Essay On As You Like It

Everyone in the world of literature knows about the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Men in the story find power in sexual domination and violence. Women are treated as a belonging, and such as a property. Any person who was a female was expected to do as the men wished, and had no power over it at all. The women of this play are hampered by conventions, but many of the women still show great strength. The poor treatment acts upon major characters in the play such as, the nurse, Lady Capulet, and Juliet. In the play Lady Capulet shows strength by her tremendous personality of demand. The nurse, also shows an immense amount of strength by her ability to stay seriously involved with her work. Finally, Juliet shows her monumental strength by staying independent to herself.The women of this play are hampered by conventions, but many of the women still show great strength.

Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She is the emotionally overwhelmed, love disdain Athenian woman whom most can relate. Shakespeare points out unrequited love clearly in this comedy of confusion found in relationships. William Shakespeare’s tortured character fascinates me as she expresses questions and feelings most have felt in unique ways. For instance,

In William Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet”, Shakespeare presents characters in difficult situations in Romeo and Juliet through various language techniques and structure. Romeo and Juliet were star-crossed lovers. Both Romeo and Juliet were from feuding families that would not approve of their marriage. In the play they are presented with many difficult circumstances. The play was set in the Elizabethan era; there was a significant change in religion, family and politics. Attitudes and key scenes highlight the theme of love in difficult circumstances and prepare the audience for Romeo and Juliet’s suicides at the end of the play. In this essay I will be exploring the ways Shakespeare presents characters in difficult situations.

Disguise is one of Shakespeare's favorite ploys found in varying degrees in each of the mentioned works. Through it he alters the identity of an individual (frequently female character, though not always) and uses this disguise to heighten irony, develop theme, and enhance subtle comic innuendo. In As You Like It, Shakespeare develops specific ironies where the dialogue takes on new meaning when the true identity of the speaker (or hearer) is placed over the dialogue. By having characters in disguise, Shakespeare opens the door for all kinds of comic twists from the shepherdess in love with the "shepherd" Ganymede who is really a girl (Rosalind) to Orlando sharing feelings of love to Ganymede who is really Orlando's love Rosalind in disguise. The difficulty in maintaining a disguise or hidden identity is shown in the desire to say and experience things in the one identity than can only be accomplished by the alter identity which compounds the verbal comedy in the mistaken meanings of what is being said. In Measure for Measure, the Duke uses disguise and mistaken identity to reveal the truth about Angelo's character. At the same time this disguise provides comic moments as Lucio speaks of the Duke to the Duke while unaware of the Duke's identity.

The Shakespearean play, Much Ado About Nothing, has a unique and an interesting way of presenting the idea of gender, especially for female characters. The play demonstrates two contradictory characters, Hero and Beatrice; one being the “ideal” women during this era and the other being the complete opposite from the “ideal” women. The play challenges as well as reinforces the gender roles during this era with the comparison between the two female characters as well as the attitude of men towards women.

At the beginning of the play, Romeo is infatuated with Rosaline. When Montague’s nephew, Benvolio, comes home from a fight with the Capulets’ servants, his aunt Lady Montague tells him about how her son Romeo, has been in a melancholic mood, walking alone in the gardens. Benvolio promises Lady Montague that he would find out what is troubling his cousin, Romeo. Not one who is interested in fighting, Romeo is preoccupied by what he thinks is love and begins to confide in Benvolio that he is madly in love

In the play, As You Like It written by William Shakespeare, as well as the short story “Let Me Promise You” by Morley Callaghan, both playwright, and author are trying to convey the idea of a strong emotional bond between certain characters. In Shakespeare’s play, we see how Celia and Rosalind, two cousins, have been inseparable ever since a young age and will do anything for one another. In Callaghan’s short story, Alice has strong feelings towards George, waits restlessly by the window, and despite their differences, she still tries to please him. The theme that these two works show is unconditional love. The playwright and author are trying to illustrate what one will do for another even though the situation and conditions might be though.

Romantic comedies are one of many exuberantly entertaining genres of fine arts. Romantic comedies typically follow identical plot line structures, but they do not have to follow the same plot line. All romantic comedies differ in some sort of form or fashion. The play As You Like It by Shakespeare and the movie Just Go With It staring Adam Sandler, Brooklyn Decker, and Jennifer Anniston are both romantic comedies that differ dramatically in terms of their build up until the main characters are wedded. In Just Go With It there is a love triangle where the main character doesn’t realize his true love until he is about to marry the wrong woman. In As You Like It the main characters fall in love at first sight and get married in their second “official” encounter with each other. Although the build up in each movie varies dramatically, the uniqueness of the female heroine, Rosalind, in As You Like It is the main difference between the two romantic comedies. This causes an uncommon romance plot in As You Like It.

Inherent within humanity is the need to belong, in which an individual must accept one another in order to achieve a greater sense of connectedness and identity. This is firstly evident in Shakespeare's As You Like It whereby the ideas of love are used to reveal how relationships are fundamental to one's sense of belonging. Act 1 Scene 3 explores belonging and not belonging through love and nature as it establishes the plot at the mark of separation from court and country by Rosalind and Celia breaking the sense of belonging to place. Celia and Rosalind convey a strong bond evident in Celia’s plea to her father, Duke Frederick, to keep Rosalind at court rather than banishing her to the Forest of Arden. Conventions of love are evident

Shakespeare thus portrays Romeo and his love as an infatuation. This infatuation is evident in how instantaneously Romeo falls out of love with Rosaline and into love with Juliet. At one stage, Rosaline was the “precious treasure of his eyesight”, yet Romeo’s embodiment of perfection was, a few scenes later, his notion of defectiveness. This therefore reveals to the audience the instantaneous and reckless path of the two lovers, as well as the fickleness of adolescent “love”, diminishing at the sight of

Another aspect of the play that can easily relate to modern audiences is, William Shakespeare’s use of mistaken identities and true-life experiences especially mourning for the loss of family and love obsessions, are among the main focuses of the play. Many people in the audience of today would most likely be able to relate to Olivia’s intense mourning of her brother, since people’s feelings and actions at the time of loss don’t change just the periods of times that they occur do. Love is commonly used in many forms of works of entertainment because it is an unsolved mystery that everyone usual enjoys watching or reading. The infatuation that the Duke has for Olivia is comical throughout the play and forces the Duke to say

Another point to make on this matter would be that the character of Rosalind would have been played by a male and the audience would know this. This could mean that the reason Shakespeare included Rosalind’s enjoyment of manly sports was because Rosalind is actually a man in the attire of a woman. There is a large confusion of the gender of Rosalind throughout the play. By confusing the gender, Shakespeare is focusing more on the personality of Rosalind than her appearance. The question of gender is continued at the very end of the play. In many of his plays, Shakespeare ends with an epilogue read by a male character. In As You Like it, the epilogue is performed by Rosalind. The epilogue seems to be outside the play as if the actor was talking but Rosalind is still in character. She says herself;

Gender identity and its roles in 17th and 19th century England were regarded as rigid fact — definite and unyielding. The adherence to these social protocols was of utmost importance. Masculinity was viewed as being dominant, assertive, and bold, whereas femininity involved beauty, obedience, and chastity. The theatre became a method of challenging this rigid social concept. Both William Shakespeare’s As You Like It and Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest explore these public values through their characters. Wilde and Shakespeare’s use of gender reversals satirize the traditions of social order, marriage, and gender responsibilities at the time, thereby revealing that gender is not absolute.

In William Shakespeare’s As You Like It the speech act is introduced and helps to create a unique insight into the play and its events. Shakespeare integrates a speech act by Jaques to deliver a deeper meaning and lesson to the audience or reader of the work. Jaques in his speech act conveys a message with a much deeper meaning and teaching to society in general. The speech act rendered by Jaques addresses the themes of satire, philosophy, and the ages of man.

Twelfth Night, Or What You Will, written by Shakespeare during the Elizabethan era, centers around the convoluted and shifting nature of love. The play makes a point that the ways in which love and affection are expressed and interpreted differ amongst the different social classes. Count Orsino and Lady Olivia, representing the upper class of the nobility, demonstrate their love in grand, impersonal gestures, whereas Viola, whose status is slightly lower, does so in a selfless, more authentic manner. This stark difference in how these two classes perceive love is also seen in how quickly the feelings of Orsino and Olivia change for their love interests once someone new comes along. The nobility has little to no sense of what genuine love is, which is seen in both their frivolous displays of affection and how quickly they are able to fall for someone new.