ACT I. SCENE I.

Orchard of OLIVER'S house

Enter ORLANDO and ADAM

  ORLANDO. As I remember, Adam, it was upon this fashion bequeathed
    me by will but poor a thousand crowns, and, as thou say'st,
    charged my brother, on his blessing, to breed me well; and there
    begins my sadness. My brother Jaques he keeps at school, and
    report speaks goldenly of his profit. For my part, he keeps me
    rustically at home, or, to speak more properly, stays me here at
    home unkept; for call you that keeping for a gentleman of my
    birth that differs not from the stalling of an ox? His horses are
    bred better; for, besides that they are fair with their feeding,
    they are taught their manage, and to that end riders dearly
    hir'd; but I, his brother, gain nothing under him but growth; for
    the which his animals on his dunghills are as much bound to him
    as I. Besides this nothing that he so plentifully gives me, the
    something that nature gave me his countenance seems to take from
    me. He lets me feed with his hinds, bars me the place of a
    brother, and as much as in him lies, mines my gentility with my
    education. This is it, Adam, that grieves me; and the spirit of
    my father, which I think is within me, begins to mutiny against
    this servitude. I will no longer endure it, though yet I know no
    wise remedy how to avoid it.

                           Enter OLIVER

  ADAM. Yonder comes my master, your brother.

  ORLANDO. Go apart, Adam, and thou shalt hear how he will shake me
    up.                                           [ADAM retires]

  OLIVER. Now, sir! what make you here?

  ORLANDO. Nothing; I am not taught to make any thing.

  OLIVER. What mar you then, sir?

  ORLANDO. Marry, sir, I am helping you to mar that which God made, a
    poor unworthy brother of yours, with idleness.

  OLIVER. Marry, sir, be better employed, and be nought awhile.

  ORLANDO. Shall I keep your hogs, and eat husks with them? What
    prodigal portion have I spent that I should come to such penury?

  OLIVER. Know you where you are, sir?

  ORLANDO. O, sir, very well; here in your orchard.

  OLIVER. Know you before whom, sir?

  ORLANDO. Ay, better than him I am before knows me. I know you are
    my eldest brother; and in the gentle condition of blood, you
    should so know me. The courtesy of nations allows you my better
    in that you are the first-born; but the same tradition takes not
    away my blood, were there twenty brothers betwixt us. I have as
    much of my father in me as you, albeit I confess your coming
    before me is nearer to his reverence.

  OLIVER. What, boy!                               [Strikes him]

  ORLANDO. Come, come, elder brother, you are too young in this.

  OLIVER. Wilt thou lay hands on me, villain?

  ORLANDO. I am no villain; I am the youngest son of Sir Rowland de
    Boys. He was my father; and he is thrice a villain that says such
    a father begot villains. Wert thou not my brother, I would not
    take this hand from thy throat till this other had pull'd out thy
    tongue for saying so. Thou has rail'd on thyself.

  ADAM. [Coming forward] Sweet masters, be patient; for your father's
    remembrance, be at accord.

  OLIVER. Let me go, I say.

  ORLANDO. I will not, till I please; you shall hear me. My father
    charg'd you in his will to give me good education: you have
    train'd me like a peasant, obscuring and hiding from me all
    gentleman-like qualities. The spirit of my father grows strong in
    me, and I will no longer endure it; therefore allow me such
    exercises as may become a gentleman, or give me the poor
    allottery my father left me by testament; with that I will go buy
    my fortunes.

  OLIVER. And what wilt thou do? Beg, when that is spent? Well, sir,
    get you in. I will not long be troubled with you; you shall have
    some part of your will. I pray you leave me.

  ORLANDO. I no further offend you than becomes me for my good.

  OLIVER. Get you with him, you old dog.

  ADAM. Is 'old dog' my reward? Most true, I have lost my teeth in
    your service. God be with my old master! He would not have spoke
    such a word.
                                         Exeunt ORLANDO and ADAM

  OLIVER. Is it even so? Begin you to grow upon me? I will physic
    your rankness, and yet give no thousand crowns neither.
    Holla, Dennis!

                          Enter DENNIS

  DENNIS. Calls your worship?

  OLIVER. not Charles, the Duke's wrestler, here to speak with me?

  DENNIS. So please you, he is here at the door and importunes access
    to you.

  OLIVER. Call him in. [Exit DENNIS] 'Twill be a good way; and
    to-morrow the wrestling is.

                          Enter CHARLES

  CHARLES. Good morrow to your worship.

  OLIVER. Good Monsieur Charles! What's the new news at the new
    court?

  CHARLES. There's no news at the court, sir, but the old news; that
    is, the old Duke is banished by his younger brother the new Duke;
    and three or four loving lords have put themselves into voluntary
    exile with him, whose lands and revenues enrich the new Duke;
    therefore he gives them good leave to wander.

  OLIVER. Can you tell if Rosalind, the Duke's daughter, be banished
    with her father?

  CHARLES. O, no; for the Duke's daughter, her cousin, so loves her,
    being ever from their cradles bred together, that she would have
    followed her exile, or have died to stay behind her. She is at
    the court, and no less beloved of her uncle than his own
    daughter; and never two ladies loved as they do.

  OLIVER. Where will the old Duke live?

  CHARLES. They say he is already in the Forest of Arden, and a many
    merry men with him; and there they live like the old Robin Hood
    of England. They say many young gentlemen flock to him every day,
    and fleet the time carelessly, as they did in the golden world.

  OLIVER. What, you wrestle to-morrow before the new Duke?

  CHARLES. Marry, do I, sir; and I came to acquaint you with a
    matter. I am given, sir, secretly to understand that your younger
    brother, Orlando, hath a disposition to come in disguis'd against
    me to try a fall. To-morrow, sir, I wrestle for my credit; and he
    that escapes me without some broken limb shall acquit him well.
    Your brother is but young and tender; and, for your love, I would
    be loath to foil him, as I must, for my own honour, if he come
    in; therefore, out of my love to you, I came hither to acquaint
    you withal, that either you might stay him from his intendment,
    or brook such disgrace well as he shall run into, in that it is
    thing of his own search and altogether against my will.

  OLIVER. Charles, I thank thee for thy love to me, which thou shalt
    find I will most kindly requite. I had myself notice of my
    brother's purpose herein, and have by underhand means laboured to
    dissuade him from it; but he is resolute. I'll tell thee,
    Charles, it is the stubbornest young fellow of France; full of
    ambition, an envious emulator of every man's good parts, a secret
    and villainous contriver against me his natural brother.
    Therefore use thy discretion: I had as lief thou didst break his
    neck as his finger. And thou wert best look to't; for if thou
    dost him any slight disgrace, or if he do not mightily grace
    himself on thee, he will practise against thee by poison, entrap
    thee by some treacherous device, and never leave thee till he
    hath ta'en thy life by some indirect means or other; for, I
    assure thee, and almost with tears I speak it, there is not one
    so young and so villainous this day living. I speak but brotherly
    of him; but should I anatomize him to thee as he is, I must blush
    and weep, and thou must look pale and wonder.

  CHARLES. I am heartily glad I came hither to you. If he come
    to-morrow I'll give him his payment. If ever he go alone again,
    I'll never wrestle for prize more. And so, God keep your worship!

 Exit

  OLIVER. Farewell, good Charles. Now will I stir this gamester.
    I hope I shall see an end of him; for my soul, yet I know not why,
    hates nothing more than he. Yet he's gentle; never school'd and
    yet learned; full of noble device; of all sorts enchantingly
    beloved; and, indeed, so much in the heart of the world, and
    especially of my own people, who best know him, that I am
    altogether misprised. But it shall not be so long; this wrestler
    shall clear all. Nothing remains but that I kindle the boy
    thither, which now I'll go about.                       Exit

Orlando is in the orchard of his brother's house speaking with Adam, an old servant of the family. Orlando complains about the way his eldest brother Oliver treats him. Since Oliver is the eldest brother, he inherited all of Sir Rowland De Bois' estate as well as the responsibility for taking care of his younger brothers. Orlando is upset that he is kept away from school and forced to work with the animals at home. The see Oliver coming and Adam quickly hides. Oliver arrives and orders Orlando to do some work instead of standing idly around. Orlando spitefully tells Oliver that he has as much of their father's blood in him as Oliver does. Oliver angrily lunges at Orlando, who quickly grabs his older brother by the throat and holds him. Adam comes out of his hiding place and asks them to be patient with one another. Orlando replies that Oliver has denied him an education as befits his rank as a nobleman. He therefore asks Oliver to give him the small portion of money that Sir Rowland left him in the will so that he may leave and seek his fortune elsewhere. Oliver agrees to give Orlando a part of his inheritance and then turns to Adam and tells him to "Get you with him, you old dog". Adam is offended to be treated thus after his many years of service to the family and leaves with Orlando. Oliver meets with Charles, the Duke's wrestler, and asks what is happening at court. Charles tells him it is the same old news, namely the new Duke has banished his brother the old Duke. The old Duke left with several lords and now lives in the forest of Ardenne where "they live like the old Robin Hood of England". Rosalind, the old Duke's daughter, has remained at court with her cousin, the new Duke's daughter. Charles then informs Oliver that he has learned that Orlando plans to challenge him the next day in the Duke's presence. Since Charles is fighting for his reputation, he indicates that he might end up hurting Orlando and he hopes that Oliver can dissuade his brother from challenging. Oliver cruelly tells Charles that Orlando has been plotting against his life, and that if Charles defeats Orlando but does not seriously injure him then Orlando will likely plot against him as well. Charles promises to hurt Orlando as much as possible, to the point where he cannot walk anymore

Shakespeare deals with many themes throughout As You Like It that relate to the Elizabethan society he worked in. One of those themes is that of primogeniture, a policy whereby the eldest son inherits everything. Orlando, being the youngest brother in his family, faces the problem that he has received a meager inheritance as a result of this rule. Oliver also happens to be a nightmare version of the tyrannical older brother. He plots against Orlando and tries to have the wrestler Charles kill his younger brother. Shakespeare's questioning of primogeniture is given a further twist in the play by the fact that Duke Frederick has usurped the dukedom from his older brother. The issue of inheritance is therefore an underlying theme throughout this play and cannot be ignored. A further comparison between the play and England is the reference to Duke Senior and his men as Robin Hoods. They are described as, "they live like the old Robin Hood of England" . Shakespeare thereby conjures up an image of England even though we are in foreign country. This serves to make the play more immediate for his audience. Invoking Robin Hood also serves a second purpose, namely that of establishing which Duke is good and which Duke is evil. Robin Hood is a story that all Elizabethan theater audiences would have been familiar with and it is a way to immediately give Duke Senior a personality without having to write too many lines for him into the play. One of the brilliant things about As You Like It is the way Shakespeare invokes double-meanings. This is frequently done with word association. The forest of Arden, Ardenne, Arcadia, or Eden is a prime example. Ardenne is a forest that is located between France, Luxembourg and Belgium, whereas the Forest of Arden is actually an English forest located near where Shakespeare was born in Warwickshire. Arden also happens to the be maiden name of Shakespeare's mother. The play itself includes pastoral themes from The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia by Sir Philip Sidney, thereby invoking the image of Arcadia, or paradise. The word further bears a resemblance to Eden, the biblical paradise where Adam and Eve first got together, not an entirely unrealistic interpretation given the four marriages with which the play ends. A further combination of words is that of Orlando, Rowland, or Roland. Merely by mixing up the letters it is easy to see how similar the two names are. Indeed, Orlando is often compared to his father, Sir Rowland. This man, who is deceased already when the play begins, bears a striking resemblance to Charlemagne's Sir Roland, a great medieval knight. Orlando follows in this spirit, saying, "and the spirit of my father, which I think is within me, begins to mutiny against this servitude" . Orlando will take advantage of his inborn greatness to defeat Charles the Wrestler and later save his brother from a lion. Themes of sexuality and sexual identity run rampant throughout this play. There are a great deal of homosexual overtones between almost all the characters, men and women. This is first evidenced by the description of Rosalind and Celia. Charles says, "never two ladies loved as they do" , and that "she  would have followed her  exile, or have died to stay behind her" . Celia later tells Rosalind, "herein I see thou lovest me not with the full weight that I love thee" . Later, Celia argues with her father about separating them, We still have slept together, Rose at an instant, learned, played, eat together, And wheresoe'er we went, like Juno's swans>br> Still we went coupled and inseparable. In this description of Rosalind and Celia they are like Hermia and Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream. In much the same way they must become separated before they can learn to love properly, before they can become full women and marry with their husbands. Indeed, the entire escape into the forest will actually serve to separate them in the end, allowing them to emerge as independent woman rather than "Juno's swans". The names that Rosalind and Celia assume for themselves adds to the sexual confusion of the play. Rosalind tells Celia, "look you call me Ganymede" . Ganymede was the cup-bearer of the gods, a young boy whom Jove fell in love with. Jove changed himself into an eagle and took Ganymede back to heaven with him. The name Ganymede is thus most often invoked to describe a form of homosexual love between an old man and a young boy. Rosalind's choice of this name becomes important later when Orlando woos her  as if she were his Rosalind. Celia's choice of name, Aliena, means "the lost one". This name is highly appropriate for her because at the beginning of the play she is indeed the lost one. She is unable to survive without Rosalind, a woman who overshadows Celia throughout the entire play. Celia must therefore lose herself to find herself. Indeed, one of the reasons for banishing Rosalind is to force Celia to become a woman independent of Rosalind. Duke Frederick tells her, "Thou art a fool. She  robs thee of thy name" . He alone seems to realize that the only way for Celia to mature is for her to reject or lose Rosalind. Touchstone is perhaps one of the most interesting characters. His name describes a black mineral used to test the purity of gold and silver, and in much the same way he will test the wit of those he encounters. He also serves as a mirror for the other characters, reflecting their characteristics back on them. Thus when he meets Jaques, he will be described as a fool; when he meets Duke Senior he will be described as a witty man in disguise . Each character sees themselves in Touchstone. Rosalind's falling in love with Orlando coincides with her banishment from the court. This is her first step away from the protected life. Like so many of Shakespeare's characters that fall in love, she must risk everything if she wants to pursue her love. For Rosalind this is made easier by the fact that Duke Frederick banishes her. As a young woman she is left without any father or lover to rely on, a novel situation for the time. Rosalind therefore is able to leave security of court and venture into the wilderness, in the end winning Orlando as her future husband. Silence is a dangerous theme that Shakespeare invokes in many of his comedies. It is always a bad sign, signifying miscommunication or plotting. In this play there is the silence of Orlando when he meets Rosalind after the wrestling match, "I cannot speak to her, yet she urged conference" . Rosalind is likewise silent at first, forcing Celia to say, "Why cousin, ...not a word?" . Silence must be overcome to have a mature relationship, and this is indeed what happens. It quickly is converted into literary love in the next acts. The play culminates in Orlando risking everything by trusting Ganymede in order to marry Rosalind. In this he is similar to Bassanio in Merchant of Venice, or Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing.

In an orchard at his big brother Oliver's house, Orlando complains to an old family servant . You see, Orlando's father has died and Oliver has inherited just about all of the family's land and wealth because he's the eldest son. Orlando tells us that, before his dad died, he made Oliver promise that he'd take care of his little brother by making sure he lived the kind of lifestyle he'd become accustomed to as the son of a wealthy nobleman. Oliver, however, has been treating his little bro worse than a horse. Oliver makes poor Orlando eat with the family's farm workers, never gives the kid any spending money, and refuses to pay for Orlando's education. Orlando is completely fed up and says he's getting ready to "mutiny." Oliver enters. Orlando grumbles a bit and Oliver tells his little bro to scram. Orlando and Oliver bicker, and Orlando grabs his big brother's throat and tries to choke him out. Oliver croaks, "Let me go." Orlando says I will...when I'm ready. He demands to be treated like a "gentleman" and says he wants the little bit of money his dad left him so he can go seek his own fortune since his brother is clearly not going to share. Oliver, once released, says fine. You can have some of your money and go fend for yourself. He calls Adam an old dog for good measure, and Adam disses Oliver, too. Orlando and Adam storm off. Oliver is joined by Charles, the court wrestler and also a regular court gossip. Charles dishes on what's been going down at court. Apparently, Duke Senior has been banished by his brother, Duke Frederick. Banished Duke Senior has been followed by a bunch of young gentlemen, and all have been making merry together in the Forest of Arden, Robin Hood-style. Charles also reports that Duke Senior's daughter, Rosalind, was not banished, but is instead staying with her cousin Celia because the two are inseparable. Charles gets to the point of his visit: Tomorrow there's a big wrestling match and Oliver's little brother Orlando is jonesing to fight Charles. Charles worries that Orlando is "young and tender," so he's come to get Oliver to forbid his younger brother from fighting. Oliver sees his chance. He tells Charles he's already tried to persuade Orlando away from wrestling , and that Orlando is a villain and traitor . Charles wants to make Oliver happy, so he agrees to break Orlando's neck during the wrestling match and then runs off to practice his moves. Alone on stage, Oliver says he's not sure why he hates his little brother so much, but it probably has something to do with the fact that Orlando is a great guy and everyone else seems to love him.

In the orchard of the house of Oliver de Boys, Orlando de Boys complains to Adam, an old family servant, about how he has been treated by his elder brother, Oliver, who, according to their father's will, was to see to it that Orlando was to be taught all the ways of being a gentleman, as Oliver has been doing for their brother Jaques. Yet Orlando has been kept at home, like a peasant. Oliver enters and Orlando tells him that "the spirit of my father, which I think is within me, begins to mutiny against this servitude." The two brothers argue, and suddenly Orlando grabs Oliver and demands that either he receive the education and the treatment due him or else he wants the thousand crowns that he is entitled to, according to their father's will. Oliver dismisses him with a curt "Well, sir, get you in. I will not long be troubled with you; you shall have some part of your will." Turning to Adam, he insultingly sneers, "Get you with him, you old dog." Orlando and Adam leave, and Oliver's anger is interrupted when his servant, Dennis, enters with the news that Charles, the duke's wrestler, is at the door. Oliver summons the wrestler, and the two of them discuss news of the court. The old duke has been banished by his younger brother and has gone into exile in the Forest of Arden and has been joined by some of his loyal lords, where they "live like the old Robin Hood of England . . . and fleet the time carelessly, as they did in the golden world." The old duke's daughter, Rosalind, however, has remained at court with her inseparable companion, Celia, the usurper's daughter. Charles then says that the new duke has announced that wrestling matches will be held at court the next day. Moreover, Charles has heard that Orlando intends to come in disguise and "try a fall" with him. He warns Oliver that, although he does not want to do harm to Orlando, he would be required to best him for his own honor. Oliver assures Charles that he need not be concerned. "I had as lief thou didst break his neck as his finger," he says, and adds that Orlando is dangerous and will kill Charles by "some treacherous device" if he survives the bout. Charles agrees, therefore, to take care of Orlando and leaves. Alone, Oliver says of Orlando, "I hope I shall see an end of him; for my soul -- yet I know not why -- hates nothing more than he." Anticipating the match the next day, he goes off to "kindle" Orlando for the match.

This first scene establishes several conflicts. The two major conflicts are between the two pairs of brothers: Oliver and Orlando, and Duke Frederick and Duke Senior. In each case, a brother is wronged, and he is wronged for the same reason -- that is, he is wronged because he is well-liked and morally good. It is interesting to note that in the case of Duke Frederick and Duke Senior, it is the younger brother who is usurping the rights of the elder brother, whereas with Oliver and Orlando it is just the opposite. In his dialogue with Oliver, Orlando explains the villainy of Duke Frederick: it is the right of the first-born male child to inherit his father's properties. Therefore, when Duke Frederick usurped the dukedom from his elder brother, he committed an unnatural act, according to the mores of the Elizabethan era. Oliver's own villainy is explained in Orlando's opening speech, in which he relates Oliver's failure to execute their father's will. Clearly, both Duke Frederick and Oliver violate the natural laws of ascendancy. Oliver's villainy is even further evident when he coldly and abruptly tells Adam, the old and faithful family servant, to leave the room. But Oliver's cruel nature is made absolutely clear when he lies to Charles, a professional wrestler, and encourages him to at least maim, if he cannot kill, Orlando. Thus the laws governing the family are being horribly violated. Biblically, fratricide is the oldest crime of all. These unnatural acts between brothers contrast sharply with the idyllic ambience in the Forest of Arden, where the main action of the play is about to occur. Already we are being prepared for these pastoral elements of the play; for example, consider the setting of Scene 1, which is set in Oliver's orchard. Although the setting is reflective of the pastoral life, it is also a part of the "real" world in which brother is pitted against brother. Eventually, it is to the Forest of Arden, a fantasy world, which the characters will flee to sort out their problems and their loves. Scene 1 also focuses on the matter of city life versus country living, a question much in discussion in Elizabethan England and much in vogue recently. Orlando first gives voice to this question in his opening speech, when he points out that he is being kept "rustically at home" without the benefit of being sent away to study gentlemanly ways. Later, he decides to leave his pastoral home to seek his fortune elsewhere. This question of sophisticated city living versus the simplicity of a pastoral life runs throughout the play. It is treated in a general and slightly humorous way by Jaques in his famous "All the world's a stage" speech  and hilariously in the confrontation between Touchstone, the fool, and Corin, the country shepherd . Yet despite the question's being considered throughout the play, it is never answered satisfactorily. In addition to the natural versus the unnatural, and city life versus country life, Shakespeare also uses the formalities of his language to establish the various social levels of his characters. For example, when Oliver first addresses Charles, he uses the formal pronoun you, but when he cunningly seeks to dupe Charles into killing Orlando, he uses the familiar pronoun thou. In other words, by his use of pronouns, Shakespeare indicates that Oliver has become condescending towards Charles. This device is used frequently throughout the play.


SCENE II.

A lawn before the DUKE'S palace

Enter ROSALIND and CELIA

  CELIA. I pray thee, Rosalind, sweet my coz, be merry.

  ROSALIND. Dear Celia, I show more mirth than I am mistress of; and
    would you yet I were merrier? Unless you could teach me to forget
    a banished father, you must not learn me how to remember any
    extraordinary pleasure.

  CELIA. Herein I see thou lov'st me not with the full weight that I
    love thee. If my uncle, thy banished father, had banished thy
    uncle, the Duke my father, so thou hadst been still with me,
    I could have taught my love to take thy father for mine; so wouldst
    thou, if the truth of thy love to me were so righteously temper'd
    as mine is to thee.

  ROSALIND. Well, I will forget the condition of my estate, to
    rejoice in yours.

  CELIA. You know my father hath no child but I, nor none is like to
    have; and, truly, when he dies thou shalt be his heir; for what
    he hath taken away from thy father perforce, I will render thee
    again in affection. By mine honour, I will; and when I break that
    oath, let me turn monster; therefore, my sweet Rose, my dear
    Rose, be merry.

  ROSALIND. From henceforth I will, coz, and devise sports.
    Let me see; what think you of falling in love?

  CELIA. Marry, I prithee, do, to make sport withal; but love no man
    in good earnest, nor no further in sport neither than with safety
    of a pure blush thou mayst in honour come off again.

  ROSALIND. What shall be our sport, then?

  CELIA. Let us sit and mock the good housewife Fortune from her
    wheel, that her gifts may henceforth be bestowed equally.

  ROSALIND. I would we could do so; for her benefits are mightily
    misplaced; and the bountiful blind woman doth most mistake in her
    gifts to women.

  CELIA. 'Tis true; for those that she makes fair she scarce makes
    honest; and those that she makes honest she makes very
    ill-favouredly.

  ROSALIND. Nay; now thou goest from Fortune's office to Nature's:
    Fortune reigns in gifts of the world, not in the lineaments of
    Nature.

                         Enter TOUCHSTONE

  CELIA. No; when Nature hath made a fair creature, may she not by
    Fortune fall into the fire? Though Nature hath given us wit to
    flout at Fortune, hath not Fortune sent in this fool to cut off
    the argument?

  ROSALIND. Indeed, there is Fortune too hard for Nature, when
    Fortune makes Nature's natural the cutter-off of Nature's wit.

  CELIA. Peradventure this is not Fortune's work neither, but
    Nature's, who perceiveth our natural wits too dull to reason of
    such goddesses, and hath sent this natural for our whetstone; for
    always the dullness of the fool is the whetstone of the wits.
    How now, wit! Whither wander you?

  TOUCHSTONE. Mistress, you must come away to your father.

  CELIA. Were you made the messenger?

  TOUCHSTONE. No, by mine honour; but I was bid to come for you.

  ROSALIND. Where learned you that oath, fool?

  TOUCHSTONE. Of a certain knight that swore by his honour they were
    good pancakes, and swore by his honour the mustard was naught.
    Now I'll stand to it, the pancakes were naught and the mustard
    was good, and yet was not the knight forsworn.

  CELIA. How prove you that, in the great heap of your knowledge?

  ROSALIND. Ay, marry, now unmuzzle your wisdom.

  TOUCHSTONE. Stand you both forth now: stroke your chins, and swear
    by your beards that I am a knave.

  CELIA. By our beards, if we had them, thou art.

  TOUCHSTONE. By my knavery, if I had it, then I were. But if you
    swear by that that not, you are not forsworn; no more was this
    knight, swearing by his honour, for he never had any; or if he
    had, he had sworn it away before ever he saw those pancackes or
    that mustard.

  CELIA. Prithee, who is't that thou mean'st?

  TOUCHSTONE. One that old Frederick, your father, loves.

  CELIA. My father's love is enough to honour him. Enough, speak no
    more of him; you'll be whipt for taxation one of these days.

  TOUCHSTONE. The more pity that fools may not speak wisely what wise
    men do foolishly.

  CELIA. By my troth, thou sayest true; for since the little wit that
    fools have was silenced, the little foolery that wise men have
    makes a great show. Here comes Monsieur Le Beau.

                           Enter LE BEAU

  ROSALIND. With his mouth full of news.

  CELIA. Which he will put on us as pigeons feed their young.

  ROSALIND. Then shall we be news-cramm'd.

  CELIA. All the better; we shall be the more marketable. Bon jour,
    Monsieur Le Beau. What's the news?

  LE BEAU. Fair Princess, you have lost much good sport.

  CELIA. Sport! of what colour?

  LE BEAU. What colour, madam? How shall I answer you?

  ROSALIND. As wit and fortune will.

  TOUCHSTONE. Or as the Destinies decrees.

  CELIA. Well said; that was laid on with a trowel.

  TOUCHSTONE. Nay, if I keep not my rank-

  ROSALIND. Thou losest thy old smell.

  LE BEAU. You amaze me, ladies. I would have told you of good
    wrestling, which you have lost the sight of.

  ROSALIND. Yet tell us the manner of the wrestling.

  LE BEAU. I will tell you the beginning, and, if it please your
    ladyships, you may see the end; for the best is yet to do; and
    here, where you are, they are coming to perform it.

  CELIA. Well, the beginning, that is dead and buried.

  LE BEAU. There comes an old man and his three sons-

  CELIA. I could match this beginning with an old tale.

  LE BEAU. Three proper young men, of excellent growth and presence.

  ROSALIND. With bills on their necks: 'Be it known unto all men by
    these presents'-

  LE BEAU. The eldest of the three wrestled with Charles, the Duke's
    wrestler; which Charles in a moment threw him, and broke three of
    his ribs, that there is little hope of life in him. So he serv'd
    the second, and so the third. Yonder they lie; the poor old man,
    their father, making such pitiful dole over them that all the
    beholders take his part with weeping.

  ROSALIND. Alas!

  TOUCHSTONE. But what is the sport, monsieur, that the ladies have
    lost?

  LE BEAU. Why, this that I speak of.

  TOUCHSTONE. Thus men may grow wiser every day. It is the first time
    that ever I heard breaking of ribs was sport for ladies.

  CELIA. Or I, I promise thee.

  ROSALIND. But is there any else longs to see this broken music in
    his sides? Is there yet another dotes upon rib-breaking?
    Shall we see this wrestling, cousin?

  LE BEAU. You must, if you stay here; for here is the place
    appointed for the wrestling, and they are ready to perform it.

  CELIA. Yonder, sure, they are coming. Let us now stay and see it.

           Flourish. Enter DUKE FREDERICK, LORDS, ORLANDO,
                     CHARLES, and ATTENDANTS

  FREDERICK. Come on; since the youth will not be entreated, his own
    peril on his forwardness.

  ROSALIND. Is yonder the man?

  LE BEAU. Even he, madam.

  CELIA. Alas, he is too young; yet he looks successfully.

  FREDERICK. How now, daughter and cousin! Are you crept hither to
    see the wrestling?

  ROSALIND. Ay, my liege; so please you give us leave.

  FREDERICK. You will take little delight in it, I can tell you,

    there is such odds in the man. In pity of the challenger's youth
    I would fain dissuade him, but he will not be entreated.
    Speak to him, ladies; see if you can move him.

  CELIA. Call him hither, good Monsieur Le Beau.

  FREDERICK. Do so; I'll not be by.
                                     [DUKE FREDERICK goes apart]

  LE BEAU. Monsieur the Challenger, the Princess calls for you.

  ORLANDO. I attend them with all respect and duty.

  ROSALIND. Young man, have you challeng'd Charles the wrestler?

  ORLANDO. No, fair Princess; he is the general challenger. I come
    but in, as others do, to try with him the strength of my youth.

  CELIA. Young gentleman, your spirits are too bold for your years.
    You have seen cruel proof of this man's strength; if you saw
    yourself with your eyes, or knew yourself with your judgment, the
    fear of your adventure would counsel you to a more equal
    enterprise. We pray you, for your own sake, to embrace your own
    safety and give over this attempt.

  ROSALIND. Do, young sir; your reputation shall not therefore be
    misprised: we will make it our suit to the Duke that the
    wrestling might not go forward.

  ORLANDO. I beseech you, punish me not with your hard thoughts,
    wherein I confess me much guilty to deny so fair and excellent
    ladies any thing. But let your fair eyes and gentle wishes go
    with me to my trial; wherein if I be foil'd there is but one
    sham'd that was never gracious; if kill'd, but one dead that is
    willing to be so. I shall do my friends no wrong, for I have none
    to lament me; the world no injury, for in it I have nothing; only
    in the world I fill up a place, which may be better supplied when
    I have made it empty.

  ROSALIND. The little strength that I have, I would it were with
    you.

  CELIA. And mine to eke out hers.

  ROSALIND. Fare you well. Pray heaven I be deceiv'd in you!

  CELIA. Your heart's desires be with you!

  CHARLES. Come, where is this young gallant that is so desirous to
    lie with his mother earth?

  ORLANDO. Ready, sir; but his will hath in it a more modest working.

  FREDERICK. You shall try but one fall.

  CHARLES. No, I warrant your Grace, you shall not entreat him to a
    second, that have so mightily persuaded him from a first.

  ORLANDO. You mean to mock me after; you should not have mock'd me
    before; but come your ways.

  ROSALIND. Now, Hercules be thy speed, young man!

  CELIA. I would I were invisible, to catch the strong fellow by the
    leg.                                          [They wrestle]

  ROSALIND. O excellent young man!

  CELIA. If I had a thunderbolt in mine eye, I can tell who should
    down.
                                      [CHARLES is thrown. Shout]

  FREDERICK. No more, no more.

  ORLANDO. Yes, I beseech your Grace; I am not yet well breath'd.

  FREDERICK. How dost thou, Charles?

  LE BEAU. He cannot speak, my lord.

  FREDERICK. Bear him away. What is thy name, young man?

  ORLANDO. Orlando, my liege; the youngest son of Sir Rowland de
    Boys.

  FREDERICK. I would thou hadst been son to some man else.
    The world esteem'd thy father honourable,
    But I did find him still mine enemy.
    Thou shouldst have better pleas'd me with this deed,
    Hadst thou descended from another house.
    But fare thee well; thou art a gallant youth;
    I would thou hadst told me of another father.
                                 Exeunt DUKE, train, and LE BEAU

  CELIA. Were I my father, coz, would I do this?

  ORLANDO. I am more proud to be Sir Rowland's son,
    His youngest son- and would not change that calling
    To be adopted heir to Frederick.

  ROSALIND. My father lov'd Sir Rowland as his soul,
    And all the world was of my father's mind;
    Had I before known this young man his son,
    I should have given him tears unto entreaties
    Ere he should thus have ventur'd.

  CELIA. Gentle cousin,
    Let us go thank him, and encourage him;
    My father's rough and envious disposition
    Sticks me at heart. Sir, you have well deserv'd;
    If you do keep your promises in love
    But justly as you have exceeded all promise,
    Your mistress shall be happy.

  ROSALIND. Gentleman,        [Giving him a chain from her neck]
    Wear this for me; one out of suits with fortune,
    That could give more, but that her hand lacks means.
    Shall we go, coz?

  CELIA. Ay. Fare you well, fair gentleman.

  ORLANDO. Can I not say 'I thank you'? My better parts
    Are all thrown down; and that which here stands up
    Is but a quintain, a mere lifeless block.

  ROSALIND. He calls us back. My pride fell with my fortunes;
    I'll ask him what he would. Did you call, sir?
    Sir, you have wrestled well, and overthrown
    More than your enemies.

  CELIA. Will you go, coz?

  ROSALIND. Have with you. Fare you well.
                                       Exeunt ROSALIND and CELIA

  ORLANDO. What passion hangs these weights upon my tongue?
    I cannot speak to her, yet she urg'd conference.
    O poor Orlando, thou art overthrown!
    Or Charles or something weaker masters thee.

                      Re-enter LE BEAU

  LE BEAU. Good sir, I do in friendship counsel you
    To leave this place. Albeit you have deserv'd
    High commendation, true applause, and love,
    Yet such is now the Duke's condition
    That he misconstrues all that you have done.
    The Duke is humorous; what he is, indeed,
    More suits you to conceive than I to speak of.

  ORLANDO. I thank you, sir; and pray you tell me this:
    Which of the two was daughter of the Duke
    That here was at the wrestling?

  LE BEAU. Neither his daughter, if we judge by manners;
    But yet, indeed, the smaller is his daughter;
    The other is daughter to the banish'd Duke,
    And here detain'd by her usurping uncle,
    To keep his daughter company; whose loves
    Are dearer than the natural bond of sisters.
    But I can tell you that of late this Duke
    Hath ta'en displeasure 'gainst his gentle niece,
    Grounded upon no other argument
    But that the people praise her for her virtues
    And pity her for her good father's sake;
    And, on my life, his malice 'gainst the lady
    Will suddenly break forth. Sir, fare you well.
    Hereafter, in a better world than this,
    I shall desire more love and knowledge of you.

  ORLANDO. I rest much bounden to you; fare you well.
                                                    Exit LE BEAU
    Thus must I from the smoke into the smother;
    From tyrant Duke unto a tyrant brother.
    But heavenly Rosalind!                                  Exit

Rosalind is saddened by the banishment of her father and Celia is trying to cheer her up. Celia urges her cousin to be happier and promises that she will always treat her with affection even though their roles in the world were reversed when Duke Frederick usurped Duke Senior's position. Rosalind agrees to try and be happy and proposes playing games such as pretending to fall in love. Touchstone, a clown, enters and cuts their conversation short. He tells Celia that her father wants to see her. She makes him provide some witty entertainment, playing with words until he states, "The more pity that fools may not speak wisely what wise men do foolishly". Le Beau, a courtier to Duke Frederick, arrives and the two women joke that he will force them to listen to news. Le Beau is greeted by Celia in French. He tries to tell them about a wrestling match but Touchstone and the women start to joke around with words again, causing him to lose track of the conversation. Le Beau finally is allowed to speak, and he tells them that Charles wrestled with three brothers and beat each of them in turn. The father, having seen all his sons defeated, is mourning their loss and the fact that the eldest broke three ribs in the process. He finally mentions to the women that if they stay where they are they will be able to watch the next match since it was appointed at this particular spot. They happily agree to stay and watch. Duke Frederick enters, telling his men that Orlando will not be dissuaded from wrestling with Charles and therefore deserves to suffer his fate. Rosalind interrupts the conversation and tells Frederick that she will speak to Orlando and try to convince him not to wrestle. Celia begs Orlando to let her have her father call off the wrestling match. He tells the ladies that he has no one to lament him in the world and that he is willing to risk even death in pursuit of victory over Charles. Rosalind finally gives him her blessing, wishing him victory. Frederick sets up the match but tells them that they will fight until one of them is thrown to the ground. Orlando manages to get Charles and throw him, knocking him unconscious and thereby winning. Duke Frederick asks Orlando what his name is, and he replies that he is Orlando, the youngest son of Sir Rowland de Bois. Frederick is not happy to hear this since Sir Rowland was his enemy when he usurped the throne. He wishes Orlando well and departs without giving him any prizes. Celia is ashamed by her father's envious treatment of Orlando, but Rosalind is thrilled because her father was close friends with Sir Rowland. The two women approach Orlando and Rosalind gives him a chain from around her neck. He is unable to even say thank you because he is made speechless by Rosalind. She turns to leave, then thinks he has called her back, but finally exits with Celia. Le Beau returns and warns Orlando that the Duke has turned against him. He councils Orlando to leave immediately. Orlando first asks him who the two women were, and learns that Rosalind gave him the necklace

At Duke Frederick's court, we meet Celia and Rosalind. Rosalind is a little miffed that her father, Duke Senior, has been banished by Duke Frederick . Celia suggests that Rosalind change her perspective and think of Duke Frederick as her new daddy. After all, that's what she would do if it had been her father that had been banished instead. All that really matters is that Celia and Rosalind get to stay together, right? Rosalind says okay. She'll try to forget about her family situation and focus on Celia's instead. The girls decide to distract themselves with frippery, so they talk about love and Fortune . Celia says Fortune gets a lot of stuff backwards, particularly when it comes to women. The women she makes pretty, she also makes promiscuous, and the ones she makes chaste, she makes ugly. Rosalind says that Celia is mixing up Fortune and nature, and the two girls debate the point until the court fool, Touchstone interrupts them. Touchstone says Celia's dad wants to talk to her. Touchstone banters with the girls until he hits a sensitive subject--Rosalind's banished father, Duke Senior. Celia tells him to pipe down or he'll be whipped. Le Beau, a courtier of Duke Frederick, comes in to tell the women that Charles has just fought three strong brothers and in general leaves broken ribs scattered in his wake. The next wrestling match, Charles vs. Orlando, is about to go down right where the women are standing, in case they'd like to stay and watch the carnage. Duke Frederick enters and tries to get the girls to convince young Orlando not to fight, as he's terribly outmatched. The girls, like everyone else, think Orlando looks too young for the match. They plead with Orlando and tell him they'll happily intervene on his part to get the match called off. But Orlando charms them with a speech about having nothing to lose and asks that instead of trying to stop him, they wish him luck. So...they do. Big, bad Charles shows up and is ready to rumble. Shockingly, Orlando easily beats Charles, who can't even speak when he's carried off in a stretcher. Duke Frederick is impressed with Orlando...until he finds out the boy is son of one of his enemies, Sir Rowland de Boys. Rosalind says she's glad that Orlando is a member of the de Boys family. Turns out that Orlando's dad, Sir Rowland, was pals with her banished father, Duke Senior . Celia and Rosalind congratulate Orlando; Rosalind, nursing a crush, gives Orlando her necklace as a token of her affection. Rosalind and Orlando make googly eyes at each other before they go their separate ways. Le Beau warns Orlando that the Duke is in a bad mood and might harm Orlando if he sticks around. Orlando asks about the ladies he's just met, and learns that Rosalind is Duke Senior's daughter. Le Beau also says that Duke Frederick, who has been keeping Rosalind at his house, has become weary of the fact that everyone keeps praising her virtue and pitying her because of her banished dad. Le Beau suggests that Duke Senior's probably going to lose it on Rosalind soon enough. Orlando laments the fact that he's surrounded by megolomaniacs as he leaves the temperamental Duke to head home to his scheming brother. Still...that Rosalind is something else.

Celia, the daughter of Duke Frederick, and Rosalind, the daughter of the deposed duke, are talking on the lawn before the duke's palace. Celia chides Rosalind for not being sufficiently "merry," and Rosalind, although she grieves because of her father's exile, promises to try and be cheerful and "devise sports." Touchstone, the court clown, enters, joins in their repartee, and tells Celia that Frederick has summoned her. They are joined by Le Beau, a courtier, who brings news of a wrestling contest that is to begin shortly on the lawn. Charles has already beaten three challengers, breaking their ribs and very nearly killing them. Duke Frederick, Charles, Orlando, and members of the court arrive, and Frederick suggests that the young women try to dissuade the challenger from the contest as he will surely be injured. They try to do so, but Orlando will not be convinced, saying, "I shall do my friends no wrong, for I have none to lament me; the world no injury, for in it I have nothing." To everyone's surprise, Orlando wins the fall and wishes to try a second, but Charles has to be carried out. Frederick asks to know Orlando's name and becomes furious when he discovers that Orlando is the son of Roland de Boys, an old enemy. "Thou shouldst have better pleased me with this deed, / Hadst thou descended from another house," he says. Celia, Rosalind, and Orlando are left alone on the lawn, and Rosalind, whose father loved Orlando "as his soul," gives Orlando her necklace to wear as a reward for his gallantry. They are instantly attracted to each other, and, symbolically, Orlando is "overthrown" by Rosalind -- in spite of the fact that he was not overthrown by Charles. As the women leave, Le Beau rushes in to warn Orlando that the duke is angry; he counsels him to leave immediately. Orlando also learns that the duke has lately "ta'en displeasure 'gainst his gentle niece," Rosalind, because the people praise and pity her. He decides to return home, to leave a "tyrant duke" and face a "tyrant brother."

This scene further reveals the pains and problems of the "real" world.  In this real world, Shakespeare introduces and contrasts the theme of love. There is, for example, the love between Celia and Rosalind . Their love is pure and innocent, especially when contrasted to the complete lack of feeling between the two pairs of brothers. In a witty dialogue, Rosalind and Celia discuss the merits of love as a sport where one can fall in love and have the "safety of a pure blush . . . in honour." This "romantic love" is given its due when Orlando and Rosalind fall in love at first sight. It might be noted that only a few words are exchanged between them before the shaft of Eros finds its mark. This view of love is later enhanced when Shakespeare has Phebe quote Marlowe, "Who ever lov'd that lov'd not at first sight?" . Later, this view of romantic love will be satirized when Oliver falls in love with Celia, literally at first sight . Still to come are Shakespeare's considerations of idealized and pastoral love. When all the characters finally come together in the fantasy Forest of Arden, the many different types of love will be fully explored and exploited for serious and for comic effects. Shakespeare will also focus later on the sexual love that Touchstone feels for Audrey, and, here, this scene introduces Touchstone, who is an "original" with Shakespeare. As a touchstone was used in Elizabethan times to determine the purity of silver and gold, so Shakespeare uses this character to determine the sincerity of the beliefs of each character in the play. One can make a good case of the thesis that it is Touchstone, and not Jaques, who is the best critic of the characters within this play. Le Beau, judging by his elevated speech and dress, is a dandy. As such, he is satirized by Shakespeare not only for his speech and dress, but also for his mannerisms in this scene. Finally, this scene foreshadows Orlando's subsequent departure from the ducal estates to the Forest of Arden. For Orlando, as well as for many of the key characters in this scene, nothing seems to work out for him -- or for them. An uneasiness pervades the tranquil setting. What is natural seems unnatural, and in the Forest of Arden, in contrast, what might seem unnatural seems very natural. In the real world, the characters must try and control themselves in a world that tries to control them. Only in the wild, fantastic, pastoral setting of the Forest of Arden can the characters give full vent to their feelings.


SCENE III.

The DUKE's palace

Enter CELIA and ROSALIND

  CELIA. Why, cousin! why, Rosalind! Cupid have mercy!
    Not a word?

  ROSALIND. Not one to throw at a dog.

  CELIA. No, thy words are too precious to be cast away upon curs;
    throw some of them at me; come, lame me with reasons.

  ROSALIND. Then there were two cousins laid up, when the one should
    be lam'd with reasons and the other mad without any.

  CELIA. But is all this for your father?

  ROSALIND. No, some of it is for my child's father. O, how full of
    briers is this working-day world!

  CELIA. They are but burs, cousin, thrown upon thee in holiday
    foolery; if we walk not in the trodden paths, our very petticoats
    will catch them.

  ROSALIND. I could shake them off my coat: these burs are in my
    heart.

  CELIA. Hem them away.

  ROSALIND. I would try, if I could cry 'hem' and have him.

  CELIA. Come, come, wrestle with thy affections.

  ROSALIND. O, they take the part of a better wrestler than myself.

  CELIA. O, a good wish upon you! You will try in time, in despite of
    a fall. But, turning these jests out of service, let us talk in
    good earnest. Is it possible, on such a sudden, you should fall
    into so strong a liking with old Sir Rowland's youngest son?

  ROSALIND. The Duke my father lov'd his father dearly.

  CELIA. Doth it therefore ensue that you should love his son dearly?
    By this kind of chase I should hate him, for my father hated his
    father dearly; yet I hate not Orlando.

  ROSALIND. No, faith, hate him not, for my sake.

  CELIA. Why should I not? Doth he not deserve well?

                    Enter DUKE FREDERICK, with LORDS

  ROSALIND. Let me love him for that; and do you love him because I
    do. Look, here comes the Duke.

  CELIA. With his eyes full of anger.

  FREDERICK. Mistress, dispatch you with your safest haste,
    And get you from our court.

  ROSALIND. Me, uncle?

  FREDERICK. You, cousin.
    Within these ten days if that thou beest found
    So near our public court as twenty miles,
    Thou diest for it.

  ROSALIND. I do beseech your Grace,
    Let me the knowledge of my fault bear with me.
    If with myself I hold intelligence,
    Or have acquaintance with mine own desires;
    If that I do not dream, or be not frantic-
    As I do trust I am not- then, dear uncle,
    Never so much as in a thought unborn
    Did I offend your Highness.

  FREDERICK. Thus do all traitors;
    If their purgation did consist in words,
    They are as innocent as grace itself.
    Let it suffice thee that I trust thee not.

  ROSALIND. Yet your mistrust cannot make me a traitor.
    Tell me whereon the likelihood depends.

  FREDERICK. Thou art thy father's daughter; there's enough.

  ROSALIND. SO was I when your Highness took his dukedom;
    So was I when your Highness banish'd him.
    Treason is not inherited, my lord;
    Or, if we did derive it from our friends,
    What's that to me? My father was no traitor.
    Then, good my liege, mistake me not so much
    To think my poverty is treacherous.

  CELIA. Dear sovereign, hear me speak.

  FREDERICK. Ay, Celia; we stay'd her for your sake,
    Else had she with her father rang'd along.

  CELIA. I did not then entreat to have her stay;
    It was your pleasure, and your own remorse;
    I was too young that time to value her,
    But now I know her. If she be a traitor,
    Why so am I: we still have slept together,
    Rose at an instant, learn'd, play'd, eat together;
    And wheresoe'er we went, like Juno's swans,
    Still we went coupled and inseparable.

  FREDERICK. She is too subtle for thee; and her smoothness,
    Her very silence and her patience,
    Speak to the people, and they pity her.
    Thou art a fool. She robs thee of thy name;
    And thou wilt show more bright and seem more virtuous
    When she is gone. Then open not thy lips.
    Firm and irrevocable is my doom
    Which I have pass'd upon her; she is banish'd.

  CELIA. Pronounce that sentence, then, on me, my liege;
    I cannot live out of her company.

  FREDERICK. You are a fool. You, niece, provide yourself.
    If you outstay the time, upon mine honour,
    And in the greatness of my word, you die.
                                           Exeunt DUKE and LORDS

  CELIA. O my poor Rosalind! Whither wilt thou go?
    Wilt thou change fathers? I will give thee mine.
    I charge thee be not thou more griev'd than I am.

  ROSALIND. I have more cause.

  CELIA. Thou hast not, cousin.
    Prithee be cheerful. Know'st thou not the Duke
    Hath banish'd me, his daughter?

  ROSALIND. That he hath not.

  CELIA. No, hath not? Rosalind lacks, then, the love
    Which teacheth thee that thou and I am one.
    Shall we be sund'red? Shall we part, sweet girl?
    No; let my father seek another heir.
    Therefore devise with me how we may fly,
    Whither to go, and what to bear with us;
    And do not seek to take your charge upon you,
    To bear your griefs yourself, and leave me out;
    For, by this heaven, now at our sorrows pale,
    Say what thou canst, I'll go along with thee.

  ROSALIND. Why, whither shall we go?

  CELIA. To seek my uncle in the Forest of Arden.

  ROSALIND. Alas, what danger will it be to us,
    Maids as we are, to travel forth so far!
    Beauty provoketh thieves sooner than gold.

  CELIA. I'll put myself in poor and mean attire,
    And with a kind of umber smirch my face;
    The like do you; so shall we pass along,
    And never stir assailants.

  ROSALIND. Were it not better,
    Because that I am more than common tall,
    That I did suit me all points like a man?
    A gallant curtle-axe upon my thigh,
    A boar spear in my hand; and- in my heart
    Lie there what hidden woman's fear there will-
    We'll have a swashing and a martial outside,
    As many other mannish cowards have
    That do outface it with their semblances.

  CELIA. What shall I call thee when thou art a man?

  ROSALIND. I'll have no worse a name than Jove's own page,
    And therefore look you call me Ganymede.
    But what will you be call'd?

  CELIA. Something that hath a reference to my state:
    No longer Celia, but Aliena.

  ROSALIND. But, cousin, what if we assay'd to steal
    The clownish fool out of your father's court?
    Would he not be a comfort to our travel?

  CELIA. He'll go along o'er the wide world with me;
    Leave me alone to woo him. Let's away,
    And get our jewels and our wealth together;
    Devise the fittest time and safest way
    To hide us from pursuit that will be made
    After my flight. Now go we in content
    To liberty, and not to banishment.                    Exeunt

Rosalind is also speechless after having met Orlando, and Celia marvels that her cousin has fallen in love so quickly. Duke Frederick arrives and angrily orders Rosalind to pack her things and leave. He tells her that if she is caught within twenty miles of the court then he will kill her. She protests that she has never done anything to him, but he still accuses her of being a traitor. Celia protests on Rosalind's behalf but Frederick remains unmoved and banishes Rosalind. Celia tells Rosalind that she will leave with her. Rosalind cleverly decides that they should dress as men and thus go to her father in the woods in disguise. She chooses the name Ganymede and Celia chooses to be called Aliena, meaning the "estranged one". They then agree to also get Touchstone to travel with them in order to provide some entertainment during their travel

Rosalind and Celia engage in some girl talk, where Rosalind is clearly in an emotional state over Orlando. Celia marvels that Rosalind could fall in love so quickly, and Rosalind points out that Orlando's dad and her dad were good friends, so her love makes complete sense. Celia says by that logic she should hate Orlando, since her dad hated his father. Rosalind begs her to love Orlando for her sake. This chatter is interrupted by Celia's father, Duke Frederick, who's still storming and dishing out threats of death and destruction. Duke Frederick tells Rosalind that, if she doesn't leave the court immediately, he'll have her killed. Before she hits the old dusty trail of banishment, though, Rosalind wants to know why she's being sent off. Duke Frederick lamely claims that Rosalind must leave because she's likely to become a traitor, just like her father. As Celia pleads for Rosalind, it becomes clear that the Duke is actually jealous of how people look at Rosalind. Duke Frederick tells Celia that she'll look more attractive once her cousin is gone. He emphasizes Rosalind's death sentence once more before going on his merry way. Understandably, the girls are bummed. This lasts for two minutes before they hatch a plan to run away together to the Forest of Arden where Duke Senior lives with his merry band. Rosalind points out that it's dangerous for girls to travel alone because "beauty provoketh thieves sooner than gold." Translation: Rosalind doesn't want to be robbed or assaulted. Celia suggests they rub "umber" all over their faces. The idea is that, if they look like dirty peasants who have been working all day out in the sun, maybe they won't attract any unwanted attention. Rosalind, like all great Shakespearean heroines, has a better idea. She concludes that, because she is the taller of the two, she should dress as a man. Rosalind decides to be called "Ganymede." We interrupt this program for a brain snack: In classical mythology, "Ganymede" is the name of the young hottie who was kidnapped by Jove, who made him his official cupbearer. In Elizabethan England, the name "Ganymede" was a term applied to the kind of young man who had a sugar daddy. In other words, the name "Ganymede" is synonymous with same-sex desire, which is something you'll want to keep in mind as you read. Celia won't disguise her gender but she'll pretend to be "Aliena," which means "the estranged one" in Latin. The girls decide to take along Touchstone, the court fool, because he's so fun to be around and will keep everyone from being bored in the woods. Celia declares that they go into the forest of Arden "to liberty, and not to banishment."

Shortly afterward in the palace, we hear Rosalind confess her love for Orlando to Celia; she begs that Celia love him also for her sake. The girls' talk of love, however, is interrupted by the duke's furious entrance. "Full of anger," he tells Rosalind that she is to be banished from the palace within ten days: "If that thou be'st found / So near our public court as twenty miles, / Thou diest for it." Rosalind protests that she is no traitor to him, and Celia begs her father to relent, but he is adamant. He repeats his threat once more, then leaves them. Celia is determined that the two girls will not be separated, and she proposes to go with Rosalind to join Rosalind's deposed father in the Forest of Arden. But when they both realize that they are fearful of the dangers of the journey, they decide to disguise themselves: Rosalind will dress as a boy, taking the name of "Ganymede," and Celia will dress as a young farm girl and use "Aliena" as her name. Moreover, Celia will convince Touchstone, one of her father's jesters, to join them. Happy and excited, she and Rosalind go off to pack their "jewels and wealth" to take with them on their flight.

Here, Duke Frederick's villainy is fully revealed. He banished Rosalind from his court because she reminds the people of her exiled father: "Thou art thy father's daughter. There's enough!" He suffers no remorse when his daughter, Celia, states her intent of accompanying Rosalind. He tells Celia, "You are a fool." Thus, the stage is set for Rosalind to join her father in the Forest of Arden. There can be little doubt that Orlando will soon join the group, for we have seen that Oliver's temper is much like Frederick's. The plot is further complicated at this point with a dramatic device that was a favorite of Elizabethan audiences; when the two girls decide to go forth alone in the world, they go in disguise. Rosalind chooses to go as "Ganymede" , and Celia chooses to go as "Aliena." Shakespeare takes both names from the novel Rosalynde  by Thomas Lodge. That the girls should take Touchstone with them serves two key purposes. First, the ploy is used so that a masterful critic of society will be in the Forest of Arden, and there he will, ironically and unexpectedly, fall in love with Audrey, an earthy, country woman; second, the fact that Touchstone will accompany the girls makes him a favorite of the audience; he is a brave and loyal friend to the two heroines. Celia's concluding lines -- "Now go we in content / To liberty and not to banishment" -- foreshadow the mood expressed in the following scene by Duke Senior, Rosalind's father. This mood of freedom, the prevailing mood of the Forest of Arden, will be expressed throughout the play.


ACT II. SCENE I.

The Forest of Arden

Enter DUKE SENIOR, AMIENS, and two or three LORDS, like foresters

  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?
    Here feel we not the penalty of Adam,
    The seasons' difference; as the icy fang
    And churlish chiding of the winter's wind,
    Which when it bites and blows upon my body,
    Even till I shrink with cold, I smile and say
    'This is no flattery; these are counsellors
    That feelingly persuade me what I am.'
    Sweet are the uses of adversity,
    Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
    Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;
    And this our life, exempt from public haunt,
    Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
    Sermons in stones, and good in everything.
    I would not change it.

  AMIENS. Happy is your Grace,
    That can translate the stubbornness of fortune
    Into so quiet and so sweet a style.

  DUKE SENIOR. Come, shall we go and kill us venison?
    And yet it irks me the poor dappled fools,
    Being native burghers of this desert city,
    Should, in their own confines, with forked heads
    Have their round haunches gor'd.

  FIRST LORD. Indeed, my lord,
    The melancholy Jaques grieves at that;
    And, in that kind, swears you do more usurp
    Than doth your brother that hath banish'd you.
    To-day my Lord of Amiens and myself
    Did steal behind him as he lay along
    Under an oak whose antique root peeps out
    Upon the brook that brawls along this wood!
    To the which place a poor sequest'red stag,
    That from the hunter's aim had ta'en a hurt,
    Did come to languish; and, indeed, my lord,
    The wretched animal heav'd forth such groans
    That their discharge did stretch his leathern coat
    Almost to bursting; and the big round tears
    Cours'd one another down his innocent nose
    In piteous chase; and thus the hairy fool,
    Much marked of the melancholy Jaques,
    Stood on th' extremest verge of the swift brook,
    Augmenting it with tears.

  DUKE SENIOR. But what said Jaques?
    Did he not moralize this spectacle?

  FIRST LORD. O, yes, into a thousand similes.
    First, for his weeping into the needless stream:
    'Poor deer,' quoth he 'thou mak'st a testament
    As worldlings do, giving thy sum of more
    To that which had too much.' Then, being there alone,
    Left and abandoned of his velvet friends:
    ''Tis right'; quoth he 'thus misery doth part
    The flux of company.' Anon, a careless herd,
    Full of the pasture, jumps along by him
    And never stays to greet him. 'Ay,' quoth Jaques
    'Sweep on, you fat and greasy citizens;
    'Tis just the fashion. Wherefore do you look
    Upon that poor and broken bankrupt there?'
    Thus most invectively he pierceth through
    The body of the country, city, court,
    Yea, and of this our life; swearing that we
    Are mere usurpers, tyrants, and what's worse,
    To fright the animals, and to kill them up
    In their assign'd and native dwelling-place.

  DUKE SENIOR. And did you leave him in this contemplation?

  SECOND LORD. We did, my lord, weeping and commenting
    Upon the sobbing deer.

  DUKE SENIOR. Show me the place;
    I love to cope him in these sullen fits,
    For then he's full of matter.

  FIRST LORD. I'll bring you to him straight.             Exeunt

Duke Senior, the exiled Duke, is in the forest with his men. He compares the woods to paradise and tells them he is perfectly happy where he is. He asks them if they would like to go and shoot some deer. One of the lords remarks that Jaques, a stock figure who is constantly melancholy, had moralized on the virtue of killing the deer. He tells them that Jaques watched a wounded deer and remarked that they are usurping the forest from the animals. The Duke asks to be brought to where Jaques is located so he may speak with him

The character of old Adam is one of the most unique. In many ways Adam represents the old world, a world that is no longer in power but that cannot be forgotten. Adam agrees to follow Orlando into the forest, essentially indicating his dissatisfaction with the new world he is living in. When Orlando carries him, it marks a moment similar to Aeneas carrying Anchyses on his back, fleeing from burning Troy. It is thus with reverence that Adam gets treated by all the characters on account of his age and wisdom. The forest of Arden needs to be viewed a projection of the self, an intensifier of oneself. Duke Senior describes his men as being able to: "Find tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, / Sermons in stones, and good in everything" . This is an image of the goodness of the Duke himself. However, Oliver comes across quite a different version of the forest later on in the play. He encounters snakes and lions, and he himself becomes long-haired and wild looking. Thus Arden appears differently to everyone in it depending on their personalities. In fact, this is quite apparent in 2.6 when we see Adam and Orlando walking around in a savage paradise, hungry for food. This contrasts with the banquet that Duke Senior is laying out for his men. Indeed, Orlando is the savage: "Forbear, and eat no more!" , he cries when he sees the food that Duke Senior has spread out on the ground. Surprised by the civility with which he is greeted, Orlando says, "Pardon me, I pray you. / I thought that all things had been savage here" . Orlando thinks he is in a savage place, yet the wilderness is more civilized than he is. The irony is that in this play the bestial man is found in the court, not the country. Jaques is perhaps the premier character for showing how Arden is a projection of the self. Jaques tells Duke Senior, "A fool, a fool, I met a fool i'th' forest, / A motley fool - a miserable world! - As I do live by food, I met a fool" . In reality he has met himself in the forest. Arden again is projecting his own attributes. This is further strengthened by the fact that Touchstone is a mirror for other people. Jaques "foolishly" then wishes to become a fool because licensed fools were allowed to say anything without fear of punishment. Shakespeare sets As You Like It in a pastoral setting, but he still mocks the pastoral mode of writing in the process. One of the fundamental aspects of pastoral is that the country people are simple and kindhearted. However, this is not the case when Rosalind and Celia meet Corin for the first time: "But I am a shepherd to another man, / And do not shear the fleeces that I graze. / My master is of churlish disposition, / And little recks to find the way to heaven / By doing deeds of hospitality...there is nothing / That you will feed on" . By denying the women hospitality, Shakespeare mocks the stereotype that rustic people give everything to strangers. A great deal of this play is constructed on paradoxes. Ganymede is really a woman who is in fact is really a male actor  playing a woman. Even more dramatically, we can state that the Forest of Ardenne has noble savages savaging nobles. Orlando is far more savage than the nobles he finds eating there, in spite of his noble upbringing. These paradoxes not only play with the notion of pastoral but also challenge gender identities. While no one would deny there is a paradox in being both a woman and a man, in Shakespeare's time the issue of gender was much looser than it is in modern society. Woman were considered anatomically identical to men except that the uterus was thought to be inverted male genitals. This view of sex allowed Shakespeare to have Rosalind, as Ganymede, pretend to again be Rosalind. Jaques gives his famous speech in this act, starting with, "All the world's a stage..." . This speech is important because all the characters and stages of life are described in terms of speaking: the lover sighs, the soldier is full of strange oaths, the old man loses his manly voice, and by the final stage the man cannot speak at all having lost everything. Speaking is therefore conceived of in terms of time passing. This vision of time progressing is part of what makes Jaques so melancholy. He views the end as being, "Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything" , a sense of loss. However, regardless of what Jaques claims about old age, we have Adam to dismiss what Jaques says. Adam is clearly not without his teeth, eyes, taste or anything else except stamina. This is again Shakespeare at his best, showing the folly of Jaques by presenting Adam as living proof that Jaques is incorrect.

Back at the forest Duke Senior and his band of merry men are getting ready to hunt for some dinner. Duke Senior strikes us as a "glass is half-full" kind of guy--he says he loves the forest because the people in it aren't a bunch of backstabbing phonies like those at court. In fact, says the Duke, despite the lousy weather, the forest is like paradise on earth to him. Being a philosopher has made Duke Senior hungry and he's craving venison for dinner. Still, he says he feels a little bad about invading the deer's turf and killing them. It turns out that a guy named Jaques hates deer hunting too. We find out that earlier Jaques spotted a deer that had been injured but not killed by a hunter. He then spent a good amount of time lamenting in this vein: The forest belongs to the animals, which were there first; to kill them is to be no better than the usurping Duke Frederick who stole Duke Senior's kingdom. Jaques made all these long comments while standing by and watching the deer suffer and cry. He resented other deer passers-by for trotting on past their fallen comrade. Jaques compared the deer's deliberate ignorance of their fellow deer's suffering to the mean manner of the court. That's it for the tale. The Duke, hearing of Jaques's suffering, says he'd like to go and see the guy, because it's fun to talk with him when he's in this profound melancholy state .

In the Forest of Arden, Duke Senior expresses satisfaction with the pastoral life. He tells his entourage that he Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,Sermons in stones, and good in every thing. As they prepare for the hunt, he confesses that he is troubled that they must kill the deer "in their own confines," but his mood changes when he hears the First Lord's account of the lamentations of the melancholy Jaques, who lies near a brook, reflecting philosophically on the sad fate of a wounded deer. Amused by Jaques' excessive sentimentality, the duke asks to be brought to the spot, for he enjoys arguing playfully with Jaques.

In this scene, Duke Senior enlarges on an idea expressed by Celia at the end of Act I. He raises the question of the pastoral life being superior to that of the city. This thought colors the mood of the scenes set in the Forest of Arden and for the remainder of the play: "Are not these woods! More free from peril than the envious court?" This sentiment will be echoed time and again in various ways. The duke's speech is a satire on a commonplace view held at that time by many city dwellers. "Sweet are the uses of adversity," the duke says; this is an exaggerated view of the pastoral life, where he must live in exile, but later in this scene, Jaques, a critic of the world at large, extends this already exaggerated view and contends sarcastically that the pastoral life also endorses the notion that it is necessary To frighten the animals and to kill them upIn their assign'd and native dwelling place.  It is evident that Jaques' view of the pastoral life is not at all practical. However, the view is typical of Jaques in that it is a shallow generalization of the situation in which he finds himself. It is also important to note that Duke Senior, while enjoying Jaques' company, is not overly impressed with Jaques' philosophy: "I love to cope  him in these sullen fits, / For then he's full of matter." This is the first clue that Jaques is not to be taken too seriously. Jaques always thinks that his thoughts are profound, but they are rather ordinary and are always generalized. Shakespeare is satirizing both views here: Duke Senior's -- that everything in nature is good -- and Jaques' -- that nature is good only when man is not around to evoke change. Both views were popular at the time.


SCENE II.

The DUKE'S palace

Enter DUKE FREDERICK, with LORDS

  FREDERICK. Can it be possible that no man saw them?
    It cannot be; some villains of my court
    Are of consent and sufferance in this.

  FIRST LORD. I cannot hear of any that did see her.
    The ladies, her attendants of her chamber,
    Saw her abed, and in the morning early
    They found the bed untreasur'd of their mistress.

  SECOND LORD. My lord, the roynish clown, at whom so oft
    Your Grace was wont to laugh, is also missing.
    Hisperia, the Princess' gentlewoman,
    Confesses that she secretly o'erheard
    Your daughter and her cousin much commend
    The parts and graces of the wrestler
    That did but lately foil the sinewy Charles;
    And she believes, wherever they are gone,
    That youth is surely in their company.

  FREDERICK. Send to his brother; fetch that gallant hither.
    If he be absent, bring his brother to me;
    I'll make him find him. Do this suddenly;
    And let not search and inquisition quail
    To bring again these foolish runaways.                Exeunt

Duke Frederick has just learned that his daughter and Rosalind escaped during the night. He is furious about their running away. One of the lords informs him that they women were last overheard commenting on how wonderful Orlando is. Duke Frederick orders them to go to Oliver's house and seize Orlando, and if Orlando is absent then to arrest Oliver

Back at the court, Duke Frederick is flipping out because no one is confessing about seeing Rosalind and Celia run away together. Frederick concludes that some court members were in on the girls' escape, and is informed that Touchstone the fool is also missing. One of Celia's maids speculates that Orlando probably went off with the girls as well, since they were so impressed with his wrestling skills. Duke Frederick demands that Orlando be brought to him and, if Orlando is nowhere to be found, then his brother Oliver should be brought in to find the young man.

In this scene, Frederick discovers that Celia and Rosalind are gone and that Touchstone is also missing. A lord tells him that the cousins were overheard praising Orlando; he suggests that they may be in his company. Frederick then commands that Orlando or -- in the event of Orlando's absence -- that Oliver be brought to him.

This scene serves two purposes. First, it offers a way for Oliver to be sent to the Forest of Arden, where he will meet with the other exiled characters. Now, only Orlando and Adam remain behind, yet very shortly, both of them will leave for the Forest of Arden. We realize, therefore, that soon all of the main characters will arrive there, and the main action of the play will begin. Second, this scene stands in juxtaposition to the preceding scene. Whereas the preceding scene was one of pensive tranquility, Scene 2 is harsh; it is filled with tension and vengefulness. The counterbalancing of scenes, one contrasting with the other, is a dramatic device much used by Shakespeare. In this particular play, the grouping of scenes without a hint of serious movement has led some critics to compare these elements to those found in the masque, an elaborate, lighthearted, and extravagantly costumed entertainment that was much in vogue in the sixteenth century.


SCENE III.

Before OLIVER'S house

Enter ORLANDO and ADAM, meeting

  ORLANDO. Who's there?

  ADAM. What, my young master? O my gentle master!
    O my sweet master! O you memory
    Of old Sir Rowland! Why, what make you here?
    Why are you virtuous? Why do people love you?
    And wherefore are you gentle, strong, and valiant?
    Why would you be so fond to overcome
    The bonny prizer of the humorous Duke?
    Your praise is come too swiftly home before you.
    Know you not, master, to some kind of men
    Their graces serve them but as enemies?
    No more do yours. Your virtues, gentle master,
    Are sanctified and holy traitors to you.
    O, what a world is this, when what is comely
    Envenoms him that bears it!

  ORLANDO. Why, what's the matter?

  ADAM. O unhappy youth!
    Come not within these doors; within this roof
    The enemy of all your graces lives.
    Your brother- no, no brother; yet the son-
    Yet not the son; I will not call him son
    Of him I was about to call his father-
    Hath heard your praises; and this night he means
    To burn the lodging where you use to lie,
    And you within it. If he fail of that,
    He will have other means to cut you off;
    I overheard him and his practices.
    This is no place; this house is but a butchery;
    Abhor it, fear it, do not enter it.

  ORLANDO. Why, whither, Adam, wouldst thou have me go?

  ADAM. No matter whither, so you come not here.

  ORLANDO. What, wouldst thou have me go and beg my food,
    Or with a base and boist'rous sword enforce
    A thievish living on the common road?
    This I must do, or know not what to do;
    Yet this I will not do, do how I can.
    I rather will subject me to the malice
    Of a diverted blood and bloody brother.

  ADAM. But do not so. I have five hundred crowns,
    The thrifty hire I sav'd under your father,
    Which I did store to be my foster-nurse,
    When service should in my old limbs lie lame,
    And unregarded age in corners thrown.
    Take that, and He that doth the ravens feed,
    Yea, providently caters for the sparrow,
    Be comfort to my age! Here is the gold;
    All this I give you. Let me be your servant;
    Though I look old, yet I am strong and lusty;
    For in my youth I never did apply
    Hot and rebellious liquors in my blood,
    Nor did not with unbashful forehead woo
    The means of weakness and debility;
    Therefore my age is as a lusty winter,
    Frosty, but kindly. Let me go with you;
    I'll do the service of a younger man
    In all your business and necessities.

  ORLANDO. O good old man, how well in thee appears
    The constant service of the antique world,
    When service sweat for duty, not for meed!
    Thou art not for the fashion of these times,
    Where none will sweat but for promotion,
    And having that do choke their service up
    Even with the having; it is not so with thee.
    But, poor old man, thou prun'st a rotten tree
    That cannot so much as a blossom yield
    In lieu of all thy pains and husbandry.
    But come thy ways, we'll go along together,
    And ere we have thy youthful wages spent
    We'll light upon some settled low content.

  ADAM. Master, go on; and I will follow the
    To the last gasp, with truth and loyalty.
    From seventeen years till now almost four-score
    Here lived I, but now live here no more.
    At seventeen years many their fortunes seek,
    But at fourscore it is too late a week;
    Yet fortune cannot recompense me better
    Than to die well and not my master's debtor.          Exeunt

Orlando arrives back at Oliver's house and finds Adam there. Adam warns him that Oliver is plotting to kill him by burning down Orlando's lodgings with Orlando inside during the night. Orlando asks the servant how he is expected to survive if he is thrown out of his house. Adam tells him that he has saved up five hundred crowns during his lifetime that he will give to Orlando provided Orlando takes him along. Orlando agrees to take Adam along with him

Orlando is on his way back to Oliver's house when he meets Adam, their old, family servant. Adam says Oliver has heard about Orlando's victory and is concerned about the effect that it's going to have on the ever-growing Orlando Fan Club. Oliver plans to burn down Orlando's house, which wouldn't be so bad if he didn't plan on Orlando being in it at the time. Orlando doesn't know where to go. Even if he ran away, he'd have to do something drastic--like become a highway robber-- to support himself, which isn't appealing to him. Adam, kind and elderly, has some money he's been stashing away for retirement and he offers his life savings to Orlando, suggesting that they could live on it a while if they ran away together. Orlando tells us that Adam is an old-school servant, serving for duty and not money, which is a compliment. Orlando decides the two will leave together and settle for a simple life. Adam says he's lived at Sir Rowland's house from age seventeen to now, when he's almost 80. Adam will be glad to leave and die well, without being indebted to any master.

Arriving home, Orlando meets Adam, who tells him that news of his triumph in the wrestling match has spread and that Oliver is plotting to burn down Orlando's sleeping quarters that very night. Failing that, Adam says, Oliver will try to murder Orlando by some other means. He warns Orlando to leave immediately. When Orlando protests that he has no way to make a living, the old servant presses upon him his life's savings of five hundred crowns and begs him to leave, and he also begs Orlando to take him along in the young man's service. Orlando praises Adam for his devotion, then they both hurry off.

As villains in a comedy, Oliver and Duke Frederick rank only a degree below Shakespeare's best. They never reach the level of an Iago, however, simply because they are never quite successful. Their villainy is only in thought, never in deed. Duke Frederick may have usurped his brother's lands, but he cannot get rid of his brother's influence, as evidenced in Rosalind's relationship with Celia and vice versa, when Rosalind is forced to flee from the ducal court. It is interesting to note that old Adam, pictured here as goodness personified, serves as a counter-balance to the villainy of Oliver and Frederick. Falling in the middle of these extremes are the more realistic characters of Orlando, Rosalind, and Celia. Orlando's discussion of the "antique world" and his looking forward to a better day echo the tranquil mood of the Forest of Arden, established by Duke Senior in Act II, Scene 1. At this point in the play, all of the major characters who are representative of courtly life are either in the Forest of Arden or on their way there. It is now time to meet their counterparts from the country.


SCENE IV.

The Forest of Arden

Enter ROSALIND for GANYMEDE, CELIA for ALIENA, and CLOWN alias TOUCHSTONE

  ROSALIND. O Jupiter, how weary are my spirits!

  TOUCHSTONE. I Care not for my spirits, if my legs were not weary.

  ROSALIND. I could find in my heart to disgrace my man's apparel,
    and to cry like a woman; but I must comfort the weaker vessel, as
    doublet and hose ought to show itself courageous to petticoat;
    therefore, courage, good Aliena.

  CELIA. I pray you bear with me; I cannot go no further.

  TOUCHSTONE. For my part, I had rather bear with you than bear you;
    yet I should bear no cross if I did bear you; for I think you
    have no money in your purse.

  ROSALIND. Well,. this is the Forest of Arden.

  TOUCHSTONE. Ay, now am I in Arden; the more fool I; when I was at
    home I was in a better place; but travellers must be content.

                        Enter CORIN and SILVIUS

  ROSALIND. Ay, be so, good Touchstone. Look you, who comes here, a
    young man and an old in solemn talk.

  CORIN. That is the way to make her scorn you still.

  SILVIUS. O Corin, that thou knew'st how I do love her!

  CORIN. I partly guess; for I have lov'd ere now.

  SILVIUS. No, Corin, being old, thou canst not guess,
    Though in thy youth thou wast as true a lover
    As ever sigh'd upon a midnight pillow.
    But if thy love were ever like to mine,
    As sure I think did never man love so,
    How many actions most ridiculous
    Hast thou been drawn to by thy fantasy?

  CORIN. Into a thousand that I have forgotten.

  SILVIUS. O, thou didst then never love so heartily!
    If thou rememb'rest not the slightest folly
    That ever love did make thee run into,
    Thou hast not lov'd;
    Or if thou hast not sat as I do now,
    Wearing thy hearer in thy mistress' praise,
    Thou hast not lov'd;
    Or if thou hast not broke from company
    Abruptly, as my passion now makes me,
    Thou hast not lov'd.
    O Phebe, Phebe, Phebe!                          Exit Silvius

  ROSALIND. Alas, poor shepherd! searching of thy wound,
    I have by hard adventure found mine own.

  TOUCHSTONE. And I mine. I remember, when I was in love, I broke my
    sword upon a stone, and bid him take that for coming a-night to
    Jane Smile; and I remember the kissing of her batler, and the
    cow's dugs that her pretty chopt hands had milk'd; and I remember
    the wooing of peascod instead of her; from whom I took two cods,
    and giving her them again, said with weeping tears 'Wear these
    for my sake.' We that are true lovers run into strange capers;
    but as all is mortal in nature, so is all nature in love mortal
    in folly.

  ROSALIND. Thou speak'st wiser than thou art ware of.

  TOUCHSTONE. Nay, I shall ne'er be ware of mine own wit till I break
    my shins against it.

  ROSALIND. Jove, Jove! this shepherd's passion
    Is much upon my fashion.

  TOUCHSTONE. And mine; but it grows something stale with me.

  CELIA. I pray you, one of you question yond man
    If he for gold will give us any food;
    I faint almost to death.

  TOUCHSTONE. Holla, you clown!

  ROSALIND. Peace, fool; he's not thy Ensman.

  CORIN. Who calls?

  TOUCHSTONE. Your betters, sir.

  CORIN. Else are they very wretched.

  ROSALIND. Peace, I say. Good even to you, friend.

  CORIN. And to you, gentle sir, and to you all.

  ROSALIND. I prithee, shepherd, if that love or gold
    Can in this desert place buy entertainment,
    Bring us where we may rest ourselves and feed.
    Here's a young maid with travel much oppress'd,
    And faints for succour.

  CORIN. Fair sir, I pity her,
    And wish, for her sake more than for mine own,
    My fortunes were more able to relieve her;
    But I am shepherd to another man,
    And do not shear the fleeces that I graze.
    My master is of churlish disposition,
    And little recks to find the way to heaven
    By doing deeds of hospitality.
    Besides, his cote, his flocks, and bounds of feed,
    Are now on sale; and at our sheepcote now,
    By reason of his absence, there is nothing
    That you will feed on; but what is, come see,
    And in my voice most welcome shall you be.

  ROSALIND. What is he that shall buy his flock and pasture?

  CORIN. That young swain that you saw here but erewhile,
    That little cares for buying any thing.

  ROSALIND. I pray thee, if it stand with honesty,
    Buy thou the cottage, pasture, and the flock,
    And thou shalt have to pay for it of us.

  CELIA. And we will mend thy wages. I like this place,
    And willingly could waste my time in it.

  CORIN. Assuredly the thing is to be sold.
    Go with me; if you like upon report
    The soil, the profit, and this kind of life,
    I will your very faithful feeder be,
    And buy it with your gold right suddenly.             Exeunt

Rosalind and Celia, using the names Ganymede and Aliena, respectively, arrive at the Forest of Ardenne accompanied by Touchstone. Rosalind is dressed as a man and Celia as a shepherdess. They are all tired and complain that they cannot walk any further. Two shepherds, Corin and Silvius, arrive and discuss the fact that Silvius is in love with Phoebe. Rosalind, Celia and Touchstone remain unseen in the background. Corin, an old man, is trying to give Silvius advice but the younger man is claiming that Corin is too old to understand the way he feels. Silvius leaves and Rosalind remarks that she can identify with the way Silvius feels. Touchstone then tells them of some of the foolish things he did when he was previously in love. Rosalind orders Touchstone to approach Corin and ask if he will give them food for some gold. Touchstone calls him a clown, making Rosalind say, "Peace, fool, he's not thy kinsman". She then goes up to Corin and asks if there is any place where they can get food. Corin informs her that he works for another man and therefore is not allowed to provide hospitality. However, he mentions that the place is for sale and that Silvius was there to consider purchasing the land and flocks. Rosalind immediately offers to buy the land and hire Corin to take care of it with a raise in pay. Corin happily agrees to help them purchase the land

Rosalind , Celia , and Touchstone have been wandering around in the Forest of Arden and they're all exhausted. Rosalind makes a joke about not wanting to "cry like a woman." Since she's wearing man-pants, she'll try to be courageous. Two shepherds, Corin and Silvius wander in, deep in conversation. The ladies and Touchstone decide to eavesdrop. Corin, an old man, is counseling the young man, Silvius, on love. Silvius is madly infatuated with a woman named Phoebe and, like many people madly in love, Silvius has 1) no sense and 2) no chance of hooking up with his beloved. He's also very melodramatic. Silvius is more lovesick than our good friend Romeo Montague . Eventually, he wanders off. Touchstone declares that he, too, was once madly in love. Her name was Jane Smile, a milkmaid with chapped hands . Touchstone declares that love makes people foolish but being foolish and in love is also what makes us a human. Celia breaks up the chatter by pointing out that, while all of this is very nice, she is kind of on the verge of starving to death. Thanks goodness old Corin is such a nice guy. Even though he's poor and his master is a cheapskate, he'll try to help Touchstone, "Aliena," and "Ganymede" as best as he can. Corin says his master is selling the property where Corin tends his flock. Silvius is supposed to buy the property, but is too distracted by Phoebe to make the purchase. Given this, Rosalind/Ganymede says she'll buy cottage, pasture, flock, and all. Celia/Aliena, ever-thoughtful, says they will increase Corin's pay, and they'll all live happily together.

After we left Orlando and Adam hurrying toward the Forest of Arden in the last scene, we now meet a trio of weary travelers -- Rosalind, dressed as a young man, and Celia, and Touchstone; they have finally reached the forest. As they pause to rest, a young shepherd, Silvius, enters, solemnly describing his unrequited love for Phebe to his friend Corin. So distraught by love is Silvius that he suddenly breaks off his conversation and runs away, crying "O Phebe, Phebe, Phebe!" Touchstone now hails Corin in a preposterously superior manner, but Rosalind intervenes and courteously requests food and shelter. Corin explains that he is not his own master: he merely serves another. His landlord, he explains, plans to sell his cottage, his flocks, and his pasturage to Silvius, who is so preoccupied with Phebe that he "little cares for buying any thing." Rosalind quickly commissions Corin to make the purchase on behalf of Celia and herself, and they ask Corin to stay on, at a better wage, as their own shepherd.

The opening exposition in this scene establishes the setting for the audience. Touchstone's remark, "When I was at home, I was in a better place," focuses immediately on the theme of town life versus country life. It also reflects Touchstone's realistic outlook, a viewpoint of his which is used throughout the play as a contrast to the romantic notions of the other characters. For example, note his speech in this scene where he remembers a romance of his own . Most likely, it never happened at all, but it is humorously amusing. His kissing a club, his thinking of a cow's teats when he took his beloved's hands, and his wooing a "peacod" -- all of these are too preposterous for us to fully believe, yet his boastful speech is a perfect contrast to the pastoral notions of Silvius, while at the same time it is a clever parody on the romantic notions of Rosalind. Additionally, in giving two cods  to his mistress , Touchstone parodies Rosalind's giving a necklace to Orlando, and, at the same time, he satirizes Silvius' concept of pastoral love. And of historical note here, it is of interest that lovers in those days would often risk tearing a peacod from the vine without accidentally tearing it open. If successful, they would give it to their beloved as a sign of faithful devotion. Touchstone, in using the peacod to represent his love, foreshadows Orlando's use of Ganymede in place of Rosalind as a representative of his love. Finally, perhaps we should mention Rosalind's purchase of a sheepstead; this bit of business brings a bit of realism to an otherwise unrealistic play. We are surprised at the quick financial transaction. It is broad comedy, whether or not Shakespeare meant it to be, and it is always a source of laughter.