As You Like It | Analysis of a Key Passage in As You Like It
Essay discussing Duke Senior's speech at the beginning of Act II, where he attests to the value of life in the Forest of Arden.
Shakespeare opens Act II of As You Like It with a speech in which the Duke Senior attests to the value of the life which he and his entourage have found in the Forest of Arden (II, i, 11.1-17). The exiled nobleman's initial oration performs several key functions within the play. It presents us with a balanced and tempered vision of the natural world which serves as a foil to both previous intimations about the Forest and to life as we have seen it in the superficial and deceptive court over which the usurper Duke Frederick now presides. It also reveals the salient personality traits...
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