As You Like It | Dualities

In the first excerpt, George Ian Duthie discusses As You Like It in light of the opposition of order and disorder generally found in Shakespeare's comedies. In the second excerpt, John A. Hart maintains that Shakespeare depicts two contrasting worlds in As You Like It: Duke Frederick's court, which is governed by Fortune, and Arden forest, which is dominated by Nature. In the third excerpt, John Shaw focuses on the meaning of Rosalind's and Celia's debate over Fortune and Nature (I. ii. 40ff.). Shaw examines how the properties of both godesses affect the plot and character development of As You Like It, asserting that each of the major characters is in some way affected by the conflicts between them.

George Ian Duthie
[In the excerpt below, Duthie discusses As You Like It in light of the opposition of order and disorder generally found in Shakespeare's comedies. Although life is comfortable at Duke Frederick's court and in Oliver's house, the critic declares, moral order has been overthrown by the corrupting influence of materialism and envy. By contrast, the country setting of Arden is depicted as physically hard, but it offers an atmosphere of moral purity. Duthie insists, however, that this is not just a simple contrast between good and...

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