Love in Shakespeares 'As You Like It' - Book Report/Review Example

Views and Shades of Love in Shakespeare's As You Like It Love as a universal feeling and expression has always been a part of Shakespeare's plays,be it tragedy or comedy. This love is not limited to the conventional boy-girl relationship but it transcends barriers, man-made or natural. Through centuries, critics declare that William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is "not only the greatest playwright but the greatest writer in history, not only in the English-speaking world but internationally" (Hurt: 1055). For instance, the famous play, Romeo and Juliet, shows love as forceful; and as a cause of violence and even death, among others (http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/romeojuliet.html). Hamlet and Othello are the other plays that are considered Shakespeare's sublime tragedies that develop on the different types of love and related themes, such as love for the opposite sex, love to parents and siblings, marital infidelity, jealousy, etc. The success of William Shakespeare's plays lies greatly on his mastery of the Elizabethan language and his skill in beautifully orchestrating his lines to develop his sonnets and plays. The dialogue and actions are made more dramatic through his exceptional use of words and expressions. In the play, As You Like It, love is seen in various ways by the different characters, especially Rosalind, who is the most vocal about love among the characters. Rosalind stands out and declares love to be different and more complex yet delightful contrary to the common and accepted notion about love. This play, especially the theme of pragmatic love, goes against the usual notion of love that is depicted in the literature of Elizabethan milieu. The conventional picture of love as long-suffering, martyr-type, deadly and forceful - all inclined to the negative consequences of love - were reflected in other literary works of that time except Shakespeare's. Being a comedy, the play As You Like It, can freely express its pragmatic view of love and pass the audience's literary taste. It can justify its existence because it is rendered in the comedy type. In this way, love is shown to have positive consequences, such as the freedom of the female characters to pursue and initiate love (Rosalind and Celia) and being deceived in marrying somebody one does not like (Phoebe). In Act Iv scene i, the four characters, Jacques, Celia, Rosalind and Orlando, differ in their views about love. The two men and Celia are more ideal and conventional while Rosalind is pragmatic and unconventional. Throughout the play, the conventional view of love has also been altered like that of Silvius, the simple shepherd, who 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). This young, suffering shepherd, desperately in love with the mocking Phoebe conforms to the model of Petrarchan love, Silvius even prostrates himself before a woman who refuses to return his affections. However, he wins the object of his desire, all because Rosalind comes into view with her pragmatic advice and scheme. The other love relationship is also seen in the persons of Audrey, a simpleminded goatherd who chooses to marry Touchstone, a clown in Duke Frederick's court who seems hopelessly vulgar and narrow-minded, over William, a young country boy who is in love with Audrey. The choice of not marrying her own kind is another pragmatic representation of love. This paper primarily focuses on the positive and unconventional views about love as reflected in the play. To name a few, these are: Love Flows Naturally and is Something to Be Desired, Love is Therapeutic, Disguise Can Be Positively Used to Encourage the Growth of Love, Loving a Person of the Same Sex is a Natural Occurrence in Human Life, Marriage is the Culmination of Love, and Pastoral Scenery Creates an Atmosphere Conducive to Love. Act IV, scene i of As You Like It showcases the aforementioned views on love. Love Flows Naturally and is Something to Be Desired Contrary to the common European literary view that love is destructive and results to negative actions, Shakespeare in As You Like It brings in the good part of love. In a superficial and ridiculous way, it renders Orlando's line: "live and die [Rosalind's] slave," (III.ii.142) and Silvius' "the wounds invisible / That love's keen arrows make" (III.v.31-32), as temporary and fleeting. Instead, love is shown "as a force for happiness and fulfillment and ridicules those who revel in their own suffering" (http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/asyoulikeit/). Moreover, falling in love seems a natural thing that is not limited with time and socio-economic status. This is exemplified by Orlando and Rosalind's instantly fall in love with one another, as well as Oliver and Celia, still disguised as the shepherdess Aliena, falling instantly in love and agreeing to marry; and Phoebe falling hopelessly in love with Ganymede. Act IV scene I shows some views about love as desirable and natural. For instance, Rosalind talks about being time conscious and timely in love: ROSALIND Break an hour's promise in love! He that will divide a minute into a thousand parts and break but a part of the thousandth part of a minute in the affairs of love, it may be said of him that Cupid hath clapped him o' the shoulder, but I'll warrant him heart-whole. Cupid is alluded in this dialogue, he being the origin of romantic love. Moreover, still talking about time and love, Rosalind uses the snail as an analogy, that though the snail moves slowly but it is sure to come and sure of its destiny: ORLANDO Of a snail ROSALIND Ay, of a snail; for though he comes slowly, he carries his house on his head; a better jointure, I think, than you make a woman: besides he brings his destiny with him. ORLANDO What's that She continues that the snail protects and provides its love object, this may be a conventional or traditional view of love. Here, the man is supposed to love and care for his wife no matter what happens: ROSALIND Why, horns, which such as you are fain to be beholding to your wives for: but he comes armed in his fortune and prevents the slander of his wife. Further, Rosalind gives warnings about the stages and times of love. Love becomes more binding as time goes on. The wife is more possessive of the man than she is before marriage. This dialogue also shows the unpredictability of a woman's character, thus Orlando should be armed with such knowledge and avoid the sad consequences: ROSALIND Say 'a day,' without the 'ever.' No, no, Orlando; men are April when they woo, December when they wed: maids are May when they are maids, but the sky changes when they are wives. I will be more jealous of thee than a Barbary cock-pigeon over his hen, more clamorous than a parrot against rain, more new-fangled than an ape, more giddy in my desires than a monkey: I will weep for nothing, like Diana in the fountain, and I will do that when you are disposed to be merry; I will laugh like a hyen, and that when thou art inclined to sleep. Love is Therapeutic In the introductory scene Celia talks of the therapeutic effects of love. She tells her cousin Rosalind to allow "the full weight" of her love to push aside Rosalind's unhappy thoughts (I.ii.6). In the forest, Rosalind reveals her mastery of the subject - love. As Ganymede, she tells Orlando to be a more attentive and caring lover, advises Silvius to be less self-inflicting in his love to Phoebe, and stops Phoebe from being too harsh on Silvius. Rosalind declares that love is life-giving instead of being destructive in the lines: ROSALIND No, faith, die by attorney. The poor world is almost six thousand years old, and in all this time there was not any man died in his own person, videlicit, in a love-cause. Troilus had his brains dashed out with a Grecian club; yet he did what he could to die before, and he is one of the patterns of love. Leander, he would have lived many a fair year, though Hero had turned nun, if it had not been for a hot midsummer night; for, good youth, he went but forth to wash him in the Hellespont and being taken with the cramp was drowned and the foolish coroners of that age found it was 'Hero of Sestos.' But these are all lies: men have died from time to time and worms have eaten them, but not for love. Orlando contradicts what Rosalind says about the death of men not caused by love but by other reasons. He feels that his life depends on Rosalind and to lose her would mean death to him. ORLANDO I would not have my right Rosalind of this mind, for, I protest, her frown might kill me. In playful and cheerful manner, Rosalind disguised as Ganymede urges Orlando to flirt with her. ROSALIND By this hand, it will not kill a fly. But come, now I will be your Rosalind in a more coming-on disposition, and ask me what you will. I will grant it. She reveals that love is not only a matter of surviving but is a delightful thing that brings forth abundant life. The ending of the play proves her point when the four pairs were happily married and the kingdom was restored peacefully. Disguise Can Be Positively Used to Encourage the Growth of Love Oftentimes, disguise is viewed negatively. However, in this play, disguise has turn on a positive side and contributes to the success of the different loves. The greatest master of disguise in the play is none other than Rosalind. When she falls in love with Orlando, she keeps it a secret to everybody except Celia. Along with her cousin, she disguised as a young lad, Ganymede, and Celia as Aliena, a shepherdess. The guise may have initially been for personal protection. Further, in connivance with her cousin, she withholds her true identity from her lover Orlando and enjoys the charade. She pretends to be a tutor about love to Orlando and even succeeds in letting Orlando pretend that Ganymede is Rosalind and promises to come to woo her every day. Some complications later appear when Phoebe is also deceived and falls for Ganymede. To add more deception to disguise Rosalind promises that Ganymede will wed Phoebe, if Ganymede will ever marry a woman. With the masterful wit and persuasion of Rosalind, the end results in the successful wedding of the four pairs: Rosalind and Orlando, Celia and Oliver, Phoebe and Silvius, and Touchstone and Audrey. 'All's well that ends well' is an appropriate description for this use of pretense. Loving a Person of the Same Sex is a Natural Occurrence in Human Life Just like in the sonnets and other plays of Shakespeare, homosexual love also exists in As You Like It. It can be seen in the extreme intimacy between the cousins Rosalind and Celia. Celia has to leave for the forest with Rosalind because she cannot bear to live without her as shown in Celia's words in Act I, scenes ii and iii that appear to be the protestations of lovers. Rosalind's cross-dressing is another vivid manifestation of homosexuality. The very fact that Rosalind takes the alias Ganymede, a name that traditionally belonged to a beautiful boy who became one of Jove's lovers, carries strong homosexual connotations. In addition, Orlando's willingness and pleasure to pretend as the lover of the supposed beautiful, young boy Ganymede reveals his inclination to love a member of his own sex. Lastly, Phoebe is also more attracted to the feminine Ganymede than to the real male, Silvius. In the play, both homosexual and heterosexual love exist "on a continuum across which, as the title of the play suggests, one can move as one likes" (http://www.shakespeare-online.com/essays/loveplots.html). Marriage is the Culmination of Love Although disguised as Ganymede, Rosalind initiates the idea about marriage. It may be implied as the only license for them to become physically intimate. ROSALIND Marry, that should you, if I were your mistress, or I should think my honesty ranker than my wit. Love appears to be incomplete without marriage. All the four pairs end up in a wedding as orchestrated by the love guru, Rosalind. It seems that the only possible ending to love is marriage. Even disguised as Ganymede, Rosalind and Orlando pretend to have a wedding ceremony: ORLANDO Why now; as fast as she can marry us. ROSALIND Then you must say 'I take thee, Rosalind, for wife.' Marriage is also the promise Ganymede gives to Phoebe so that she will be trapped into marriage with Silvius. Accordingly, the play ends happily with the wedding of Rosalind and Orlando; Phoebe and Silvius; Celia and Oliver; and Touchstone and Audrey. It is witnessed by Duke Senior and his men and is officiated by Hymen, the god of marriage. ROSALIND Now tell me how long you would have her after you have possessed her. ORLANDO For ever and a day. ROSALIND By my troth, and in good earnest, and so God mend me, and by all pretty oaths that are not dangerous, if you break one jot of your promise or come one minute behind your hour, I will think you the most pathetical break-promise and the most hollow lover and the most unworthy of her you call Rosalind that may be chosen out of the gross band of the unfaithful: therefore beware my censure and keep your promise. It appears that the most appropriate ending would be the marriage of the major characters, or the lovers. Like a fairy tale, "they live happily ever after." Pastoral Scenery Creates an Atmosphere Conducive to Love Imagery plays an important part in the development of the theme of love. In fact, the play could not have been rendered successfully if not for these images as well as the poetic language where puns, paradox and hyperbole are lavishly employed. Jaques comments on life as constantly changing through the images of a man passing from infancy into boyhood; becoming a lover, a soldier, and a wise civic leader; and then, year by year, becoming a bit more foolish until he returns to his "second childishness and mere oblivion" (Act II, scene vii). The dominating image of the forest renders the fulfillment of dreams and desires of all most, if not all, of the characters. Change and transformation - physically, emotionally, or spiritually - happen to those who enter the Forest of Ardenne, These time--consuming and often hard-won processes are received by the characters instantaneously and without resistance. Obviously, the invigorating and almost supernatural effects are brought about by their entrance to the life in the forest. In it, many are healed such as the lovesick who are coupled with their lovers. Moreover, this pastoral setting also contains elements of same-sex love, such as the attraction of Phoebe and Orlando to the disguised Rosalind. Finally, the pictures of marriage and dancing as the ending of the play suggest the restoration and cure for the once chaotic lives of the lovers and the government as well. There seems to be no better way of ending a comedy than for it to conclude with festivities. Conclusion Shakespeare's masterful orchestration of the English language and his creative mind bring out a colourful rendition of one of the basic human experiences - love. The Play As You Like It provides different views of love such as: love flows naturally and is something to be desired; love is therapeutic, disguise can be positively used to encourage the growth of love, and loving a person of the same sex is a natural occurrence in human life. It is not only Act IV, scene i of As You Like It that showcases the aforementioned views on love but the whole play is intricately unified to reveal more aspects of the emotion and concept of love. If these views may still seem unconventional to present-day readers, how much more would it have been in Shakespeare's time when love has been viewed as a forceful and destructive experience as reflected in the literature of his milieu. The present-day reader is made more aware that the happenings in the contemporary times such as homoeroticism, dominance of women figures over men, vocal expressions of love and the use of disguise are but part of human nature and history. Nothing much has changed. A deeper look into literary pieces like that of Shakespeare is not only a worthwhile experience but also a venue to understand human nature and appreciate life and its complexities. Works Cited As You Like it by William Shakespeare. (27 February 2009). Aycock, Anthony. Why, there's A Wench": Shakespeare's Unconventional Love Plots. (28 February 2009) Barnet, Sylvan, et al (Eds). An Introduction to Literature: Fiction/Poetry/Drama. Expanded Edition. New York: Harper Collins College Publishers. 1994. Bevington, David, ed. 1992. The Complete Works of Shakespeare. 4th ed. New York: HarperCollins, Inc. Gillespie, Sheena, et al. World Literature: Connecting Nations and Cultures. 4th Ed. New York: Longman by Pearson Education, Inc. 2005. Hurt, James. Literature: A Contemporary Introduction. New York: Macmillan College Publishing. 1994. Leggatt, Alexander. 1974. Shakespeare's Comedy of Love. London: Methuen & Co. Literature Network William Shakespeare As You Like It Act 4, Scene I (28 February 2009) Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary (27 February 2009) Shakespeare's Coined Words. (28 February 2009) . Read More