Shakespeare's Play As You Like It - Research Paper Example

Juxtaposition in “As you like it” The play “As you like it” is a comedy of errors, in which gender equations and external environments are juxtaposed against each other in such a way that there is adequate scope for Shakespeare to express ideas and opinions which might not have been acceptable in the conventional sense. Two major realms are presented – the court and the pastoral, and the characters tend to present themselves differently in each one. In the play “As you like it”, Shakespeare thus presents the proposition that the nature of man is dependent upon his environment and characters can change when they move from one environment to the other. The very essence of the play “As you like it” is the juxtaposition of opposites. It commences with a court setting, where there is rampant injustice and violence, which is then juxtaposed with the peaceful, rural setting or Arden forest which is much simpler. He then proceeds to explore the impact of such a juxtaposition of two different environments on his characters. Shakespeare sets the palace right on the fringes of the forest; with the former representing the land of the rules of reality and everyday life, but once the crossover is made into the pastoral environment, the characters move into a land of fantasy where the existing stereotypes are challenged, especially in terms of gender. Shakespeare accomplishes this feat by pitting opposites against each other. The impact of the juxtaposition is most notable in the character of Rosalind, when she makes the transition from the court world to the pastoral world. The male and characters in the play “As you like it” belie traditional stereotypes; the men are weak and wimpy, while it is the women who are the strong characters making all the decisions. The males in the play are timid virginal, while the women are dominating and assertive. This is especially evident in Rosalynd donning the guise of man when she ventures into the forest. The dominance of the women is demonstrated by the reversal in the sex roles; not merely by switching the clothes, but in the women taking on the social and cultural positions generally occupied by the males. The following passages illustrate the differences in the attitudes of the women prior to and after their passage into the Arden gardens. While the women are still in the “court” location, Rosalind questions what their sport should be. Celia’s response is as follows: “Let us sit and mock the good housewife Fortune, from her wheel, that her gifts may henceforth be bestowed equally.” (Kemble, 1812:11). This illustrates the prevailing view of the women who feel that Fortune has not smiled on them, but has rather distributed her gifts in such a manner that men have benefitted far more than the women have. Within the premises of the garden however, the situation is quite different. The relationship between Rosalind and Orlando places Rosalind very much in a commanding position. Despite actually being the woman, she is dressed as a man and therefore dictates the tenor and pace of the relationship. This may be noted in the exchange between Rosalynd and Orlando during his lessons in love. Orlando arrives late and asks to be excused for his tardiness but Rosalyn refuses, saying that a true lover would not bear to squander even a “part of the thousand part of a minute in the affairs of love.” (Act IV:i:40-41). She then proceeds to give him further lessons in love and she retains the upper hand all the while. Hence, in the pastoral terrain, Rosalind is the one in charge, directing the course of affairs and also controlling the nature of the conversation between them. In effect, this play shows a juxtaposition of the male and female lead characters, who move through a series of comic misunderstandings and antics in the process of coming together. They first meet in the court realm, but the female lead –Rosalynd – is not permitted to approach him in the social environment. When the court realm is juxtaposed with the pastoral environment however, Rosalynd is placed in a dominant position. In her guise as a male, she guides Orlando towards loving Rosalynd, while also assuming the leading role in their romance. Additionally, she also steers the romance between Phebe and Silvius, while also coordinating the multiple marriages that occur at the end of the play, staying in her breeches during her assumption of this leadership role. As opposed to this, life in the court reveals a distinctly male dominated trend. Apart from the violence and cruelty existing in that world, most of the instances of such display of negative power are displayed by males. For instance, the existing duke is displaced by his younger brother, while Orlando’s older brother Oliver beats him up because he is in a position of greater power, having received a larger share of his father’s inheritance. The significant aspect is the metamorphosis in Oliver’s character when he enters Adrienne; in the realm of the Court, he was an evil brother but in the country, he becomes the loving brother that he was not earlier. This suggests that people can change and the mutability is possible when they move from one environment to another; thereby suggesting that the external environment conditions the nature of man. Yet another example of juxtaposition occurs in the romance between Touchstone and Audrey. These two characters are representatives of individuals who stand on the different grounds and represent the different styles, i.e, court and garden. The character of Touchstone is typical of someone from the court – he is formal and vocal, using high and pompous words with plenty of verbiage; for example, he uses words such as “poetical”, “foul” and “features”, which Audrey of course, completely fails to comprehend because she is a simple goatherd from the garden area (Act III.iii.4, 13-14, 31). This illustrates Shakespeare’s juxtaposition of the complexity of the court environment where there is plenty of verbiage to the simplicity that is present in the garden. It is almost equivalent to stupidity, because Audrey, in response to Touchstone’s protestations of love declares her virtue with the following words: “I am not a slut, though I thank the Gods I am foul.” (Act III.iii.31). There is a stark contrast between the two – verbiage versus simplicity, complexity in Touchstone versus what almost amounts to stupidity in the case of Audrey. This also represents the pastoral element, i.e, when someone from an urban or city area moves into the country to come into contact with the simplicity and peace of nature and to commune with it. The banished Duke who is in the forest, expounds on the virtues of pastoral life, which he says is free of danger. He reminds his companions in the forest that their greatest worry is no more than the cold north wind. The pastoral environment is even a source of education, because he “finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones and good in everything.” (Act II:1:16-17). Moreover, the girl Audrey is a source of some valuable lessons for Touchstone because she belongs to a rural environment, where issues are often less complex and are reduced down to the level of rustic nature. The love affair between Rosalynd and Orlando on the other hand, cannot be categorized into the pastoral realm; rather it belongs in the court realm where there is excessive and complex dialogue. There is yet another important distinction between the pastoral and court aspects, i.e., in the political arena, which he accomplishes through the character of the jester. The character of Touchstone is the satirical one, but it is through the jester that Shakespeare expresses some debate, centered on the prevailing political issues of late Elizabethan culture, such as the emerging market economy and the stratification of social relations, gender mobility, poverty and vagrancy. Whereas expressing certain opinions would be untenable in the court environment, the much lighter, simpler environment of the forest provides adequate scope for the expression of humor. Through the character of the jester, Shakespeare is able to pass comments on political issues in a ocular vein which makes them more acceptable in the environment of the forest. The humor of the jester is opposed to the satire of the character of Touchstone, who exemplifies the character of the court, even while present in the forest environment. In general however, it may be concluded that most of the characters have undergone a change for the better when they enter the pastoral environment. It appears clear that Shakespeare prefers the pastoral environment, because through this area, he challenges existing beliefs of the Elizabethan era, including gender relations. By portraying characters as better people in this environment, while characters such as Oliver are cruel and violent in the court arena, Shakespeare appears to be saying that the political environment in the latter is not as acceptable as that in the pastoral arena; that there is a need for reform in court which can only be achieved through a transition into the pastoral arena; i.e, political beliefs may be unnecessarily cruel and need to be tempered down to improve not merely the character of people but the relations between them. References: Kemble, P, 1810. “As you like it”, S. Gosnell. Read More