FREE ESSAY ON AS YOU LIKE IT

AS YOU LIKE IT

Orlando was angry with his older brother Oliver for giving him nothing from their father's
estate. He complained loudly to Adam, an old family servant. just then, in walked Oliver,
the object of Orlando's ire. They quarreled, and though Adam pled with them for your
father's remembrance not to fight, Orlando continued to demand his share of the
inheritance - which Oliver at last reluctantly granted in order to avoid violence. Then,
as Orlando left, Oliver drove Adam out as well: Get you with him, you old dog. Left
alone, Oliver summoned mighty Charles, the court wrestler. The next day Orlando was to
wrestle Charles, and Oliver charged him, I had as lief thou did'st break his neck as his
finger. Meanwhile, at the court of Duke Frederick, his daughter Celia consoled melancholy
Rosalind, her cousin - and the daughter of the recently deposed duke Senior. But Celia's
consolations were futile; Rosalind could not forget a banished father. Only when Celia
promised that she would turn over her whole future inheritance - the dukedom itself - to
Rosalind, did Rosalind grow merry again. The cousins then decided to go watch the
wrestling match. Meeting Orlando on the way, they tried to persuade him to give over this
attempt at besting Charles, who had already crushed the ribs of three challengers. But
Orlando would not be dissuaded. 
The match ended quickly; to the astonishment of all, Charles was thrown and Orlando
declared the victor. Duke Frederick called the champion forward to receive his reward,
but upon learning that Orlando was the son of his enemy, Sir Rowland, he angrily sent the
young man on his way. Rosalind, on the other hand, offered her hero a chain: Wear this
for me, she told him. Then she blushingly added, Sir, you have wrestled well, and
overthrown more than your enemies. 
Just days later, Duke Frederick gruffly took Rosalind aside. Within these ten days he
warned, if that thou be'st found so near our public court as twenty miles, thou diest for
it. When Rosalind protested that she was not a traitor, her uncle was unmoved. As the
daughter of Duke Senior, Frederick's deposed brother, Rosalind was unwelcome in his
realm. But unbeknownst to Frederick, his own daughter Celia offered to join her cousin in
exile. That night the girls would depart for the forest of Arden, where Duke Senior now
lived. Since the forest was a dangerous place for two women alone, the taller Rosalind
dressed as a pageboy, calling herself Ganymede, while Celia put on the rags of a
shepherdess, and called herself Aliena. They also invited the clownish fool of [the]
court, Touchstone, to accompany them. That evening, the three fugitives escaped,
undetected. 
Now that same night, Adam warned Orlando of Oliver's plan to burn Orlando's house,
leaving him no safe refuge. Adam offered Orlando his life's savings and asked, Let me be
your servant. Orlando gladly accepted and together they, too, left for the forest of
Arden. 
As Celia, Touchstone, and Rosalind - she in boy's clothing - made their way through the
woods, they overheard a shepherd, Silvius, pouring out his heart to his friend Corin: O
Corin, that thou knew'st how I do love her [Phebe]! With this, the distraught shepherd
ran away. Rosalind and company, with travel much oppressed, then approached Corin, and he
extended an invitation for them to eat and rest in his own humble cottage. 
Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, Adam, faint after their long journey,
complained to Orlando: Dear master ... I die for food. Orlando promised he would bring
victuals to the faithful old servant, or die trying. As he searched for food, he came
upon the exiled Duke Senior and his men, who were about to eat. Orlando strutted towards
them and menacingly decreed, Forebear, and eat no more! ... He dies that touches any of
this fruit till I and my affairs are answered. Duke Senior, unoffended, invited Orlando
to sit down and join them. Then, embarrassed by his own behavior, Orlando begged their
forgiveness and hurried to retrieve Adam. As everyone ate, Orlando revealed to Duke
Senior that he was the son of Sir Rowland, where upon the Duke exclaimed, I am the Duke
that loved your father. 
Back at court, Duke Frederick, believing that Orlando had helped Celia and Rosalind
escape, threatened Oliver with the seizure of his lands unless he brought his brother
back to him in chains. With this, he sent the young man packing for the forest of Arden.

Now as Orlando made his way through the forest, he went about carving poems into trees
declaring his love for Rosalind. Dressed as Ganymedc, Rosalind found one of the verses:
Let no face be kept in mind but the fair of Rosalind. Celia also happened on one of the
poems, goodnaturedly teased Rosalind, and revealed that Rosalind's own Orlando was the
author. Suddenly, up strode Orlando himself with one of Duke Senior's men. Rosalind - as
Ganymede decided to play the knave with him and addressed him like a saucy lackey.
Eventually, Ganymede posed a remedy for Oriando's love: Orlando was to woo Ganymede as
though he were Rosalind. The boy would then run the gambit of emotions with his suitor,
thereby curing him of his passion. 
The next morning Ganymede awaited Orlando, but he failed to come. As the disguised
Rosalind confided her misery to Celia, Corin came to announce the approach of Phebe and
Silvius. Sure enough, Silvius appeared, once more pleading with his shepherdess - Sweet
I'hcbe, do not scorn me -which only made Phebe scorn him more. Then Rosalind stepped
forward to berate them both. But even as Ganymede chidcd Phebe for her disdain and
scolded Silvius for putting up with it, Phebe was enchanted by his beauty. I had rather
hear you chide, she simpered, than this man woo. 
Finally Orlando arrived. Orlando, where have you been all this while? You a lover? . . . 
Rosalind wailed, as if she were a boy mimicking a lady. Orlando begged her pardon, and,
at last Rosalind forgave him: Come, woo me, woo me; for now I am in a holiday humor and
like enough to consent. What would you say to me now, and I were your very very Rosalind?
and they bantered back and forth until Rosalind maneuvered Orlando into asking for her
hand in marriage. Orlando later departed. 
Soon after, Oliver came upon the boy Ganymede, whose name he recognized. Displaying
Oriando's bloody handkerchief, Oliver explained his brother's earlier delay. It seems
that while Oliver napped beneath a free, Orlando, passing by on his way to woo Ganymede,
had come upon his sleeping brother in mortal danger from a lurking lioness - and turned
back to the rescue...... Kindness, nobler even than revenge, And nature, stronger than
his just occasion, made him give battle to the lioness. Orlando's intervention had
converted his brother's hatred into love; the two were reconciled. 
At the sight of Orlando's blood-stained handkerchief, however, Rosalind swooned, a most
unmanly act. Though she quickly regained herself - I pray you tell your brother how well
I counterfeited - Oliver was not fooled. It was a passion of earnest, he was certain. 
When Oliver returned to Orlando, he recounted all that had transpired. He also confessed
his love for Aliena (Celia) and swore that Orlando could keep their father's entire
estate; he, Oliver, would now prefer to stay in the forest to live and die a shepherd. 
Ganymede then advanced toward Orlando, offering once more to substitute for his beloved
Rosalind. But Orlando could not play the part; his sadness was too deep. Filled with
compassion, Ganymede promised him that on the morrow, by magical art, he would set
[Rosalind] before your eyes. 
Then up walked Phebe, still in a huff, and still followed by the devoted Silvius.
Ganymede once more chided her: . . . You are followed by a faithful shepherd: Look upon
him, love him; he worships you. Phebe, however, still proclaimed her love for Ganymede.
So, Rosalind struck a bargain with Phebe: If on the following day Phebe still wanted to
marry Ganymede, they would marry. But if Phebe refused, then she must wed the scorned
Silvius. Phebe agreed. 
The next day, as all the suitors waited in the forest, Hymen, the goddess of marriage,
entered the clearing with Rosalind - dressed finally as herself. Orlando was thrilled;
Phebe was shocked. If sight and shape be true, why then, my love adieu! she wailed. 
Orlando and his Rosalind, Oliver and Celia, Phebe and Silvius - and even Touchstone with
Aubrey, a homely wench from the forest joined hands in marriage as Hymen chirped: 
Whiles a wedlock we sing, 
Feed yourself with questioning,
That reason wonder may diminish,
How thus we met, and these things finish.