Comparison of Brideshead Revisited and As You Like It - Book Report/Review Example

Book Report/Review, Literature Topic: Compare “Brideshead Revisited” and “As You Like it.” Introduction and Thesis Statement To compare “Brideshead Revisited” by Evelyn Waugh and “As You Like It” by William Shakespeare is as good as building bridges between these two literary creations. Prima facie, they are incomparable and genre-wise no commonality exists between them per se. This is like the assignment of a detective. To find out the possible from the web of impossibilities and arrive at conclusions those are valid by tendering evidence for the same. Such assumptions should not be motivated but have to be meaningful to enable the reader to get an opportunity to understand the interdependence of the texts in some themes. The exercise is like the scale of justice, where both arms of the scale are equally important; to cite another example, the issue is like the train that speeds on two parallel tracks. We are investigating the emotional worlds of the characters undergoing similar experiences but under different circumstances, as such they tender dissimilar results. The emotion called love baffles definition and each lover sees the new horizon. Shakespeare’s play is written in a typical style where the characters indulge in problematic situations but with their own capabilities find ways to resolve issues they encounter. The characters in Waugh’s novel adopt different strategies for survival and succeed in resuming with their lives. “As You Like It” by William Shakespeare is a pastoral comedy. “Brideshead Revisited” by Evelyn Waugh is a novel. This is the difference in the genre of these literary creations. Both the texts have the themes of love and exile in common but “Brideshead Revisited” celebrates the death of love while love finds its way to union in “As You Like It.” The common topography of the writers The first and the foremost disparate issue is both these books are penned by authors who hail from Great Britain. The history, geography, belief systems etc. in the descriptions of the plots articulated by them must have common bricks as they are made from the same soil of Britain. “As you Like It” was published in 1623(written in 1599 or 1600) and “Brideshead Revisited” was published in 1944. The developments that have taken place in English literature for more than three centuries since Shakespeare wrote “As You Like it” are also important when comparing the two literary works and the theme of love. Societal changes impact the writings by the authors, be it the work of any genre, and personal experience is invariably related to time and situation. As for the main theme of love articulated in this paper, the love as it was practiced in the society during the Shakespearean era was entirely different from the importance of love in vogue in the era to which Waugh belonged. Different dimensions of love The theme of love shows predominantly in both the texts. The novel and the play present love at different levels. The protagonists, after overcoming obstacles, find ways to be together but in both the texts the fate works differently. In Shakespeare’s play, Orlando and Rosalind fall in love. Being confined and forced to live in a palace, Rosalind finds new chances to go out. Her close friend and cousin Celia is the reason for her stay in the palace. When she is driven out of the palace, she chooses to dress up as a young boy in order to prevent herself from getting into troubles. She calls herself Ganymede. This is the first implication of a homosexual connotation. In mythology, Ganymede is famous for his homosexuality. The name works as an underlying theme where other characters feel attracted towards Rosalind disguised as Ganymede. The same connotative implications can be found in “Brideshead Revisited” where the relationship between Sebastian and Charles shows homoerotic implications. The reason for creating such characters could be author’s personal experiences during the early phase of his life at Oxford. Julie Moult writes, “He had what he called an "acute homosexual phase" when he was at Oxford, like most Oxford men in the Twenties…It was not particularly unusual because women were not permitted to go to Oxford.”(2009)The reason Charles gives for falling in love with Sebastian’s sister Julia is her resemblance with her brother. It could as well be due to the opportunities he had for constant interactions with her. Moreover, Lord Marchmain’s mistress Cara calls Charles’s and Sebastian’s friendship “romantic friendship.” Celia and Rosalind’s friendship is a comparable idea. Rosalind disguised as Ganymede works as a force to bring out the suppressed sexual desires of characters for the same sex. Orlando finds it pleasing to practice his love with Ganymede. He does not feel any sort of discomfort and finds it easy to express his love to Ganymede considering her as Rosalind. Phebe feels attracted towards Ganymede. Instead of accepting Silvius’ proposal, she expresses her desire to marry Ganymede. So both the texts have homoerotic connotations. However, in the end, the authors set the characters in the right direction. Rosalind marries Orlando and Phebe marries Silvius. In “Brideshead Revisited”, the author shows the death of love when Julia, under religious obligation, refuses to marry Charles. In this case, spiritual force triumphs over love, which is a secular power related to the body, mind and intellect. Alienation (exile), in the end, helps the fructification of love The characters in both the texts are forced to leave their residences. Rosalind is forced to leave the palace while Orlando leaves his house as he is persecuted by his brother. In “Brideshead Revisited”, Sebastian leaves the house in search of a free life while Lord Marchmain has also abandoned his home. The characters in both the texts suffer the hardships of the exile but the only difference is that Lord Marchmain and Sebastian suffer from self-induced exile. The wise saying goes, “Love is a bird with colorful wings that remains in the heart ever caged. It invariably moves there with tantalizing speed to make one a bard.” Waugh’s heart is poetic, he loves good and bad things that make his life enjoyable and his writings are certainly a pleasant trip to senses. These qualities find abode in the heart that remains engulfed in love. As such “Brideshead Revisited” explores through varying literary methods, how the social changes in post-war Britain created a new generation struggling to find its identity and purpose and love is the one theme that impacts the life of people irrespective of all other considerations. The same love, as far as the life of an individual is concerned, its impact, intensity varies with the advancing age and changing situations in life. The tragic type of love at the college days when young lovers swear in the name of goddess of love that they are ‘made for each other’ and ‘will not be able to live without the other,’ find a gradual change in the later part of life. The intensity of love before marriage and love after marriage is different. This observation is true of the love between Charles and Sebastian that was comparable to paradise, but later there was a steady deterioration of the relationships between them. In “As You Like It”, love is related to lifestyles, the physical prowess and maneuverings of the noblemen for the seat of political power and authority. This type of love has no purity, nobility or sincerity aspects related to it. For example, the seed of love sprouted in the heart of Rosalind when she saw the wrestling skills of Orlando fighting his brother with malicious and motivated desire to kill him. Generally those who fall in love that fast, duck in marriage for one reason or the other though this does not happen in the present case. Rosalind gives Orlando her necklace, to seal the relationship. Next, things go haywire and Orlando escapes to the Forest of Arden as his brother Oliver is pursuing his plans to kill him. Rosalind too decides to run away to the Forest of Arden. For protecting the feminine honor, she dresses up as a boy and calls herself “Ganymede.” As Shakespeare provides new twists and turn to the story, Rosalind happens to see love-poems stuck to trees. When she comes to know that the poems are the literary creations of Orlando, she is thrilled, notwithstanding the poor literary merit of the poems. Rosalind’s disposition is proof to the popular adage that ‘love is blind.’ The plot is developed by Shakespeare on the expected lines and he has passed on the onus on the part of the readers by cleverly titling his work as “As You Like it.” When Rosalind bumps into Orlando in the forest, she hides her true identity and develops friendship with Orlando. In this way, like an intelligent detective, she hopes to elicit lots of information about Orlando’s true feelings about her. Orlando lavishes praise on Rosalind. Ganymede then big-heartedly offers to be made-up for Rosalind, so that Orlando can exercise all of his best moves in the passion department. Orlando, who has no idea that Ganymede is actually the girl he loves, takes the enticement and even partakes in a make-believe wedding. With these developments Shakespeare has articulated as to what extent a lover can go for the fulfilment of his cravings for love. Even the gender issue is relegated to the background by Shakespeare. In a review of the drama in Theatre Journal it is mentioned, “The same-sex casting unleashes the play from conventional expectations and makes explicit the point that gender is ultimately unimportant in human relationships.” (1995)Thus Shakespeare takes the theme of love to new dimensions without forgetting the humor aspect and male and female issue is sidelined by him. Love attains supersonic heights in Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” which results in culmination of quick marriages of the love-sick, Orland with Rosalind, Touchstone with Audrey, Oliver with Celia, and Phoebe with Silvius. “Brideshead Revisited” finds love in a different ambience. It relates to the involvement of an artist and Second World War Captain, Charles Ryder, with the Flyte family. Sebastian Flyte and Charles were pals at Oxford University. Love and friendship of the college pals is a unique type of emotion and that sweet association turns out to be of life-time remembrance. He makes a significant statement with regard to love in the beginning pages of the novel. He asserts, “Here love had died between me and the Army.”(3) He is gradually introduced to the other members of Sebastian’s family. Thereafter he becomes witness and the participant in the drama of love and other types of secular relationships but these are not comparable to the funny episodes of love articulated by Shakespeare in “As You Like It.” The levels are different. In place of kings and warriors, politicians have entered into the love episodes. Julia’s plans to marry businessman-cum-politician Rex Mottram is one such example, which later turns problematic. Religion and spirituality also strongly intervene in the plot of this novel. In “As You Like It” divine intervention is highlighted that results in the transformation of the individual who comes to kill Orlando. Whereas Shakespeare tackles the theme of love both ruthlessly and humorously, Waugh articulates it realistically, romantically and in imaginative terms. The emotions of the characters dealing in love are outspoken in “As You Like It,” and they are more subtle and studied in “Brideshead Revisited.” Interestingly the word love is mentioned at 54 places in “As You Like It” and 61 places in “Brideshead Revisited.” But one should note that the former book contains ninety-six pages and the latter one has four hundred and thirty two pages. Works Cited. Shakespeare, William. As You Like It. New York: Dover Publications, 1998. Print Waugh, Evelyn. Brideshead Revisited. New York: Back Bay Books, 2012.Print Shakespeare, William. As You Like It. “Theatre Journal”, Vol. 47, No. 2, May, 1995 Moult, Julie. Brideshead Revisited. Web: www.dailymail.co.uk/.../article.../Brideshead-Revisited-author-Evelyn-W... Aug 14, 2009, Accessed on May 1, 2015 Read More