Shakespeare Character Blog - Term 4

Themes of 'As You Like it'
There are several themes in Shakespeare's play 'As You Like It'. Some of the themes include: Love, Foolishness & Folly, Contrasting Regions, Gender, Family, Transformation, and Philosophical Viewpoints.
The theme of love comes into the play because, Shakespeare demonstrated throughout this play how love can make people do risky things which can lead them into trouble. For example, the character 'Orlando' is pretty in love with 'Rosalind', as he says 'No Jewel is like Rosalind'.
Additionally, the theme of Foolishness & Folly comes into the play because, throughout it makes it clear that humans beings can be quite ridiculous at times. Throughout the play there is some ongoing foolish behavior. For example, one character 'Touchstone' is known as a 'licensed fool', as he is able to also get the fun side out from other characters! Also, my character 'First Page' and the other 'Second Page' begin to sing to Touchstone in the forest, from my gathering the two characters are being quite comical.
Furthermore, the themes of contrasting regions is explored throughout 'As You Like It', because there are such different environments in which several characters live in at one point of the play. The 'French Court' contrasts largely with the 'Arden Forest', because it shows the differences between the city and the countryside, in which the audience can decide for themselves is the city life better than the country life? The 'Arden Forest' is a place of simplicity, freedom and self-discovery for exiles seeking refuge, however, in 'As You Like It', most of the characters end up going back to the 'Court' as the life there is of a much more higher standard.
Gender is also another theme in the play, for example, when 'Rosalind' escaped to the woods, she disguises herself as a young man 'Ganymede'.
Also, the theme of family plays a large role as there is a lot of betrayal between families, which drive the plays action, which reminds us that family cannot always be counted on to be loyal or loving. This is evident in the play as Oliver get the wrestler 'Charles' to try and kill Orlando!
The theme of transformation is also in 'As You Like It' as the character 'Rosalind' literally cross-dresses and transforms herself into a boy ('Ganymede'). Also, unlike physical transformations in the play, there are also psychological or spiritual transformations, as 'Jaques' undergoes some ideological transformation in the 'Arden Forest', he begins to feel the sense of nature ('Poor Deer quoth he'), similarly the characters 'Oliver' and 'Duke Frederick' change their evil ways upon entering the woods.
Lastly, the theme of Philosophical Viewpoints is also included in the play as every character in 'As You Like It' has their own opinion on nature of life, love, etc. However, the play never sums up to a definitive answer, rather Shakespeare left that to the audiences to decide for themselves.