The Theme Of Love In Shakespeare's As You Like It

Love, its idealized and romantic facet is often portrayed and propagated through media and literature. However, William Shakespeare, in As You Like It, plays with the idea of love and explores its various aspects. Through the wise 'fool ' and the melancholy thinker, he attacks the very idea of love. Moreover, with an ironic twist, he challenges the common stereotype of idealized love as it was seen in the 16th Century and lastly, he deviates from the common idea of romantic love to toy with the idea of love, or lack thereof, within family bonds and self-love. Shakespeare therefore presents his audience with a unique twist on the idea of love, throwing varying interpretations at them to display its depth and complexity.

The characters of Jacques

We see Celia question the possibility of falling "into so strong a liking" "on such a sudden" when Rosalind falls in love with Orlando after he overthrows Charles. A few minutes wrestling match is all it takes and Celia voices the audience 's thoughts about this. Ironically then, when Celia and Oliver fall in love at first sight too, Rosalind projects its stupidity and ridiculousness through the lines, they "no sooner met but they looked; no sooner looked but they loved.” Through the dramatically ironic lines of Celia and Rosalind respectively, Shakespeare shows us how illogical the phenomena of love at first sight is. Also, the courtly expression of love in the 16th Century required the gentleman to woo his lady through romantic expressions and gestures. Orlando, the elite gentleman does this through poetry. Yet Jacques, Celia, and Touchstone point out the technical faults in his poems and ridicule its content in Act 3, Scene 3. Silvius, a lowly shepherd on the other hand, rises to the occasion to thwart the stereotype that romantic gestures and expressions exist only within the elite class. His lines for and to Phebe glorify her and his love. "So holy and so perfect is my love...that I shall think it the most plenteous crop/ to glean the broken ears after a man/ That the main harvest reaps", explaining how he 'll even let Phebe love another man if she wishes so, if only she

While it is generally assumed that family members are supposed to love each other, he highlights the absence of love within "natural bonds" to stress on its importance. The play opens with two brothers at war, Orlando voices his mistreatment on his brother 's part and later Oliver expresses his jealousy and contempt for Orlando. Another pair of brothers at war follows suit, one usurping the other 's kingdom. On the other hand, he shows us a pair of cousins, who are "dearer than sisters", so much so that they 're willing to sacrifice for each other. Shakespeare shows us how love can be independent of blood relations. Through the character of Jacques, Shakespeare portrays another kind of love that is self-love. His self-assumed superiority reflects in his lines to Duke Senior, where he promises to "cleanse the foul body of th’ infected world, if they will patiently receive my [his] medicine". He holds a high regard for himself and believes he knows better than everyone else, hence on a mission to metaphorically save the world. He loves himself so much so, that he refuses to have any company and wishes to stay back even after everyone decides to return to the court in the end. Shakespeare, therefore, shows how love does not only exist between a man and a woman as usually depicted; it has several faces.

Shakespeare brilliantly incorporates the various aspects of love and what it actually means. He exposes the audience