Setting in As You Like It essays

Setting in As You Like It essays Everyone behaves differently in one place than they would in another. A teenager acts differently among their peers at school than they would in a pew at church. A teacher speaks differently to her young students in the classroom than she would at a PTO board meeting to parents. A lawyers formal speech in court is much different than their speech to their adolescent children. In William Shakespeares As You Like It, the actions of the characters are dramatically affected by the places they inhabit. The two main places the play takes place in are Duke Fredericks court and the Forest of Arden. These places directly affect the mood, speech, and formality of the characters. In the court, people are expected to always act respectively and in a civilized matter as it is the epitome of sophistication and a structured society. The Forest, however, is depicted as an easygoing, beautiful, and laidback woodland area filled with beauty and truth. It is there that people can truly be themselves without the restrictions of societal rules. The restrains and properness of the Dukes court and the freedom-filled spirit of the forest establish and affect the mood of the characters throughout the play. Next, the court and the forest also greatly influence the actions of the characters. In the Dukes court, the enmity between Duke Frederick and Duke Senior is ever-present and the hate between Orlando and Oliver looms as the latter even plotted to kill his own brother. Duke Frederick stole the throne from Duke Signior and then banished Rosalind into the forest and lost his daughter. In the forest though, only love, forgiveness, and friendship live as Orlando saved his brother from harm, even after learning of his evil scheme. In the forest, Orlando and Rosalind, Oliver and Celia, Touchstone and Audrey, Phebe and Silvius either fall in love or are wed. Love springs everywhere in the forest where emotion is th...