of colonialism itself. He simply says, ''I
wish it were done''. Despite this, Caliban again and again claims that the land is to be
inherited on him. It means he seems to be justified in claiming that the island originally
belonged to him.

Caliban: ''I must eat my dinner. This Island is mine, by Sycorax, my mother.''

When Prospero tries to teach the language Caliban always refused to recite. Caliban,
therefore, remains at the end what he was at the beginning. No change occurs in
Caliban's nature. Here, Prospero, like White men is in the illusion that they are working
for them (calonized). But such notion is failed because Caliban does not learn his
(Prosper) language, even at the end of the play. The play shows the resistance of
dominance class. Whatever he has learnt, he uses it in cursing Prospero. These
attempts by Caliban to protest and resist the colonizer can support our post-colonial
interpretation of the play.

Shakespeare’s Twelfth
Night: Deception &
Disguises
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As in most comedies, William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night extensively uses disguises,
masks and mistaken identities to add to the comical nature of the play. Viola’s disguise as
Orsino’s page, Cesario, becomes crucial to the action in the play.
Without this important element, the action in the play would slow down dramatically, making
the story much less intriguing. In addition to making the play less interesting, the disguise is
also necessary to develop the storyline involving Sebastian, and the confusion that his
return creates. It also is vital to the conflict between Olivia and Orsino, which depends on
Viola’s disguise to keep things exciting.
Viola’s disguise becomes increasing more important as the events take place. The majority
of the plot lines depend on the disguise. Without it, the main theme of the play would be the
gulling of Malvolio. In a play where most of the characters fall in love with each other, blind
to the gender and true identity of the objects of their desires, a disguise like Viola’s
becomes the center of the action, and causes almost all the of the important aspects of the
play.
The confusion that Sebastian creates when he returns would not occur without Viola’s
disguise. Sir Andrew believes that the woman of his desires, Olivia, is spending too much
time with Cesario, and challenges him to a duel. As he put it, Olivia was doing “more favors
to the Count’s servingman than ever she bestowed upon me.” (3-2 l.5-7) At first, Viola is
nearly forced into a battle, but is saved when the confused Antonio arrives. Later on,
Sebastian and Andrew do get involved in a scuffle, for which Viola is unjustly blamed.
Finally Sebastian and Viola are reunited, but only after they have already caused a large
amount of chaos and have confused everyone. It is only then that everyone begins to
discover the extent of Viola’s trickery.
More disorder is created when Olivia, who Orsino is hopelessly in love with, falls for
Cesario, who is secretly in love with Orsino. Orsino sends Cesario to express his affection
for Olivia, which Cesario/Viola is not thrilled with. As she puts it, “whoe’er I woo, myself
would be his wife.” (1-4 l.45) This also causes Olivia to become interested in Cesario.
Throughout the play, Viola must continue to reject Olivia’s advances while concealing her
true identity. However when Sebastian arrives. her plan begins to fall apart. Olivia admits to
loving her, which makes Orsino angry. However when all of the truth has been told, Orsino
realizes what has happened and agrees to marry Viola, with Olivia marrying Sebastian, the
next best thing to Cesario.
Viola’s disguise, and the resulting chaos, are basically the most important elements of the
plot of the play, and are crucial to the development of the plot. Without it, there would be
little excitement or intrigue, and Shakespeare would not be able to thoroughly reflect his
views of humanity.

Shakespeare’s Twelfth
Night: Deception &
Disguises
You are here:
1. Home
2. English
3. Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night: Deception &…
As in most comedies, William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night extensively uses disguises,
masks and mistaken identities to add to the comical nature of the play. Viola’s disguise as
Orsino’s page, Cesario, becomes crucial to the action in the play.
Without this important element, the action in the play would slow down dramatically, making

the story much less intriguing. In addition to

making the play less interesting, the disguise is also necessary to develop the storyline
involving Sebastian, and the confusion that his return creates. It also is vital to the conflict
between Olivia and Orsino, which depends on Viola’s disguise to keep things exciting.
Viola’s disguise becomes increasing more important as the events take place. The majority
of the plot lines depend on the disguise. Without it, the main theme of the play would be the
gulling of Malvolio. In a play where most of the characters fall in love with each other, blind
to the gender and true identity of the objects of their desires, a disguise like Viola’s
becomes the center of the action, and causes almost all the of the important aspects of the
play.
The confusion that Sebastian creates when he returns would not occur without Viola’s
disguise. Sir Andrew believes that the woman of his desires, Olivia, is spending too much
time with Cesario, and challenges him to a duel. As he put it, Olivia was doing “more favors
to the Count’s servingman than ever she bestowed upon me.” (3-2 l.5-7) At first, Viola is
nearly forced into a battle, but is saved when the confused Antonio arrives. Later on,
Sebastian and Andrew do get involved in a scuffle, for which Viola is unjustly blamed.
Finally Sebastian and Viola are reunited, but only after they have already caused a large
amount of chaos and have confused everyone. It is only then that everyone begins to
discover the extent of Viola’s trickery.
More disorder is created when Olivia, who Orsino is hopelessly in love with, falls for
Cesario, who is secretly in love with Orsino. Orsino sends Cesario to express his affection
for Olivia, which Cesario/Viola is not thrilled with. As she puts it, “whoe’er I woo, myself
would be his wife.” (1-4 l.45) This also causes Olivia to become interested in Cesario.
Throughout the play, Viola must continue to reject Olivia’s advances while concealing her
true identity. However when Sebastian arrives. her plan begins to fall apart. Olivia admits to
loving her, which makes Orsino angry. However when all of the truth has been told, Orsino
realizes what has happened and agrees to marry Viola, with Olivia marrying Sebastian, the
next best thing to Cesario.
Viola’s disguise, and the resulting chaos, are basically the most important elements of the
plot of the play, and are crucial to the development of the plot. Without it, there would be
little excitement or intrigue, and Shakespeare would not be able to thoroughly reflect his
views of humanity.

As You Like It is structured around acts of deception that

complicate the play’s narrative and allow for events to
unfold that otherwise might not. The primary tricksters of
the play are Rosalind and Celia, who disguise themselves in
order to go undetected into the Forest of Arden. Rosalind
dresses as a man and goes by the name “Ganymede”;
Celia pretends to be a shepherdess and calls herself
“Aliena.” By constructing false appearances and presenting
themselves dishonestly, Rosalind and Celia incidentally
inspire their lovers to act more truly and honestly toward
them. When Rosalind is dressed as
Ganymede, Orlando reveals to her how deeply he loves
Rosalind, without knowing that he is addressing her.
Rosalind’s disguise thus permits Orlando to speak more
openly and perhaps less intentionally than he might if he
knew the true identity of his conversation partner. Celia’s
attire does not alter her seeming identity as radically as
Rosalind’s, but it, too, changes her lover’s initial conduct
around her, by making her seem to be not of courtly
upbringing. Whereas Rosalind’s disguise provokes honest
speech from her lover, Celia’s tests the honesty of her
lover’s love: the fact that Oliver falls in love with her
despite her shepherdess’s exterior indicates how genuine
his love is.
When Rosalind and Celia act out roles, they alter not only
the way they act, but also the way that other people act
toward them. These instances of disguise and deception,
along with serving as important plot points and providing
great comic potential, thus represent the playacting and
deception performed by every character in the play and,
moreover, by every person in his or her life. They illustrate
and exaggerate the extent to which “All the world’s a
stage/ And every man and woman merely players.”
The Delights of Love
As You Like It spoofs many of the conventions of poetry and literature dealing
with love, such as the idea that love is a disease that brings suffering and
torment to the lover, or the assumption that the male lover is the slave or
servant of his mistress. These ideas are central features of the courtly love
tradition, which greatly influenced European literature for hundreds of years
before Shakespeare’s time. In As You Like It, characters lament the suffering
caused by their love, but these laments are all unconvincing and ridiculous.
While Orlando’s metrically incompetent poems conform to the notion that he
should “live and die [Rosalind’s] slave,” these sentiments are roundly ridiculed
(III.ii.142). Even Silvius, the untutored shepherd, assumes the role of the
tortured lover, asking his beloved Phoebe to notice “the wounds invisible /
That love’s keen arrows make” (III.v.31–32). But Silvius’s request for
Phoebe’s attention implies that the enslaved lover can loosen the chains of
love and that all romantic wounds can be healed—otherwise, his request for
notice would be pointless. In general, As You Like It breaks with the courtly
love tradition by portraying love as a force for happiness and fulfillment and
ridicules those who revel in their own suffering.
Celia speaks to the curative powers of love in her introductory scene with
Rosalind, in which she implores her cousin to allow “the full weight” of her love
to push aside Rosalind’s unhappy thoughts (I.ii.6). As soon as Rosalind takes
to Ardenne, she displays her own copious knowledge of the ways of love.
Disguised as Ganymede, she tutors Orlando in how to be a more attentive
and caring lover, counsels Silvius against prostrating himself for the sake of
the all-too-human Phoebe, and scolds Phoebe for her arrogance in playing
the shepherd’s disdainful love object. When Rosalind famously insists that
“[m]en have died from time to time, and worms have eaten them, but not for
love,” she argues against the notion that love concerns the perfect, mythic, or
unattainable (IV.i.91–92). Unlike Jaques and Touchstone, both of whom have
keen eyes and biting tongues trained on the follies of romance, Rosalind does
not mean to disparage love. On the contrary, she seeks to teach a version of
love that not only can survive in the real world, but can bring delight as well.
By the end of the play, having successfully orchestrated four marriages and
ensured the happy and peaceful return of a more just government, Rosalind
proves that love is a source of incomparable delight.
Lee Jamieson has a M.A. in theater studies and is the author of numerous books. He lectured for
six years on theater studies at Stratford-upon-Avon College in the U.K.

Updated March 25, 2018

The theme of love in As You Like It is central to the play, and nearly every scene makes
reference to it in one way or another.

Shakespeare utilizes a range of different perceptions and presentations of love in As You

Like It; everything from the bawdy love of the lower class characters to the courtly
love of the nobles.
Types of Love in As You Like It:

 Romantic and courtly love

 Bawdy, sexual love
 Sisterly and brotherly love
 Fatherly love
 Unrequited love

Romantic and Courtly Love

This is demonstrated in the central relationship between Rosalind and Orlando. The
characters fall in love quickly and their love is articulated in love poetry and in carvings
on trees. It is a gentlemanly love but is fraught with barriers needing to be overcome.
This kind of love is undermined by Touchstone who describes this type of love as
dishonest; “the truest poetry is the most feigning”. (Act 3, Scene 2).

Orlando has to overcome many obstacles in order to be married; his love is tested by
Rosalind and proved to be genuine. However, Rosalind and Orlando only met a couple
of times without the disguise of Ganymede. It is hard to say, therefore, whether they
truly know one another.

Rosalind is not unrealistic, however, and although she enjoys the wooing side of
romantic love, she is aware that it is not necessarily genuine, which is why she tests
Orlando’s love for her. Romantic love is not enough for Rosalind she needs to know that
it is deeper than that.

Bawdy Sexual Love

Touchstone and Audrey act as a foil to Rosalind and Orlando’s characters. They are
cynical about romantic love and their relationship is based more on the physical side of
love; “Sluttishness may come hereafter” (Act 3, Scene 2).

At first, they are happy to be married straight away under a tree, which reflects their
primitive desires. They have no barriers to overcome they just want to get on with it
there and then. Touchstone even says that this would give him an excuse to leave; “…not
being well married, it will be a good excuse for me hereafter to leave my wife” (Act 3,
Scene 2). Touchstone is uncomplimentary about Audrey’s looks but loves her for her
honesty.

The audience is given the opportunity to decide which kind of love is more honest.
Courtly love could be seen as superficial, based on manners and appearance as opposed
to bawdy love which is presented as cynical and base but truthful.
Sisterly and Brotherly Love

This is clearly evident between Celia and Rosalind as Celia abandons her home and
privileges to join Rosalind in the forest. The pair is not actually sisters but support each
other unconditionally.

Brotherly love is severely lacking at the beginning of As You Like It. Oliver hates his
brother Orlando and wants him dead. Duke Frederick has banished his brother Duke
Senior and usurped his dukedom (reminiscent of Antonio and Prospero in The
Tempest.)

However, to an extent, this love is restored in that Oliver has a miraculous change of
heart when Orlando bravely saves him from being savaged by a lioness and Duke
Frederick disappears to contemplate religion after speaking to a holy man, offering
Duke Senior his restored dukedom.

It appears that the forest is responsible for the change of character in both of the evil
brothers (Oliver and Duke Frederick). On entering the forest both the Duke and Oliver
have a change of heart. Perhaps the forest itself offers a challenge the men need, in
terms of proving their manliness, which was not apparent in the court (apart from in the
form of Charles the wrestler?). The beasts and the necessity to hunt possibly replaces
the need to attack family members?

Fatherly Love

Duke Frederick loves his daughter Celia and has indulged her in that he has allowed
Rosalind to stay. When he has a change of heart and wants to banish Rosalind he does it
for his daughter Celia, Believing that Rosalind overshadows his own daughter in that
she is taller and more beautiful. He also believes that people will look unfavorably on
him and his daughter for banishing Rosalind’s.

Celia rejects her father’s attempts at loyalty and leaves him to join Rosalind in the forest.
His love is somewhat unrequited due to his wrong-doing. Duke Senior loves Rosalind
but fails to recognize her when she is in disguise as Ganymede – they cannot be
particularly close as a result. Rosalind preferred to stay in court with Celia than to join
her father in the forest.

Unrequited Love

As discussed, Duke Frederick’s love for his daughter is somewhat unrequited. However,
the main characters who represent this category of love are Silvius and Phoebe and
Phoebe and Ganymede.

Silvius follows Phoebe around like a love-sick puppy and she scorns him, the more she
scorns him the more he loves her.
These characters also act as a foil to Rosalind and Orlando – the more Orlando speaks
lovingly of Rosalind the more she loves him. The pairing of Silvius and Phoebe at the
end of the play is perhaps the least satisfying in that Phoebe is only marrying Silvius
because she has agreed to on rejecting Ganymede. This is therefore not necessarily a
match made in heaven. (This could be said of any of the characters however –
Touchstone and Audrey are in love because it is convenient, Oliver and Celia have only
briefly met and she was disguised as someone else and Rosalind and Orlando have not
had time to get to know each other without Ganymede’s disguise, their poetry has also
been described as feigning).

Ganymede does not love Phoebe because she is a woman and on discovering Ganymede
is a woman Phoebe rejects her suggesting that she only loved Ganymede on a superficial
level. Silvius is happy to marry Phoebe but the same cannot be said for her. William’s
love for Audrey is also unrequited.

Jaques
Jaques delights in being sad—a disparate role in a play that so delights in
happiness. Jaques believes that his melancholy makes him the perfect
candidate to be Duke Senior’s fool. Such a position, he claims, will “Give me
leave / To speak my mind,” and the criticism that flows forth will “Cleanse the
foul body of th’infected world” (II.vii.58–60). Duke Senior is rightly cautious
about installing Jaques as the fool, fearing that Jaques would do little more
than excoriate the sins that Jaques himself has committed. Indeed, Jaques
lacks the keenness of insight of Shakespeare’s most accomplished jesters: he
is not as penetrating as Twelfth Night’s Feste or King Lear’s fool. In fact, he is
more like an aspiring fool than a professional one. When Jaques
philosophizes on the seven stages of human life, for instance, his musings
strike us as banal. His “All the world’s a stage” speech is famous today, but
the play itself casts doubt on the ideas expressed in this speech (II.vii.138).
No sooner does Jaques insist that man spends the final stages of his life in
“mere oblivion, / Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything” than
Orlando’s aged servant, Adam, enters, bearing with him his loyalty, his
incomparable service, and his undiminished integrity (II.vii.164–165).
Jaques’s own faculties as a critic of the goings-on around him are
considerably diminished in comparison to Rosalind, who understands so
much more and conveys her understanding with superior grace and charm.
Rosalind criticizes in order to transform the world—to make Orlando a more
reasonable husband and Phoebe a less disdainful lover—whereas Jaques is
content to stew in his own melancholy. It is appropriate that Jaques decides
not to return to court. While the other characters merrily revel, Jaques
determines that he will follow the reformed Duke Frederick into the monastery,
where he believes the converts have much to teach him. Jaques’s refusal to
resume life in the dukedom not only confirms our impression of his character,
but also resonates with larger issues in the play. Here, the play makes good
on the promise of its title: everyone gets just what he or she wants. It also
betrays a small but inevitable crack in the community that dances through the
forest. In a world as complex and full of so many competing forces as the one
portrayed in As You Like It, the absolute best one can hope for is consensus,
but never complete unanimity.