What is the contrast between Oliver and Orlando in Shakespeare's As You Like It?
Orlando and Oliver's relationship proves to be quite strained in the beginning. In fact, Orlando opens the play by describing to their servant Adam just how poorly Oliver is treating Orlando. Orlando is the youngest of three sons, and their late father left provision for Orlando in his will. Their father left him one thousand crowns plus charged Oliver with seeing to Orlando's education as a gentleman. However, sadly, Oliver has failed to give Orlando both his fortune and his education, even though he has seen to both the fortune and education of their middle brother, Jaques. In this opening speech, Orlando complains to Adam that Oliver is treating the animals on the estate far better than Oliver is treating him. Further down in this scene, we learn from Oliver that the reason he is mistreating Orlando stems from Oliver's jealousy of Orlando. As Oliver explains, Orlando is essentially a far better man than Oliver, leading to Oliver's hatred of Orlando, as we see in Oliver's lines:
... for my soul, yet I know not why, hates nothing more than he. Yet he's gentle, never schooled and yet learned, full of noble device, of all sorts enchantingly beloved ... that I am altogether mispris'd [hated]. (I.i.165-71)
In this passage, Oliver is essentially saying that, due to all of Orlando's excellent qualities, Orlando is loved by all, while Oliver is hated, leading to Oliver's jealousy. Oliver's jealousy not only leads him to deny Orlando's inheritance, it also leads Oliver to attempt to kill Orlando twice in the beginning of the play, plus leads Oliver to pursue Orlando into the Forest of Arden with the intention of trying to kill him a third time.
However, despite how strained their relationship is in the beginning, Orlando wins his brother's love in Act 4, and even helps to transform Oliver into a reformed person. In Act 4, Scene 3, Oliver relays to Rosalind as Ganymede that, while Oliver was sleeping in the woods, Orlando happened to see a lioness getting ready to attack Oliver. Orlando nearly walks away, but thinking better of it, turns back and kills the lioness, saving his Oliver's life. Oliver is so moved by this act of love and self-sacrifice that he sets aside all feelings of hatred and jealousy, filling his heart with love for his brother instead, transforming himself into a new man.
What are the differences between court life and country life in As You Like It, including unique challenges and opportunities in each?
The contrast between court and country in As You Like It is a stark one. The country, in the shape of the Forest of Arden, is a place of banishment for good people. They are typically victims of enemies at court who have conspired to have them expelled to this political wasteland. Yet, exile can also be a blessing in disguise and a means of escape from the artificialities of court life. As Duke Senior explains,
Now, my co-mates and brothers in exile,Hath not old custom made this life more sweetThan that of painted pomp? Are not these woodsMore free from peril than the envious court? (act 2, scene 1).
The exiles may have been deprived of the pomp and circumstance of court life, but their new life is a more natural existence—more in keeping with humankind's existence before the Fall. The icy wind may blow and cause us to shiver, but at least there is a certain honesty about it. You know where you stand with the elements, which is more than can be said for the two-faced lackey at court who flatters you to your face but spreads false rumors about you behind your back. Honest enemies are so much better than dishonest ones.
The honesty of the elements is reflected in the earthy, no-nonsense love between Touchstone and Audrey. Their relationship is entirely free of the trappings of courtly love encapsulated by Orlando's lushly romantic wooing of Rosalind. Touchstone's understanding of love may be a tad crude and bawdy, but, like the icy wind that often howls through the forest, at least there is a certain rugged honesty about it.
The forest exerts an almost magical effect on the characters of As You Like It, acting as a kind of purgative, cleansing the souls of those who enter it. Duke Senior, as we have already seen, seems almost relieved of the burdens of his worldly existence. Distinctions of class and gender often dissolve amidst the natural environment of the forest's lush green shade. A number of characters in the play look to the forest as a haven from the social rigidities of the court and as an opportunity to shed the artificial identities placed upon them by a hierarchical society. They adopt alternative personas, transgressing boundaries of gender and class in a way that would be unthinkable in the outside world.
Celia, for example, casts off her nobility to disguise herself as a poor woman. This gives her a freedom she has never previously enjoyed. In her new identity, she no longer has to worry about being robbed. She can also finally be loved and accepted for who she really is. It is instructive that Celia can only find true love with Oliver in the woodland environment and not at court. By falling in love with a woman he believes to be poor and humble, Oliver is radically transformed. In the world outside, it is fair to say that Oliver was hardly the most selfless or giving of characters.
Contrast rural and court life, and Orlando and Oliver in As You Like It.
Orlando is the youngest of three brothers, but he is much bigger and stronger than the oldest brother Oliver. Perhaps this is one reason Oliver dislikes Orlando so intensely and why he tries to belittle him and to maintain such a superior attitude towards him.
At the beginning of As You Like It Oliver and Orlando hate each other. Orlando is resentful because Oliver refuses to help him improve his education but treats him like a peasant. He says:
My father charged you in his will to give me good education: you have trained me like a peasant, obscuring and hiding from me all gentlemanlike qualities.
Oliver actually encourages the wrestler Charles to kill Orlando in their upcoming bout, but Orlando wins and then is forced to flee because he learns that Oliver has further plans to kill him.
Duke Frederick orders Oliver to pursue Orlando because he believes Rosalind and Celia have run off with him and he blames this on Oliver. The Duke's reason for blaming Oliver is that he suspects him of plotting to kill his youngest brother and forcing him to flee, thereby providing Rosalind and Celia with the protection to flee with him. In other words, the Duke believes that his daughter Celia is to be found with Rosalind and that Rosalind is to be found with Orlando because they are in love with each other.
At the end of the play the brothers are reunited and reconciled in the Forest of Arden, where Orlando saves Oliver from being killed by a lioness. Oliver has become a changed man. He promises Orlando that he will give him his estate and all its revenues (V.2) because he wants to marry Celia and live the life of a shepherd in the forest.
The amazing change that comes over the mean-spirited Oliver is comparable to that which comes over Duke Frederick when he meets a holy man who converts him and completely changes his aggressive, violent character. There is something mysterious about the Forest of Arden that works its spell on everyone who comes there.
Contrast rural and court life, and Orlando and Oliver in As You Like It.
"As You Like It" is a piece of literature in what is known as the "pastoral" genre. In such pieces, rural life is seen as good while city life is seen as corrupt and evil. In this play, life at the court is bad while life in the Forest of Arden is good.
We can see the contrast between the two in the fact that Duke Frederick and Oliver and evil and corrupt whereas the people in the Forest of Arden (Duke Senior, Orlando, Rosalind, Celia) are good. Furthermore, we see that Oliver becomes good once he gets to the Forest, as does Duke Frederick.
Contrast rural and court life, and Orlando and Oliver in As You Like It.
Well, there are lots. And the play, like all of Shakespeare's plays, complicates the issue rather than providing a one-word, easy answer. I think the best way of answering yoru question is to focus in on one particular little extract which deals with the topic: the conversation between Touchstone (the fool from the court) and Corin (the shepherd, who lives in the country).
CORIN.
And how like you this shepherd's life, Master Touchstone?
TOUCHSTONE.
Truly, shepherd, in respect of itself, it is a good life; but in respect that it is a shepherd's life, it is naught. In respect that it is solitary, I like it very well; but in respect that it is private, it is a very vile life. Now in respect it is in the fields, it pleaseth me well; but in respect it is not in the court, it is tedious. As it is a spare life, look you, it fits my humour well; but as there is no more plenty in it, it goes much against my stomach.
Hast any philosophy in thee, shepherd?
CORIN.
No more but that I know the more one sickens, the worse at ease he is; and that he that wants money, means, and content, is without three good friends; that the property of rain is to wet, and fire to burn; that good pasture makes fat sheep; and that a great cause of the night is lack of the sun; that he that hath learned no wit by nature nor art may complain of good breeding, or comes of a very dull kindred.
TOUCHSTONE.
Such a one is a natural philosopher. Wast ever in court, shepherd?
CORIN.
No, truly.
The key here seems to be in the duality, the both-at-onceness of both conversations here. Touchstone can see all the good points of the country, but those good points (to him) are also its bad points. So he likes the fact that it is in the country, if you view that in isolation, but if you widen the picture and remember that it is not in the court, then he doesn't like it:
Now in respect it is in the fields, it pleaseth me well; but in respect it is not in the court, it is tedious.
The same sort of double perspective applies, I think, to Corin's perspective on philosophy. I think there are two entirely different routes for the actor playing Corin in the theatre to take with the above speech. Either you play Corin as genuinely wise - everything he says, is of course 'natural' philosophy, and indeed, true - or you play him as a complete idiot, just stating one obvious non-insight after another. Is this country wisdom, or bumpkin stupidity? Corin thinks it the former, Touchstone the latter. It all depends on your perspective on the scene.
And that's what Touchstone goes on to argue. Corin says first that it depends on where you are - good manners in country and in court means two entirely different things:
CORIN.
Touchstone... good manners at the court are as ridiculous in the country as the behaviour of the country is most mockable at the court. You told me you salute not at the court, but you kiss your hands; that courtesy would be uncleanly if courtiers were shepherds.
TOUCHSTONE.
Instance, briefly; come, instance.
CORIN.
Why, we are still handling our ewes; and their fells, you know, are greasy.
We couldn't kiss our hands in the country, Corin argues, like you do in the court, because our hands are dirty. Yet Touchstone's response says that country and court are the same.
TOUCHSTONE.
Why, do not your courtier's hands sweat? and is not the grease of a mutton as wholesome as the sweat of a man?
It depends who you are. It's as you like it.
Contrast rural and court life, and Orlando and Oliver in As You Like It.
Much like the difference between the court of Athens and the forest in "A Midsummer Night's Dream," the difference between the court and the Forest of Arden in "As You Like It" represents the difference between the beauty and wildness of nature and the natural world versus orderly life governed by rules at court. In the link given below to the various themes of "AYLI," eNotes discusses the fact that Shakespeare's intent is to entertain his audience, but also to remind them that how they live their lives is up to them. Will they be governed by the orderliness and civilization found in courtly society, or will they be more carefree and wild, at one with nature?
Shakespeare presents both life at court and life in the Forest in a fair light, demonstrating the pros and cons of both. "As the veteran shepherd Corin tells us, 'those that are good manners at the court are ridiculous in the country as the behavior of the country is most mockable at court' (III.ii.46-47)" (from eNotes).
Be sure to check the link below for more information. Good luck!
What are the key differences between Oliver and Orlando in As You Like It?
One of Shakespeare's themes in As You Like It is the conflict between the natural world and natural man (the Forest of Arden and Orlando), on one hand, and the political world and corrupt man (the court and Oliver), on the other.
Perhaps the clearest articulation of the essential differences between the two brothers is provided by Oliver himself:
. . . for my soul . . . hates nothing more than he [that is, Orlando]. Yet he's gentle, never schooled and yet learned, full of noble device, of all sorts enchantingly beloved, and indeed so much in the heart of the world . . . that I am altogether misprised. (1.1.154-160)
Those attributes that make Orlando beloved--gentility, wisdom, true nobility--are exactly the character traits that Oliver lacks. In short, Oliver sees in Orlando everything that he wishes he were but is not.
From Orlando's point of view, Oliver, who, as his brother, should treat him lovingly, has betrayed his familial obligations and, more important, betrayed their father:
[Our] father charged you in his will to give me good education; you have trained me like a peasant, obscuring and hiding from me all gentleman-like qualities. (1.1.62-66)
Oliver's ignoring of their father's express wishes indicates both how envious he is of Orlando's natural goodness and the extent to which Oliver has become politically corrupt. As long as he keeps Orlando uneducated and poor, the less he has to fear (as he perceives it) from a potential threat to his political power from Orlando.
The differences between the two brothers are stark: Oliver is the embodiment of a corrupt political leader--envious, hateful, unloved--while Orlando symbolizes natural goodness, intelligence (without the benefit of education), and nobility (without being "noble"). Together, the two brothers represent two worlds that continue to clash throughout the play--the corrupt court and the natural world.
Contrast the characters of Orlando and Oliver in As You Like It.
Orlando is the male hero figure in As You Like It though Rosalind is the true hero, dressed as she is in the garb of a youth. Orlando has latent abilities and greatness bound within him that have not been fulfilled because he was not educated or trained according to the conditions of his father's will.
Nonetheless, Orlando finds his strength and courage with the help of Adam, a long-time family servant and conquers the wrestling champion in a match. When he has to flee for his life and take refuge in Arden, his sentimental emotional side is revealed as he laments for the lose of Rosalind's love and writes untutored, ill-composed poetry on trees and hangs verse on bushes to adorn the forest of Arden with his musing on Rosalind's beauty and his great love of her. Adam sums up Orlando's character as he questions:
Why are you virtuous? why do people love you?
And wherefore are you gentle, strong and valiant?
Oliver is the villain and persecutor of Orlando. Oliver is part of Duke Frederick's court and together they do not hesitate to commit murder. Oliver is greedy, selfish, wrathful, and vengeful. After Orlando asserts his rights and asks for his inheritance, Oliver plots; as Adam explains it,
[having] heard [Orlando's] praises, ... this night he means
To burn the lodging where you use to lie
And you within it
Nonetheless, being, along with Orlando, the son of Sir Rowland de Boys, Oliver does have some innate quality of goodness that allows him to be reformed--and all it takes is a lioness and meeting Celia.
OLIVER: 'Twas I; but 'tis not I. I do not shame
To tell you what I was, since my conversion
So sweetly tastes, being the thing I am.
How does Oliver and Orlando's relationship change throughout As You Like It?
In Shakespeare's As You Like It, the brothers Oliver and Orlando are at odds with one another at the beginning of the play. Oliver is afraid that Orlando, his father's favorite, will take everything that their father left and leave him with nothing, so he wants to kill his brother. Orlando has no such intentions, but he is in fear for his life, so he runs away. He does not hate his brother; he only wishes for harmony. The relationship between the brothers takes a back seat when Orlando flees to the Forest of Arden and encounters Rosalind, not knowing that she is the woman he has fallen in love with because she is dressed as a boy. She sets him the task of wooing his love through her intervention as Ganymede.
Meanwhile, Oliver, looking for his brother, meets Celia and falls in love himself. He has a change of heart about his brother, and they reconcile at the end of the play when they both marry the women they love.
Compare Oliver and Orlando's relationship at the beginning and end of As You Like It.
It is clear that there is little love lost between Oliver and Orlando at the beginning of the play and that they, like Duke Ferdinand and Duke Senior, could aptly be described as feuding brothers. Orlando definitely feels that Oliver has not obeyed his father's injunction in terms of bringing up Orlando to be a nobleman. Note how he accuses his brother in Act I scene 1:
My father charged you in his will to give me good education. You have trained me like a peasant, obscuring and hiding from me all gentleman-like qualities.
However, in spite of the obvious animosity between them, it is clear that the magic of the Forest of Arden works a transformation in the character of Oliver, who becomes reconciled with his brother and what is more falls in love with Celia, pledging to marry her and deciding to live and die in the Forest of Arden and live as a simple shepherd. Note how the relations are completely reversed by the end in Act V scene 2 when Oliver asks for Orlando to consent to his marriage to Celia:
Consent with both that we may enjoy each other. It shall be to your good, for my father's house and all the revenue that was old Sir Rowland's will I estate upon you, and here live and die a shepherd.
Oliver's change in his relations with Orlando is symbolised by the willingness with which he relinquishes his wealth, that he at the beginning of the play was so reluctant to share with his brother.
How does court life contrast with rural life in As You Like It?
As You Like It is heavily concerned with the contrasts between court and rural life. In it, characters from the court retire into the country and meet there characters who have always lived in the Forest of Arden.
A good place to look to see the contrast between the court and the country is 1.3 and 2.1. 1.3 is both the last scene in the first act and the last scene that takes place in the court of Duke Frederick. In it, Rosalind is banished by her uncle, the Duke, because he believes her to be a traitor. The court is shown to be a cold, jealous place, and the warmth of Rosalind and Celia's relationship contrasts with the behavior of the other characters.
Shakespeare no doubt meant the next scene, 2.1, to contrast with the previous. It is the first scene where we meet Duke Senior, Rosalind's father and Duke Frederick's brother. No doubt the difference between the brothers is meant to be contrasted as well as the difference between court and country. The Duke paints the Forest as an idyllic place, where his men are like brothers and they are free from peril.
One other good place to look to see a comedic take on the difference between court and country is in 3.2, where Touchstone the court clown and Corin the country clown talk about whether the country or the court life is better.
What differences does Shakespeare highlight between country and court life in "As You Like It"?
One of Shakespeare's themes in As You Like It is the corrupt nature of the court and the wholesome nature (no pun intended) of the Forest of Arden.
Charles himself sets up the negative picture of court life when he explains that "there's no news at the court, but the old news: that is, the old duke is banished by his younger brother the new duke. . . ." The reversal of the natural order of life--the overthrowing of the older, rightful duke--is explained as a natural occurrence of life at court, which emphasizes just how corrupt and unnatural court life is.
The Forest of Arden, on the other hand, is immediately associated with culturally positive images--the old Duke and his followers live in the forest "like the old Robin Hood of England," one of the most well-known folk heroes in English literature. Even more important, Charles says that the Duke and his supporters spend their time "as they did in the golden world," implicitly comparing Arden with an earthly paradise during an age before courts and politics.
From a political perspective, life in the forest, although it can be harsh, is "more sweet than that of painted pomp," and even more to the point, the forest is "more free from peril than the envious court." Here, Shakespeare establishes two of the most important differences between life at court and life in Arden: the natural life is better than artificial surroundings and those living in Arden are safe from envy and the peril envy causes.
All the characters living in the forest are acutely aware of the difficulties inherent in living in nature, but aside from the physical difficulties, they all recognize the essential wholesomeness of mind and body that comes from living away from the court. Duke Senior, in fact, says that although he suffers from the cold, "I would not change it."
What contrasts exist between court life and rural life in As You Like It?
As You Like It is a play that deals with the pastoral ideal. Shakespeare uses the court and the Forest of Arden to idealize pastoral living and the social equlizing of dwelling in nature as opposed to the stilted social order of the court. The banished duke, instead of being miserable away from his court and all the luxury normally assoicated with it, is quite happy living out of doors with his companions. His only sadness is the fact that his beloved daughter Rosalind has been forced to stay behind to attend her cousin.
In contrast, the duke's brother, the usurper, is not happy once he gains control over his brother's court, and does not find happiness for himself until he, too, ventures out into the forest, where he becomes a mendicant and restores the court back to his brother. Shakespeare is leaving it up to his audience to determine that it is not such a wonderful thing sometimes to be upper class, and that the nobility might be missing out on true nobility - living in harmony with the natural world.
What are the main similarities and differences between rural and court life in As You Like It?
One of the primary themes in "As You Like It" is the contrast between life at court and life in the Forest of Arden, and the two settings are so different that, while it is relatively easy to illustrate their differences, the likeliness are essentially non-existent. Shakespeare used the two settings to describe the fundamental differences between court life, which is political and corrupt, and life in the forest, which can be uncomfortable, but is free from politics, corruption, and intrigue.
For example, as Charles describes Duke Senior's situation at the beginning of the play, he say the Duke and his supporters have been banished to
the Forest of Arden, and/many/merry men with him; and there they live like the old/Robin Hood/of England.
Aside from the fact that Duke Senior is now at "out-law," which, in terms of English common law means that he no longer has the benefit of the law's protection, clearly Shakespeare describes the Forest of Arden as a much better place, linking it to one of most important cultural heroes of medieval England, Robin Hood and his merry men. It is not coincidental that Shakespeare describes Duke Senior's followers as "merry men."
Charles goes on to link the Forest of Arden with Paradise:
They say many young gentlemen flock to him every/day, and fleet the time carelessly, as they did in the golden world.
The reference to "golden world" is to a time and place in Greek mythology when peace ruled men in basically an earthly paradise.
The forest, however, has some drawbacks--one might not die from political corruptness and an evil ruler in the court, but life in Arden can be difficult:
And churlish chiding of the winter's wind,/Which when it bites and blows upon my body,/Even till I shrink with cold. . . .
The drawbacks of living in Nature are physical, and though they cause discomfort, Duke Senior concludes that "these are counsellors/That feelingly persuade me what I am." In other words, the forces of nature that cause his discomfort simply remind him that he's a man living in Nature. The wind is a "counsellor" that he can trust--as opposed, for example, the counsellors in court who may lie to him.
The importance contrast between life in Arden and life at court is perfectly summed up by Duke Senior when he says:
Are not these woods/More free from peril than the envious court?
Again, he acknowledges the real problem of physical discomfort in Arden, but when he compares the evils waiting for him at court, the relatively minor inconvenience of cold weather pales in comparison with the ultimate inconvenience of getting killed or thrown into jail permanently if he returns to court.
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