Create a new account

It's simple, and free.

As You Like It

In the play As You Like It, William Shakespeare uses satire to raise questions concerning the traditional concept of love. This is characterized by the behavior of the characters as they try to woo one another. If we look at the actions of Touchstone as he woos the dull-witted Audrey, how Oliver woos Celia, the shepherd Silvius wooing Phebe, Phebe’s attempts at wooing Rosalind as well as the romance that takes place between Orlando and Rosalind we can see what it is about these actions of love Shakespeare is trying to satirize.

One of the aspects of love that Shakespeare satirizes is the enormous pain that the characters feel when they are in love. They usually spend an enormous amount of time declaring how much they suffer in love. Orlando only needs to look at the face of his love to feel pain:

Ros. O my dear Orlando, how it grieves me to see thee wear thy heart in a scarf!

Ros. I thought thy heart had been wounded by a lion.

Orl. Wounded it is but with the eyes of a lady.

From the first moment Orlando falls in love with Rosalind he seems to be struck dumb. Not only is he deeply affected by the sight of his lady but he also decorates the trees of the forest with bad love poems to Rosalind. He is even convinced that if Rosalind were to frown on him he would probably drop dead. Through Orlando, Shakespeare shows the unnecessary pain some individuals go through in the face of love.

One of the focal point of the play’s satire is concentrated on Silvius and Phebe. Silvius can think of nothing other than his love for Phebe, he can not even tend to his sheep. Phebe is constantly scorning Silvius and he is convinced that he is not worthy of her love. Phebe tells silvius that she is not in love with him and he is so humble in her presence that he will be content if she will only pity him:

...

Page 1 of 2 Next >

More on As You Like It...

Loading...
APA     MLA     Chicago
As You Like It. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 13:50, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1685038.html