Corin is a character who does not appear in Shakespeare's source for the play. The minor characters like him whom Shakespeare creates from scratch are not random, but all provide a perspective on life that would otherwise be lacking, adding depth and texture to the play. Although Corin's role is small, he shows that while wealthy courtiers might long for the simple shepherd's life, such an existence is, in reality, hungry and harsh.
When Touchstone in act 3, scene 2 asks Corin if he has any "philosophy," Corin says the following:
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.
Later in that same scene, Corin states,
Sir, I am a true labourer: I earn that I eat, get that I
wear; owe no man hate, envy no...
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man's happiness; glad of other men's good, content with my harm; and the greatest of my pride is to see my ewes graze and my lambs suck.
We know from act 2, scene 4 that Corin is an older shepherd who once engaged in the follies of love but has left those pursuits behind him, choosing to lead a simple life. Despite his poverty and lack of food, he generously offers shelter to the disguised Rosalind and Celia when they seek his help.
When Touchstone makes fun of Corin for never having been to the royal court and not knowing its manners, Corin wisely makes the point that manners are dependent on context. For example, Touchstone as a courtier thinks it gracious to kiss another person's hand, but Corin notes that a shepherd's hand is often greasy, tarred, or hardened from working with sheep and that it therefore would not be pleasant for people of his occupation to greet each other that way.
Corin shows a simple wisdom that provides a critique of courtly manners, but his character is also a way for Shakespeare to insert the idea that being a real shepherd is hard—an idea that runs in contrast to the courtly dream of escaping to the pastoral life.