As You Like It: Short Questions and Answers (S.Q.A)

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Q.1. What is the source of As You Like It?

      Ans. The source of Shakespeare’s As You Like It is a little pastoral novel by Thomas Lodge, Rosalynde, or Enphues’ Golden Legacy.

Q.2. What are the characteristic romantic comedies of Shakespeare?

      Ans. The characteristic romantic comedies are A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It and Twelfth Night.

Q.3. What are the probable sources for pastoralism in As You Like It?

      Ans. The probable sources for pastoralism in As You Like It are (i) Sanazzaro’s Arcadia (1504) (ii) Montemayor’s Diana (1552) and (iii) Sidney’s The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia (1590)

Q.4. What is the probable date of publication of As You Like It?

      Ans. The probable date of publication of As You Like It is either the late 1599 or the early 1660.

Q.5. Who are ancient writers in whose writings we find the element of pastoralism, and who serve as the models for the later pastoral writers?

      Ans. Theocritus and Virgil are the ancient Greek writers in whose writings we find the pastoral element and who serve as the models for the later writers.

Q.6. What are the elements which constitute the Forest of Arden?

      Ans. The forest of Arden is a blend of two elements: (1) Shakespeare’s memories of the Warwickshire scenery roundabout his native home - his own forest of Arden and (2) the delightful scenery of Montemayor’s Diana.

Q.7. Why are Shakespeare’s comedies called romantic comedies?

      Ans. Shakespeare’s comedies are called romantic comedies in contrast to Ben Johnson’s classical comedies.

Q.8. Who are the writers after Shakespeare in whose works we find pastoral elements?

Ans. The writers after Shakespeare in whom we find pastoral elements are Rousseau, Wordsworth and Morris.

Q.9. Who speaks the following line in the play: ‘Sweet are the uses of adversity’?

      Ans. This line is spoken by the Duke Senior.

Q.10. How many Jaqueses are these in the play?

      Ans. There are two Jaqueses in the play.

Q.11. Who are the two Jaques?

      Ans. The one Jaques, the melancholy philosopher is a lord attending on the banished duke, the other Jaques is the second son of Sir Rowland de Roys.

Q.12. Who speaks the ‘All the world’s a stage’ passage?

      Ans. The melancholy philosopher Jaques speaks this passage.

Q.13. What is the feeling behind this passage?

      Ans. the main feeling behind this passage is that of cynicesing.

Q.14. What is the theme of Touchstone’s discussion with Corin?

      Ans. The theme of Touchstone’s discussion with Corin is the comparative merits of the court life and the shepherd’s life.

Q.15. What is the essence of what touchstone discussed with Corin?

      Ans. The essence of what Touchstone discusses with Corin is that there is nothing to be said in defense of either state, the state of court life or the state of shepherd life.

Q.16. Who die “ducdame” song?

      Ans. Jaques sings the ‘ducdame’ song.

Q.17. What is the meaning of “duedame’ song?

      Ans. It is the corruption of a Roman word meaning ‘I foretell, or I can tell fortunes. Here in the context it is a Greek invocation to call fools into a ring.

Q.18. How does Touchstone describe Audrey, in his realistic love for her?

      Ans. In his realistic love approach towards Audrey, Touchstone describes her as “A poor virgin, sir, an ill-favored thing, sire, but mine our a poor humor of mine, sir, to take that no man else will.”

Q.19. What are the different types of love in the play? Enumerate them.

      Ans. There are four different kinds of love in the play. They are:

Love between Orlando and Rosalind.
Love between Oliver and Celia.
Love between Silvius and Phebe, and
Love between Touchstone and Audrey.

Q.20. Why does Orlando want to beat his elder brother, Oliver.

      Ans. Orlando wants to beat his elder brother because the latter has almost disinherited him, ill-treated him, and called him rudely ‘boy’.

Q.21. What is the evidence that Orlando is about to beat his elder brother?

      Ans. The evidence for Orlando about to beat his elder brother is found in the following dialogues:

      Oliver speaks, “Wilt thou lay hands on me villain?” (1,1,56) and Orlando speaks,” I would not take this hand from thy throat till this other hand pulled out thy tongue for saying so.”(1,1,63-5).

Q.22. How does Oliver reward his old servant, Adam, for his services?

      Ans. Oliver rewards his old servant, Adam by calling him an old dog. Adam asks him, “Is old dog’’ my reward?.

Q.23. Who tells Oliver that the senior duke has been banished by Frederick, the junior duke?

      Ans. Charles, the court wrestler, informs Oliver that Frederick, the junior duke has banished the senior duke.

Q.24. How much does Celia the daughter of Frederick love Rosalind, the daughter of Duke senior.

      Ans. Celia loves Rosalind so much that she should have merely accompanied her (if the latter i.e. Rosalind was banished) or should have died if left alone.

Q.25. Where is Duke senior gone in exile?

      Ans. Duke senior has gone to the Forest of Arden in exile.

Q.26. How do Duke senior and his fellows pass their lives in the Forest of Arden?

      Ans. They pass their time leisurely and carelessly as they did in the golden age.

Q.27. Where does the action of the play take place?

      Ans. The action of the play takes place in France.

Q.28. Give one example of Touchstone’s witty remark.

      Ans. One of the examples of Touchstone’s witty remarks is: “The more pity that fools may not speak wisely what wise men do foolishly.’’

Q.29. How many sons Sir Rowland de Boys have?

      Ans. Rowland de Boys has three sons, Oliver, Jaques, and Orlando.

Q.30. What words of Rosalind show that she has fallen deeply in love with Orlando?

      Ans. The following words of Rosalind show that she has fallen deeply in love with Orlando:

“He calls us back: my pride fell with my fortune:
I’ll ask him what he would-Did you call, Sir?
Sir, you have wrestled well, and overthrown More than your enemies.”

Q.31. How did Frederick threaten Rosalind when the former banished the latter?

      Ans. When Frederick banished Rosalind, he threatened her to kill her if she was found within twenty miles within ten days.

Q.32. Why had Frederick not banished Rosalind along with her father?

      Ans. Duke Frederick had not banished Rosalind earlier along with her father because he had kept her as a companion for his daughter, Celia. He says: Ay Celia; we stay’d her for your sake, Else had she with her father ranged along.

Q.33. Who spealis the following line “Beauty provoketh thieves sooner than gold”?

      Ans. Rosalind speaks this line.

Q.34. What do they do protect themselves from this danger?

      Ans. Celia proposes to wear poor dress and to besmear dark color on her face, and asks Rosalind to do the like to protect her.

Q.35. What does Rosalind suggest?

      Ans. Rosalind suggests that, as she is taller than an ordinary woman, it will be better that she should diagnose herself as a man and Celia should remain a woman, though she may besmear her face with dark color.

Q.36. What are the assumed names of Rosalind and Celia?

      Ans. Rosalind assumes the name of Ganymede and Celia assumes the name of Aliena.

Q. 37. Why did Orlando put up a defiant attitude, coming with a drawn sward, at the banquet in the Forest of Arden?

      Ans. Orlando regarded the persons gathered at the banquet as rude, and therefore he put up a defiant attitude and came there with his sword drawn.

Q.38. What madness does Orlando commit to express his love for his Rosalind, in the Forest of Arden?

      Ans. Orlando writes love poems for his beloved Rosalind, and hangs them on the trees. These poems serve as witnesses of his love.

Q.39. What simile does Touchstone use for Corin after he has confused him with the relative merits of the court life and the shepherd life?

      Ans. After Touchstone confuses Corin with the relative merits of the court life and the Shepherd’s life, he uses this simile for him: “thou art damned; like an ill-roasted egg, all on one side”.

Q.40. How does Rosalind show impatience for knowing the name of the man who writes love poems on her?

      Ans. Rosalind requests Celia to tell her the name of the man who writes love poems on her beauty. She tells her that she does not wear doublet and hose in her heart, and if she does not tell her the name, she will overwhelm her with a shower of questions.

Q.41. What will you call Jaques (come of the lords attending on Duke Senior) a sane person or a cynic?

      Ans, We shall better call Jaques a cynic.

Q.42. Why is lie a cynic?

      Ans. He is cynic because he condemns everyone and everything.

Q.43. Can you offer any example of his cynicism?

      Ans. He tells Orlando that he does not like the name of Rosalind, and adds, “Will you sit down with me? and we two will rail against our mistress, the world and all our misery.”

Q.44. Will you call Orlando a sane man, even though he is a mad lover and hangs his love poems on the trees?

      Ans. Yes, he is sane inspite of being a mad lover.

Q.45. Will you tell how he is a sane person?

      Ans. His following words to Jaques evidence his sanity: “I will chide no breather in the world but myself against whom I know most faults”.

Q.46. How does Jaques address Orlando?

      Ans. Jaques addresses Orlando as Signior love (III, II,294)

Q.47. How does Orlando address Jaques?

      Ans. Orlando addresses Jaques as Monseior Melancholy.

Q.48. How does Rosalind condemn a priest?

      Ans. Rosalind says that time ambles with a priest who is ignorant of latin. He sleeps soundly because he does not study, and grows fat.

Q.49. How does denounce a rich man?

      Ans. A rich man lives merrily because he feels no pain and does not know the suffering of poverty.

Q.50. What are the signs of a hopeless lover, as Rosalind describes to Orlando?

      Ans. The signs of a hopeless lover as Rosalind describes (and does not find in Orlando) are, a lean cheek, dark, sunken eyes, an untrimmed beard, the ungartered hose, the unbanded hat, the unbuttoned sleeve, and untidiness about every tiling.

Q.51. Why lovers, though, according to Rosalind, deserve punishment, are not punished?

      Ans. Rosalind tells that love is only madness and lover deserve to be imprisoned and whipped, and the reason why they are not punished is that this madness is so common that even whippers are in love.

Q.52. Which aside of Touchstone evidences that he plans to divorce Audrey even before he lias married her?

      Ans. The following aside of Touchstone evidences that he plans to divorce her even before he has married her: “I am not in the mind but I were better to be married of him than of another: for he is not like to marry me well; and not being well married it will be a good excuse for me hereafter to leave my wife”.

Q.53. Which words of Rosalind show that she loves Orlando more than her father, the Duke senior?

      Ans. The following words of Rosalind show that she loves her lover Orlando more than her father: “But why talk we of fathers when there is such a man as Orlando?”

Q.54. What does Rosalind say to Corin when lie asks her to witness a scene between the true pale lover and the scornful, proud lady?

      Ans. When Corin asks Rosalind to witness a scene between the pale lover and the scornful, proud lady, Rosalind say: The sight of lovers feedeth those in love”

Q. 55. Who speaks the following line: “Dead shepherd! now I find thy saw of might; ‘Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?’

      Ans. Phebe, chided and jilted by Rosalind, speaks these lines.

Q.56. How will you describe the love of Silvius to Phebe?

      Ans. The love of Silvius for Phebe is holy and perfect.

Q.57. What kind of Phebe’s love will content Silvius?

     Ans. Silvius will be content if Phebe sometimes scatters a smile to him.

Q.58. What are the various kinds of melancholy Jaques enumerates?

      Ans. The different kinds of melancholy Jaques enumerate are: the scholars melancholy which is full of caprice, the courtier’s melancholy which is proud, the soldier’s melancholy which is ambitious, the lawyer’s melancholy which is expedient, the lady’s melancholy which is nice and the lover’s melancholy which is the mixture of all these ingredients.

Q.59. What is the nature of Jaques’s melancholy?

      Ans. The melancholy of Jaques is a mixture of many ingredients which are the result of contemplation and experiences born of his travels.

Q.60. Who speaks the following Sines:
“Come, woo me, woo me, for now I am in a holiday humor, and like enough to consent”?

      Ans. Rosalind speaks these lines to Orlando.

Q.61. When should, according to Rosalind, a lover kiss his beloved?

      Ans. A lover, according to Rosalind should kiss his beloved, when he is exhausted of love matter.

Q.62. What comparison does she offer in this regard?

      Ans. She says that lovers should resort to kiss when they are exhausted of their matter, like the orator, who resorts to spitting when he is exhausted of his words and fumbles.

Q.63. Who speaks the following lines: “men are April when they woo, December when they wed: maids are May when they are maids, but the sky changes when they are wives?”

      Ans. These lines are spoken by Rosalind to Orlando.

Q.64. How does Rosalind describe her love to Celia after Orlando has gone to dinner at the Duke’s banquet?

      Ans. Rosalind says to Celia that she is many fathom deep in love. Her love cannot be sounded for it has an unknown bottom like the bay of Portugal:

Q.65. Who saved Oliver from the lioness in the Forest of Arden?

      Ans. Orlando saved his cruel brother from the lioness in the forest.

Q. 66. Why did Orlando save the brother who had wronged him?

      Ans. Kindness, which is stronger than revenge, mastered Orlando, and therefore he saved the brother who had wronged him.

Q.67. Whom does Phebe marry at last?

      Ans. Phebe marries Silvius.

Q.68. What does she say to Silvius when she learns that Ganymede is a woman?

      Ans. Phebe tells Silvius that he will keep her promise, and that his constancy has won her.

Q.69. Who informs about the conversion of Duke Frederick to Duke Senior and his men?

      Ans. Jaques de Boys informs Duke Senior and his men about Duke Frederick’s conversion.

Q.70. How is Duke Frederick converted?

      Ans. Duke Frederick along with his army reaches the outskirt of the Forest of Arden to attack Duke Senior and kill him. There he meets a hermit, and after a conversation with him he is converted.

Q.71. What does Duke Frederick intend to do?

      Ans. Duke Frederick intends to restore the kingdom to his banished brother.

Q.72. Where will Duke Frederick live after conversion?

      Ans. After conversion Duke Frederick proposes to live like a hermit in the Forest of Arden.

Q.73. What does Jaques propose to do?

      Ans. Jaques proposes to live with the converts in the forest of Arden.

Q.74. Why does Jaques want to live with the converts in the Forest of Arden?

      Ans. Jaques, always hungry for experiences wants to live in the Forest of Arden with the converts from whom there is much to be heard and learned.

Q.75. Why does Jaques not attend the marriage ceremony?

      Ans. Jaques does not attend the marriage ceremony because lie is melancholy and therefore he is not fit for festivity. He tells the Duke Senior: “So, to your pleasures; I am for other than for dancing measures.”

Q. 76. Is the conversion of Duke Frederick convencing? 

      Ans. No, the conversion of Duke Senior is not convincing. It comes suddenly like an April rain. It comes unprepared. There is no cause-effect logic about it. It is not the natural outcome of what has preceded. Duke Frederick is a confirmed villain and his conversion is not in conformity to his character. Only a miracle can convert him, and miracle has converted him. His conversion is neither psychologically nor dramatically convincing.

Q.77. How many songs are there in the play?

      Ans. There are six songs in the play.

Q.78. Enumerate the songs in the play?

      Ans. The six songs in the play are:

Under the greenwood tree,
Who loves to lie with me. (sung by Amiens)

If it do come to pass
That any man turn ass,
Leaving his wealth and ease
A stubborn will to please,
Ducdame, ducdame, ducdame (sung by Jaques)

What shall we have that killed the deer?
His leather skin and horns to wear (Sung by Forester)

It was a lover and his lass
with a hey, and a hs, and a key nonino (Sung by Jaques)

Wedding is great Juno’s crown;
O blessed bond of board and bed! (Sung by Hymen)

Blow, blow, thou winter wind,
Thou art not so unkind
As man’s ingratitude

Q.79. What is a pastoral play? How far is As You Like It a pastoral play? Is Shakespeare indebted to any writer in the respect of pastoralism?

      Ans. A play, which deals with the simple life of the shepherds and shepherdesses is called a pastoral play. The salient features of a pastoral play are (a) an idyllic heaven-like place, far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife (b) the rustic, simple life of the shepherds and shepherdesses (c) melodious songs accompanied to the playing of the musical instruments, especially a flute and (d) love-affairs.

      The first instances of pastoralism are found in Theocritus and Virgil. Then we have Sanazzaro’s Arcadia (1504) and Montemay ar’s Diana (1552). In England Sidney’s Arcadia were well known to Shakespeare. Shakespeare, inspired by the latter two, fed on them, he took the story of As You Like It from a pastoral novel by Thomas Lodge, Rosalynde, or Euphue’s Golden Legacy (1590). Though he has given us many pastoral scenes in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Marchant of Venice and The Tempest, his best illustration of pastoralism is As You Like It.

      As You Like It is a pastoral play. It possesses almost all the features of pastoralism. (a) There is, for its idyllic background, a magic place like the Forest of Arden, a golden world where the persons fleet their time carelessly, (b) There are in the play shepherds like Corin and Silvius and a shepherdess like Phebe. There is also a country fellow like William and a country wench like Audrey. Even a melancholy cynic like Jaques sings the Ducdame song. Here music is the food of love (d) Love reigns supreme. Love is in the play like madness, and lovers should be whipped for their madness. But the reason why they are not whipped is that the whippers are in love too. There are in the play as many as four pairs of lovers (i) Orlando and Rosalind (ii) Oliver and Celia (iii) Silvius and Phebe and (iv) Touchstone and Andrey. Love is so contagious that even the fool, Touchstone falls in love, and woos Audrey.

      But, though the play is the very distillation of pastoral romance, the vein of mockery runs throughout the play. Though eternal summer reigns in the land of pastoral romance, Touchstone said, “Ay, now am I in Arden; the more fool I; when I was at home, I was in a better place.” Though he loves Andrey, his realistic love is the criticism of love. He thanks of divorcing Audrey even before he has married her. Then the pastoral like Forest of Arden is not free from the churlish chiding of the winter wind. Persons have to exert for their food. Manna does not here fall down from heaven. The hungry Adan is on the verge of death. Hunger, care and anxiety have entered the realm of romance. And then there is also the melancholy of the cynical Jaques. John Dover Wilson rightly observes in his book, Shakespeare’s Happy Comedies, “As You Like It is Shakespeare’s Arcadia, his escape-play; it is also Shakespeare’s criticism of Arcadia and escape literature.”

Q.80. Write a note on the Forest of Arden.

      Ans. The Forest of Arden serves as the idyllic background for Shakespeare’s pastoral play, As You Like It. The Forest of Arden is a blend of two elements.

      (1) The delightful scenery of Montemayor Diana, which had inspired Shakespeare to write a pastoral play, and on which he had fed profusely and (2) Shakespeare’s memories of the Wararickshire scenery round about his native home really speaking, his own forest of Arden. He has created in the Forest of Arden a golden world in which his rustic and other characters fleet their time carelessly.

      However, this Forest of Arden is not a completely ideal golden world. Touchstone said that when he was at home, he was in a better place. Rosalind, Celia and Touchstone reach this place utterly dead. The Old Adam is so tired that he cannot walk a step further. Oliver is so dog-tired that even the danger of the snake and the lioness cannot wake him. Here eternal summer may reign but there are here churlish chiding of the cold winter wind and all the penalties of Adam like hunger, fear and melancholy.

      But the Forest of Arden is a place which shelters everyone, and, with its magic balm, heals the wounds of all those who come to take shelter. Moreover, it has a magic touch of transforming the persons utterly. It converts the Duke Frederick, a villain, into a hennit, and the villainous Oliver into a penitent pious gentleman.

Q.81. What are the main characteristics of As You Like It?

      Ans. As You Like It is a sunny, romantic comedy of Shakespeare. It is marked by the following characteristics.

      (i) It is the happiest and the loveliest comedy. There are two other sunny romantic comedies of Shakespeare, the one is Much Ado About Nothing, and the other is Twelfth Night. In the former the comedy approaches almost a tragic end and in the latter the episode of Malvolio creates a sour taste in our mouth. As You Like It is free from such sour elements, and therefore it is the happiest and the loveliest comedy.

      (ii) Here cheerfulness peeps through the clouds of gloom and adversity. Sweet are the uses of adversity.

      (iii) It is a comedy of dialogue rather than a comedy of incidents. No doubt there are incidents like the wrestling scene in the court and the banquet scene in the forest. But they are not remarkable. The play is prominent for the dialogues between Celia and Rosalind, Rosalind and Orlando and Touchstone and Rosalind. There we find the crackling of thorns under the pot. The dialogue help in the development of characters.

      (iv) It is a comedy of leisure. No body works, the lovers fleet their time carelessly as they did in the golden age.

      It is a pastoral comedy with idyllic backgrounds like the Forest of Arden, the shepherds and shepherdesses, music and love. The frailties of mankind are exposed playfully, and love, with all its follies and whimsicalities, reigns supreme.

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