“As You Like It” - One of the Most Mature Comedies by William Shakespeare

Rosalind and Celia respond to the antics of their fathers positively, by promising to each other that they’ll stand by each other religiously through the hard times that are facing them, causing them both to flee from the court together. This united type behavior form the cousins shows the audience that this love is extremely solid and their love for each other is cannot be doubted. This is shown when Celia responds to her fathers actions by saying to Rosalind in Act 1 Scene 3: “Prithee, be cheerful.

Know’st thou not the duke Hath banished me, his daughter?”

Furthermore Rosalind and Celia decide to overcome their complications by fleeing to the Forest of Ardenne to find refuge. This seems to work dividends, as when they are in the forest the pair seems more relaxed and joyful than they were when they were generating tentative feelings back at the court. This is shown through the way they act more freely and seem more comfortable expressing their views on topics than they were in the court.

They also becoming more suspect to falling in love, and this shows in the way they fall in love with Orlando and Oliver. All this makes one presume that pastoral romance is in progress with this pair.

A different type of alliance is show using Adam the servant and Orlando in the play “As You Like It”. Between these two characters is dutiful love shown from both sides. The obstacle that this exact relationships faces is down to the misbehavior shown from Orlando’s brother Oliver, who Adam says is plotting to kill Orlando.

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The pair then address this situation in the same way as Celia and Rosalind did, by escaping in to the forest. This is where Adam’s dutiful love is evident when he swears allegiance to Orlando in Act 2 Scene 3 by saying: “Here is the gold. All this I give you.

Let me be your servant. ” Theses words are very strong, as Adam shows he will give Orlando everything he has even his fortunes just so that Orlando is able to be content and safe. Further on in the play Orlando also shows loyalty pointing to Adam. This dutiful love is expressed in the way Orlando carries Adam in to shelter and vows to find his poorly servant food; he even makes a fool of himself in front of Duke Senior and his Lords purely in attempting to find his loyal servant some much-needed food.

This dutiful love shown on Orlando’s part can be seen in the way he tells Adam in Act 2 Scene 6: “Come, I will bear thee to some shelter, and thou shalt not die for lack of a dinner if there live anything in this desert” Once again you can say that the concept of pastoral romance has left this pair living happily ever after as it looks to have solved all their problems, which they have now left at the court. A different relationship represented in “As You Like It” is that of Silvius and Phoebe. In this relationship the love is not shared from Phoebe in contrast to Silvius who seems to be suffering much grief and pain due to his immense and obsessive love for Phoebe.

Both characters face their dispute concerning their conflicting views by becoming frustrated, Silvius because he cannot obtain Phoebe’s love and Phoebe because of Silvius constant pleas for her to welcome his fondness for her. The evidence to show that Phoebe does not show the same affection for Silvius can be seen when she comments on how much she’d rather not be in a romantic relationship with Silvius in Act 3 Scene 5 by saying to Celia (dressed as Ganymede): “Sweet youth, I pray you chide a year together. I had rather hear you chide than this man woo”.

This idea that Silvius is suffering thanks to the elements of love is very similar to the objectives of courtly love. Obviously this situation proves problematic for it to be possible for Silvius’s and Pheobe’s relationship to advance, but a few twists occurring at the end of the play enable this couple to surprisingly tie the knot. The events which engineer Silvius and Phoebe to come together can be argued to be thanks to the pastoral romance theme, which is seen on a frequent basis in this play.

This is true as pastoral romance is well known for its characters in disguise and it’s the disguise of Rosalind (Ganymede) that actually plays the vital role in bringing Silvius and Phoebe together. Thanks to Rosalind’s slyness Silvius finally is able to be with Phoebe and it seems that she shows some genuine affection towards Silvius. This is noticeable when she says in Act 5 Scene 4 to Silvius: “I will not eat my word. Now thou art mine, Thy faith my fancy to thee doth combine. ” A relationship that does not develop until the tail end of the play “As You Like It” is between that of Oliver and Celia.

Celia who is dressed up as Aliena looks to fall in love with Oliver at first sight and these provides an ironic end for the character Celia in the play. This is an accurate observation, because during the play Celia is seen teasing her dear friend Rosalind about the hastiness about her love for Orlando. This is another classic example of how pastoral romance is a striking feature of the play, because even though Celia has been ridiculing Rosalind love for Orlando it seems that even she is eventually bewitched by the powers of the countryside air and decides to marry a man whom she has just met.

A unique relationship in the play is that of Pheobe and Ganymede. This is correct, as Phoebe is falling for Rosalind in disguise, without being informed. The relationship between these two characters is a clear example of the courtly love evident in “As You Like It”, because of the agony and frustration, which Pheobe endures due to her love Ganymede. Ganymede reacts to Phoebe;s attempts to win her heart by saying in Act 3 Scene 5: “I pray you, do not fall in love with me, For I am falser than vows made in wine”.

This dismissal of Phoebe’s love on Ganymede’s part shows that Ganymede has no interest in Phoebe at all, but despite this in true courtly love fashion Phoebe’s decides to persist with her quest to win Ganymede’s heart. In the end their relationship disintergrates when Phoebe says in Act 5 Scene 4: “If sight and shape be true, Why then, my love adieu”. The most influential relationship in the whole of the play is beyond doubt that of between Rosalind and Orlando. This is true, as this relationship seems to dictate the course of the storyline.

This relationship falls down heavily in to the elements of stereotypical pastoral romantic stories. This is correct, as Orlando seems to endure a lot of agony and pain over the course of the play. I will finish this later In conclusion I believe Shakespeare has shown us that men actually behave in the same way as women when in love. The evidence ot prove this is the behaviour of most characters in the play. Most of these characters endure large amounts of suffering.