The play to be reviewed is As You Like It, written by William Shakespeare. The prevailing philosophy throughout the play is existentialism. What is existentialism? Existentialism can be defined through its ontology. Ontology is the study of the nature of reality and is also called the theory of reality. The ontology of existentialism can be discussed in under concepts of man and existence. In the concept of man, existentialists believe that man is not bound by any antecedent human nature but rather free to determine its own nature. It opposed those deterministic theories (ex. inborn talents, predestined path of life, etc.) and favoured principle of indeterminism. To be a man is to be undetermined, to be free. Man has the freedom to choose and …show more content…
As quoted from Marcel, ‘to exist’ means not just to be ‘present to my own aware-ness’ but also to be a manifest being. “I exist—that is as much to say: I have something to make myself known and recognized both by others and by myself”. In conclusion, existentialism is not about man as an absolute being but rather a relative and subjective one. As long as a man exists, there is always a room for him to revise and correct himself and has a future that is not determined by his innate nature, birthright, etc. The most important values on existentialism are freedom of choice and individuality. As You Like It is a play written by William Shakespeare and is classified as “marriage comedy” together with the plays Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The list of main characters includes Duke Frederick: the usurper of the throne of Duke Senior which is also his brother; Celia (aka Aliena): the daughter of Duke Frederick; Rosalind (aka Ganymede): the daughter of Duke Senior; Touchstone: the court’s clown; Sons of the late Sir Rowland de Boys (of decreasing age): Oliver, Jaques, Orlando; Adam: a loyal servant to Sir Rowland and his sons; Amiens and Jaques: Lords that are banished with Duke Senior; Corin and Silvius: Sheperds in the forest of Arden; Phebe: a
I will show understanding of the plot, character and themes and Shakesperes use of language and dramatic devices within the play.
Existentialism is a philosophy that puts emphasis on the existence of a person’s freedom or life. In a human point of view, it means to believe in oneself, not a group or religion. (33)
Existentialists find value in a personal point of view (thou rather than it). Like atheistic existentialists they hold a distinction between the subjective and objective worlds.
In this article the meaning of Existentialism is explained as the author, Randall Niles, describes how existentialism is a 20th century philosophy that centers itself on the analysis of human existence. He explains the popular slogan “existence precedes essence” by the very first founders of Existentialism, Jean Paul Sartre. The notion of the slogan is described by explaining how humans come into existence when they are first born, and spend their lifetime changing their essence and nature so it satisfies them. The philosophy of Existentialism is further analysed by explaining how humans find themselves and the ultimate meaning of their life by acknowledging their responsibility and making decisions accordingly. Moreover, it also explains
Existentialism is a Humanism by Jean-Paul Sartre, was published in 1945 at the height of Existentialism's cultural resurgence. As Sartre states in his opening line, his purpose is to “offer a defence of existentialism against some charges that have been brought against it.” (Sartre, 1945) At a time where Existentialism was heavily associated with wearing black and smoking (Fahlenbrach, 2012) Sartre felt the need to draw attention to its philosophical and more meaningful aspects, beyond it simply being a passing trend. Sartre outlines, “Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself. That is the first principle of existentialism” (Sartre, 1945) This is rooted in what Sartre believes to be the basis of all Existential
As You Like It, a Shakespearean comedy, follows the journey of Rosalind, a lady of the Court, who is banished to the Forest of Arden by her uncle, Duke Frederick. The reason for her banishment involves her father, Duke Senior, who was previously usurped by the aforementioned brother and sent the Forest of Arden. Rosalind is allowed to stay in Court by merit of her friendship with Celia, Duke Frederick’s daughter. Eventually however, the Duke decides to banish Rosalind to Arden, prompting Celia to leave with her friend. Once in the Forest, Rosalind changes her name to Ganymede and pretends to be a man, while Celia takes on the alias of Aliena. The two are accompanied by Touchstone, the Court fool, quickly purchase a cottage, and become
Existentialism is often defined as a philosophical movement that emphasizes individual existence, freedom and choice. Existentialism is a philosophy that emphasizes a few main points, such as the freedom to choose and how the choices you make should be made without the assistance of another person or standard. From the existentialist point of view, you must accept the risk and responsibility of your choices and follow the act and result to wherever it takes the individual. Someone that is put in a certain situation understands it far more than someone looking in on that same situation; one commonly used situation that appears often in existentialist works is
Shakespeare's Approach Toward Modern Societal Flaws Shakespeare’s As You Like It coveys many societal issues that the modern world continues to face. The play reveals these societal flaws and how they affected the life of those living in the Elizabethan Era. Throughout this play we are presented with the issues within dominants institutions such as political, cultural and sexual, problems- while looking at the Elizabethan Era, transcendentalism and Gender roles, that we deal with in the modern world both similarly or perhaps slightly different.
The existentialist is one who is concerned only with that intense moment of awareness with only his senses at his disposal, never looking to the future – the most living awareness. McCandles, the protagonist, in Into the Wild has come to the realization that existence is already being dead and accepting the fact that life is absurd and marvelous. He embraced the sublime absurdity of existence by renouncing the language games society plays. What is so enticing about the existentialist is that he is not concerned with the pressure of appearances and small talk which society employs to lie about what they think and feel. Existentialism is accepting the inevitability of death and living life for the moment without entertaining hope or falsities that distract one from living and accepting truth. The existentialist sees the simplicity in life and the absurdity of complicating it with pretences and lies, the existentialist is a naked man, he is one who becomes one with the rest of creation in accepting his fate on this earth and not hoping for anything more – he simply exists.
The Merriam – Webster Dictionary defines existentialism as a chiefly 20th century philosophical movement embracing diverse doctrines but centering on analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will without any certain knowledge of what is right or wrong or good or bad (Merriam, 2011). In other words, an existentialist believes that our natures are the natures we make for ourselves, the meaning of our existence is that we just exist and there may or may not be a meaning for the existence, and we have to individually decide what is right or wrong and good or bad for ourselves. No one can answer any of those things for us. A good
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.
Jean Paul Sartre is a philosopher that supports the philosophy of existentialism. Existentialism is a twentieth century philosophy that denies any crucial human nature and embraces that each of us produces our own essence through our free actions. Existentialists like Sartre believe there isn’t a God that determines people’s nature. So, existentialists believe that humans have no purpose or nature except the ones that they create for themselves. We are free and responsible for what we are and our engagements; even though we are mindful that this can cause agony.
Existentialism developed in the more extensive feeling to twentieth century rationality that is focused upon the investigation about presence and of the best approach people discover themselves existing or their existence as a whole. Existentialism takes its name from those philosophical topic of 'existence ', this doesn 't involve that there will be homogeneity in the way presence will be on be comprehended. On simpler terms, existentialism will be an logic worried for finding self and the intending from claiming an aggregation through spare will, choice and also personage obligation. Existentialism turned into prominent following those Second World War. In spite of seeing its philosophical viewpoint is little spot complex,
The world we live in is an odd one; some cope with its absurdities through intensive faith, others through utter disregard of all its meaning. Existentialism, however, leads us down a peculiar path that blurs these concepts into one unique belief system. While we might be faced with situations beyond our complete control, we do have the power to control how we handle said situations and whether or not we choose to cultivate significance from them. The search for significance is very primitive and so are the answers that have accompanied it throughout human history. Obviously, life doesn’t have a clearly stated purpose to it; it is up to each individual to create their own relative purpose and find their own happiness in a life of suffering. This is exactly what Existentialism proposes, that it is not possible to know the truth, so it is up to the individual to create his or her own, and then create their own purpose. Merriam-Webster defines the philosophy theory of Existentialism as a “…philosophical movement embracing diverse doctrines but centering on analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will without any certain knowledge of what is right or wrong or good or bad.” But Existentialism is not a concept that can simply be defined in one fell swoop. Throughout our studies of philosophy, I found there to be two main concepts that act as the foundation for the basic
I consider myself an existentialist. There are two basic approaches to this philosophy: either one rejoices in the freedom of the idea that a higher power is not imposing rules and purpose onto our existence, or, one sinks beneath the burden of responsibility that this bequeaths. Existentialists like Sartre, who can only see the bleak and meaningless aspects of living, have missed the opportunity that this philosophy gives to structure and guide their lives based on their own inner moral principles. I think that the inability to cope with inherent absence of meaning points to a dependence on the guidance of a higher power: in effect, a reluctance to take responsibility for oneself. I see existentialism as an incredibly liberating