The Language of Love in As You Like It The most obvious concern of As You Like It is love, and particularly the attitudes and the language appropriate to young romantic love. This, I take it, is obvious enough from the relationships between Orlando and Rosalind, Silvius and Phoebe, Touchstone and Audrey, and (very briefly) Celia and Oliver. The action of the play moves back and forth among these couples, inviting us to compare the different styles and to recognize from those comparisons some important facts about young love. Here the role of Rosalind is decisive, and much of one's response to this play (especially in performance) will depend upon our reaction to her. Rosalind is Shakespeare's greatest and most vibrant comic female role, and there's a old saying to the effect that in any successful production of As You Like It, the audience members will all leave the theatre in love with her. She is clearly the only character in the play who has throughout an intelligent, erotic, and fully anchored sense of love, and it becomes her task in the play to try to educate others out of their false notions of love, especially those notions which suggest that the real business of love is adopting an inflated Petrarchan language and the appropriate attitude that goes with it. Rosalind falls in love with Orlando at first sight (as is standard in Shakespeare), becomes erotically energized, and remains so throughout the play. She's delighted and excited by the experience and is determined to live it to the full moment by moment. One of the great pleasures of watching Rosalind is that she is always celebrating her passionate feelings for Orlando. She does not deny them or try to play games with her emotions. She's aware that falling in love has made her subject to Celia's gentle mockery, but she's not going to pretend that she isn't totally thrilled by the experience just to spare herself being laughed at (she even laughs at herself, while taking enormous delight in the behaviour which prompts the mockery). At the same time, Rosalind has not an ounce of sentimentality. Her passionate love for Orlando does not turn her into a mooning, swooning recluse. It activates her. She takes charge of her life. She knows what she wants, and she organizes herself to seek it out. If she has to wait to pursue her marriage, then she is going actively to enjoy the interim in an improvised courtship and not wrap herself in a mantle of romantic attitudinizing. She initiates the game of courtship with Orlando and keeps it going. She has two purposes here. This gives her a chance to see and court Orlando (in her own name) and thus to celebrate her feelings of love, but it also enables her to educate Orlando out of the sentimental pose he has adopted. Orlando, too, is in love with Rosalind. But his view of love requires him to write drippy poems and walk through the forest hanging them on trees. He sentimentalizes the experience (that is, falsifies it), so that he can luxuriate in his feelings of love rather than focusing sharply on the reality of the experience. In their conversations, Rosalind/Ganymede pointedly and repeatedly deflates his conventional rhetoric. This comes out most clearly in her famous reply to his claim that, if Rosalind rejects him, then he will die. 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, videlicet, 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 chroniclers 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. (4.1.81-92) It needs to be stressed that Rosalind's view of love is highly intelligent (that is, emotionally intelligent) and sensitive. This is not the statement of a cynic, because we know that Rosalind is very much in love, passionately eager to be with Orlando or to talk about him as much as she can. But the experience is not corrupting her response to life. She will not permit herself or Orlando to be deceived into thinking love is something other than the excitingly real experience she is going through-love is the most wonderfully transforming experience for her but it is not the sum total of everything life has to offer (as Orlando's poems make out). This fusion of passion and intelligence, shot through with a humour which enables her to laugh at herself as much as at other people, makes Rosalind a wonderfully attractive character. This complex attitude first emerges when she discovers Orlando's poetry. Of course, she knows the poetry is really poor, and she can laugh heartily at Touchstone's damning parody of all the words which rhyme with "Rosalind." But at the same time she is erotically thrilled that Orlando is around and that he is in love with her. Rather than being embarrassed by the wretched sentimentality of her lover, she simultaneously loves the fact that her feelings are returned and can laugh at his attempt to express them. This is not laughter at Orlando, but at the incongruity of the situation and joy at the mutuality of their feelings. Consider also her sense that the youthful love she is now enjoying will not last. She knows that and is not going to shield herself from that awareness in conventionally romantic platitudes: "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" (4.1.124-127). Of course, time will change the passionate excitement she now feels. But she's not going to act like Marlowe's Nymph who denies the passionate shepherd his love because she's afraid of the destructive powers of time. No, she will not let any future fear interrupt or qualify the enormous joy she derives out of being in love right at this moment. What the future will bring will happen. That is no reason not to appreciate the immediate joys of the love she feels for Orlando. No, that same wicked bastard of Venus, that was begot of thought, conceived of spleen, and born of madness, that blind rascally boy that abuses everyone's eyes because his own are out, let him be judge how deep I am in love. I'll tell thee, Aliena, I cannot be out of the sight of Orlando. I'll go find a shadow and sigh till he come. Here she is, in part, laughing at herself as a victim, one more person hit by naughty Cupid. But she's obviously thrilled by the experience and is not going to deny herself one bit of the joy she is feeling. Rosalind becomes the pivot around whom the other lovers move, because she is the only one with a maturely intelligent sense of the difference between love and sentiment. Thus, she can deliver stern lectures to Silvius and Phoebe about how they are denying themselves the joys that are possible because they have a false sense of love. Silvius's excessively conventional Petrarchan attitudes simply encourage Phoebe to close him out of her feelings and to develop a false sense of her own importance, as Rosalind points out very bluntly: "Sell when you can. You are not for all markets" (3.5.61). She is telling Phoebe, in effect, to wake up to the realities of the world in which she lives and to abandon the sentimental dream in which she has locked herself, thanks to the language in which she and Silvius understand their feelings. It's significant that throughout much of the play, when Rosalind talks to others about love, she talks in prose, rejecting the formal potential of a more imaginative language, in order to keep the discussions anchored in the reality of everyday life. Rosalind wants love, but she will have it only in the language of everyday speech, without the seductive embellishments of poetical conventions, which corrupt because they take one away from the immediately reality of the experience. Orlando profits from Rosalind's instructions because he is basically an emotionally intelligent person as well. His commitment to playing the role of the conventional lover is only luke warm; as Rosalind observes, he doesn't have the appearance of such a literary poseur. Significantly, his poetry is very bad, and he's not going to mind acknowledging the fact. He does not love his own words more than his own true feelings and hence does not strive to develop his abilities as a poet and quickly moves into the prose conversations with Rosalind/Ganymede. It's an interesting question whether or not he might recognize or have his suspicions about Rosalind/Ganymede well before the ending. There's an intriguing possibility that he knows her all along, but recognizing that she is in charge of the game, he is only going to drop the pretense when she gives him the cue. I've never seen this interpretation attempted, but if I were producing the play, I would like to try it.
There are many factors to be evaluated before initiating the process of creating life. Most individuals know whether they are ready to create life. The choice is a big decision that effects the rest of their life. The book Frankenstein starts by presenting Victor Frankenstein as an individual with a craving to create life. However, he does not choose to persuade this creation the normal way (having a child), instead he chooses to create a life from the parts of deceased individuals. Victor had many years to think about creating the monster, but never thought of the consequences of his action. Also, later in the novel Victor chooses to begin creating another creature without fully thinking about what will happen if this creature is created. In the real world individuals think about having children many times in their life. People think about when to have children and when they will be able to provide the best life for their children. Though some individuals many believe they are ready to create life, after the process has been started individuals can change their mind.
She defies the Elizabethan ideal of a woman, for she reprimands Ganymede and is headstrong and controlling towards Silvius, yet is submissive enough to agree to marry Silvius in order to please Ganymede. She is a shepherdess, yet uses sophisticated language which is unusual for a commoner in Shakespeare’s works; whilst the rest of the passage is in prose, Phoebe writes in rhyming trochaic tetrameter couplets. Shakespeare often used rhyming couplets when his characters spoke of love, the most evident example being the four lovers in “A midsummer night’s dream”. The use of this form in the extract therefore displays how strongly Phoebe feels towards Ganymede. Moreover, Rosalind’s use of prose, in contrast, highlights how Phoebe’s feelings are not reciprocated. Unlike Orlando’s abysmal and schmaltzy poetry in Act 3 Scene 2, Phoebe’s competent and more complex letter shows that she’s not blinded by Ganymede’s charms. She is critical of his behaviour towards her and she successfully uses antithesis to rebuke him, “If the scorn of your bright eyne” (4.3.48), resulting in note that is half love letter and half reprimand. The shepherdess also uses persuasive language, rhetoric, in the line “Would they work in mild aspect”, (4.3.51) to try to persuade Ganymede to return her feelings. Unlike Orlando’s poetry, or Silvius’ behaviour, she is not Petrarchan in her
At the start of the story Romeo has a crush on Rosaline who does not
In addition, Milton also said, "Dwell not unvisited of Heav'ns fair Light Secure, and at the brightening Orient beam" [2.299]. Heave...
The myth talks of a woman living in the time of the Aztecs who is caught between her culture and that of Cortez cultures in the time of Hernando Cortes. The woman served as a mediator between Cortes and her people. She was his lover and stood aside as Cortes conquered her people making her seem as a traitor (Fitts).The woman and Cortes had a child; then Cortez abandoned the both of them, and the woman stayed alone the rest of her life. La Malinche means “bad woman” the woman got this name by turning on her people for Cortes by selling them out for revenge from how badly they treated, and ultimately destroys the civilization
As You Like It is a comedic play written by William Shakespeare. Act 3; scene 3 is a long scene in which Rosalind’s character is revealed in many ways. Shakespeare uses indirect methods of characterization to reveal Rosalind’s personality. Shakespeare shows Rosalind is unaware, love-struck, and crafty by using the indirect methods of a character revealing themselves through their words, private thoughts, and actions.
The use of deception by the characters illustrate just how much of a burden love could be due to the fact that it’s the source of their pain and suffering throughout the play. The element of love within the play also reveals some homosexual-like ideas through character interaction and reaction to certain events which occur. The motif of love as a burden is depicted through how the character’s react to love, as if it’s more of a curse than a blessing; a feeling which attacks its victims suddenly and disruptively-yet at the same time they are willing to do anything for their love. Throughout the play various characters do the ridiculous in an attempt to woo their love, or in order to catch their loves attention. Shakespeare utilizes disguise and deception as the primary sources for examining the patterns of love and courtship as well as gender and sexualtiy.
Their love for each other endured differences in birth, difficulties by friends, doubt, laws, magic love potions, and gender roles in society. By facing these obstacles proves even further that in the end love truly conquers all. Shakespeare uses these example to his best ability in order to prove how the Renaissance period was ruled and how it affected love. Love is a rare thing and once a relationship has experienced many challenges together, it allows for the relationship itself to become stronger. It is not something that is meant to be taken for granted, but to be taken care of very carefully and treated properly as
Shakespeare used Rosalind and Beatrice to portray his belief that the ideal woman is a woman of beauty. In the play As You Like It, poems were written to Rosalind by her lover Orlando praising her beauty and fairness. "All the pictures fairest lined are but black to Rosalind. Let no face be kept in mind but the fair of Rosalind."1 Phebe, another female character in this play, had a crush on Rosalind when she was disguised as Ganymede, a young boy in the forest. Obviously, this love was merely physical; Phebe was just attracted to Rosalind's good looks.
Being of this position she can therefore exercise her ability to seduce men and gain financial benefit. One such example of her underlying power over the men in this play is when we see Willmore and Antonio start a fight and it is her who breaks them up by `commanding them to stop'. This is particularly important to the play as a whole as she is the only female in this play that has any power in a seemingly evident patriarchal society further emphasizing its unusualness. Yet it is here that her real power stops. She has beauty, men adore her sexuality and she can command them like dogs but as the play progresses we get to see more and more of how she is a victim and how she is to men only a body for conquest.
Laura Esquivel is a mexican writer and author. Born on September 30, 1950, in Mexico City, Mexico. Thee third of four children of Julio Caesar Esquivel, a telegraph operator, and his wife, Josephina. In an interview with Molly O'Neill in the New York Times. Esquivel explained, "I grew up in a modern home, but my grandmother lived across the street in an old house that was built when churches were illegal in Mexico
Apart from the characters' relationships we see that Rosalind is completely won over by this youth Orlando and has no words to describe her feeling, `Not one to throw at a dog.' According to Alexander Leggatt (in Shakespeare's Comedy of Love) this feeling is more of sympathy towards Orlando. This view is not agreeable in the sense that Rosalind in fact admires Orlando's bravado in challenging Charles.
Many characters undergo a change in William Shakespeare’s play, “As You Like It”. Duke Senior goes from being a member of a court to being a member of a forest and Orlando changes from a bitter, younger brother, to a love-struck young man. The most obvious transformation undergone, is undoubtedly that of Rosalind. Her change from a woman to a man, not only alters her mood, candor, and gender, but also allows her to be the master of ceremonies.
of interest to the play making it a great play to read and also act
Being so totally dependent on her own disguise not being found out, it is funny how she proceeds to doubt anyone who does not put on an outward show fitting to their claims to feeling. The first to be put on the stand in this fashion is Orlando. As Ganymede Rosalind refuses to accept Orlando's claim to being the desperate author of the love-verses (s)he has found hanging on the trees on the grounds that he has no visible marks of love upon him.