Discussion Topic

Contrasts between court life and pastoral life in As You Like It

Summary:

As You Like It contrasts court life and pastoral life by highlighting the corrupt, political, and stressful nature of the court, as opposed to the simplicity, freedom, and honesty found in the pastoral setting of the Forest of Arden. The court represents societal constraints and ambition, while the pastoral life symbolizes natural harmony and personal contentment.

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What contrasts the court life and pastoral life in the Forest of Arden in As You Like It?

The most direct contrast between pastoral Arden Forest life and sophisticated court life occurs in Act II. Scene i gives us Duke Senior's thoughts about life in Arden Forest while scene ii lets us witness life as it is being led at court when the Duke is unhappy. Scene iv gives a view of the inhabitants of the forest and the ease with which Rosalind, Celia and Touchstone are given help, while scene vii brings Orlando face to face with life in Arden Forest when he violently intrudes into Duke Senior's camp.

In scene i, Duke Senior compares pastoral life in Arden to "Sermons in stone" that are no false counselors but sincere friends telling him what he truly is. He compares Arden to a toad that, although it can be dangerous, "wears a precious jewel" of truth. He contrasts Arden Forest life to court life when he declares that Arden, despite toads and biting, shrinking cold, is safer and freer than court life with false advisers and false flatters.

DUKE SENIOR
Now, my co-mates and brothers in exile,
Hath not old custom made this life more sweet
Than that of painted pomp? Are not these woods
More free from peril than the envious court? (II.i)

Contrast between court and pastoral life is dramatized in scene ii in Duke Frederick's palace. He learns that his daughter, Celia, has rejected him and escaped with the newly exiled Rosalind. He hears the false gossip that the girls have probably run off with Orlando. He demands that Orlando's older brother and courtier, Oliver, be brought before him "suddenly" to prevent Oliver's running away also.

Scene iv gives a glimpse of life in Arden Forest as lived by its non-exiled inhabitants. This glimpse situates love as the dominating theme when Silvius cries, "Thou hast not loved. / O Phebe, Phebe, Phebe!" Finally, Scene vii brings Orlando face to face with Duke Senior and the gentle generosity that imbues Forest life and which Ganymede/Rosalind and Aliena/Celia and Touchstone met with from Corbin. The contrast between the two life styles is clearly one of generosity versus tyranny, love versus rejection and exile, and acceptance versus usurpation.

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What contrasts the court life and pastoral life in the Forest of Arden in As You Like It?

One significant difference Shakespeare portrays between pastoral life and courtly life, which is actually also a central theme, is that courtly life is corrupt, while there is a lack of corruption in the country.

We especially see this claim made by Duke Senior and his courtiers. In his very first speech, Duke Senior claims that despite the harshness of winter weather, pastoral life is much better than courtly life because there is nothing artificial about country life, while courtly life is full of "painted pomp," or "artificial ceremony" (II.i.3; Shakespeare Navigators). Furthermore, he argues that country life lacks the same artificial flatterers that one is subjected to at court. Even Amiens later in a song praises country life for being absent of "man's ingratitude" and false friendship. Amiens even argues that while nature may be harsh in the country, especially at winter, winter's "sting is not so sharp / As a friend remember'd not" (II.vii.188-89).

However, while it is common for pastoral literature to claim that pastoral life is a utopia, Shakespeare uses As You Like It to point out that even the country is not free of corruption, especially so long as man is there. When we first meet Duke Senior and his courtiers, we learn that Jaques has been seen crying over a hunted deer that has been wounded and taken a fall. Jaques' argument is that mankind has no right to kill the deer simply because man needs food. He further argues that the deer has a right to experience its own utopia in the forest and that Duke Senior and his courtiers are usurping the deer of its natural claims to the forest, much in the same way that Frederick usurped Duke Senior, showing us that Jaques' claim is that mankind is no less corrupt in pastoral life than he is in courtly life.

Hence, while Shakespeare points out that there is a natural absence of corruption in pastoral life, he also asserts that no life containing man can be truly devoid of corruption.

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What differences between pastoral and court life does Duke Senior refer to in As You Like It?

Duke Senior's very first speech in Act 2, Scene 1 is a good passage to use to analyze the differences he expresses between pastoral life and court life. One significant difference he refers to is safety. Duke Senior's life has just been threatened by his brother Frederick, who has just usurped him. Frederick would have killed him, but he and his courtiers escaped into the Forest of Arden, and the Forest of Arden represents pastoral life. Hence, Duke Senior points out that life at court would be full of danger, while the woods are safe, as we see in his lines, "Are not these woods / More free from peril than the envious court?" (II.i.3-4).

A second difference he points out is that, while the woods may be safer, in the woods, they are also exposed to the harsh elements of nature, while at court, they are safe from harsh weather conditions, such as winter winds.

He also points out the differences in manners between what he experiences in the woods and what he would experience at court. Specifically, in this speech he points out the falseness of courtiers at court. Courtiers are known to smile into their ruler's face and flatter their ruler, telling any sort of fervent lie to do so. But in the woods, the cold winds and other elements act as courtiers, and they always tell him the truth--specifically, they tell him he should seek shelter. Hence, by comparing the cold winds to courtiers, he is showing us the differences between manners encountered in the woods and manners encountered at court. We see him likening the winds to courtiers in the lines:

Even till I shrink with cold, I smile and say
This is no flattery: these are counsellors
That feelingly persuade me what I am. (9-11)

In this passage, the terms "flattery," "counsellors," and "feelingly" serve to liken the winds to the courtiers. Normally, courtiers act as counselors by feelingly, meaning passionately, giving advice for no other purpose than flattering the ruler, and advice given to flatter is usually all lies. But the cold winds give honest advice to seek shelter, unlike the "counsellors" at the court.

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