Imaginary picture of the forest of Arden

 Romance and Realism in As You Like It

Shakespeare's “As you like it’’ is the composition of romance and realism with its realistic and romantic read of life and spirit. Romance and realism are contrasted with each other. Realism means our ordinary world of experience where there is corruption, brutality, misfortunes, frustrations, usurpation, and so on. But in the world of imagination or romance, there is no touch of worldly sorrows, sufferings, frustrations, humiliations, usurpations-love of all kinds only prevails there. Here men come to one’s contact, over each other, lead their life like the inhabitants of a utopian world. But it is very striking that Shakespeare with his skillful handling of theirs two antagonistic shares of life combine each other to enhance the beauty of romance or pastoral life and to detest our real world. The bitterness of reality is criticized through the romantic view and the extremity of romance is criticized through the realistic view. Thus there is reconciliation between the two extremities which makes the play more enjoyable.

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Realism gets the upper hand in the first part of the play where the scenes are exposed in the Duke's Court. It is the life of Court where brothers turn hungry monsters. Orlando is deprived of his inheritance by his own elder brother Oliver talks with Charles and his insinuation makes our blood boil. We are stupefied to know how an elder brother instigates the murder of the younger ones. Duke Seiner is banished by the usurping Duke Fredrick. The people of the Court are mean, jealous, and cowardly; wrestling is their sport. Even the ladies hear the broken music, the music in loud lamentations when the limbs of wrestlers are broken. There are noting but the unmistakable results of realism.

To escape the bitterness of reality, Shakespeare, on the wings of this imagination, transports us to the “Forest of Arden’’, a field of romance. It is a forest that existed only in the imagination of the dramatist and it is to be found anywhere on the map. It is a pure country of the mind, a forest where there are tropical snakes and hungry lionesses. Here dwells mortal friendship between man and man, here men live under the protection of mature, here fanciful lovers idle away their time without any care of life. Orlando, Adam, Rosalind, Celia, Touchstone, Duke Senior and his companions all become the victims of reality and flee to this happy romantic forest. Duke senior says,

And this our life exempt from public haunt,

Find tongues in trees, books in running brooks

Sermons in stones and good in everything,

I would not change it.

Court life and life in Arden are two different worlds and none in the sheer combination of one spirit ei- their realism and romance. Here one intrudes the domain of the other and serves as the criticism of it. Thus in the cruel real world of court life, Shakespeare brings some glimpses of romance. Here Rosalind and Orlando fall in love at the first sight. Here exists an immortal relationship between Celia and Rosalind. They are as if one soul. These are nothing but the parody of the enmity, selfishness, and barbarity of the court. Again the dreamland of the “Forest of Arden’’ is not without the touch o realism. Having transported us t the “Forest of Arden’’, Shakespeare does not altogether forget real life. He says in the person of Touchstone ‘’ Aye now I am in Arden; the more foot I, when I was at home I was in bitter place......’’ All the characters—Touchstone, Celia, Rosalind, Orlando, Adam get tired at their first step to the “Forest of Arden’’, this is perhaps for their past attachment to real life. Corin’s master in churlish and Sir Oliver Martext is hardly sweet-natured. William is a dull fellow, and Audrey and Phebe graceless. It is an uncouth forest and a desert where the air is bleak.

Though in this forest Orlando and Rosalind, Phebe and Silvius, pastoral incarnations of life, wander in the dream-land of life and we see nothing but love, here live romantic land Jaques serves as the symbol of realism. He is not content with this pastoral life in Arden. Here he finds exploitation and cruelty. If I the court Duke Frederick has usurped on Duke Senior, Duke Senior has in his turn usurped upon deer, the native inhabitants of the forest- life preys of life. Thus Shakespeare’s depiction of life in the Forest of Arden is realistic and this realism serves as the criticism of the pastoral.

The romance of “AS you like it’’ largely revolves round the love between Rosalind and Orlando. They fall in love at first sight. Orlando falls a victim to his brother’s evil motive and flees to the “Forest of Arden’’. He roams about in the forest and writes on the leaves of trees love song in praise of Rosalind. On the other hand, Rosalind is banished by Duke Frederick goes to this same forest. There they meet. Rosalind in the guise of Ganymede, a shepherd, teaches Orlando love-making. She pretends to be Rosalind but Orlando cannot recognize that this is his real beloved. Shakespeare creates the wood believable when everything trembles.

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But Shakespeare is not without realism here. He criticizes this fanciful love through the love of Touchstone and Audrey. Touchstone reveals the folly of such love when he says, “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 bat let and the cow’s dugs that her pretty chopped hands had milked.’’ Touchstone’s skeptical humour lets the east wind o reality blow into their idealized world. Not only Touchstone but also Rosalind herself, a romantic lover, sheds the cool light of reason on the romantic nonsense of lovers. when Orlando says that he would love his Rosalind forever and a day, she brings him down to earth by her reply, “No, Orlando; 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.’’ When Orlando tells her that he would die if she would not have him- “she plays upon this notion the same jest of refreshing reality, “ The poor world is almost six thousand years old and in all this time there was not any man died in his own person, videlicet, in a love cause.”

 

So although the play, we find realism side by side with romance, each contribution to the other. At the end of the play, there is reconciliation between the two (those who are the representatives of realism and those who are romantic make up their mutual quarrel. Oliver goes to kill his brother but he is about to be killed by a lioness. Orlando kills the lioness and saves him. Oliver begs his brother’s pardon. Duke Frederick comes in contact with a saint and becomes quite changed and gives the throne back to his brother, Duke Senior. On the other hand, in place of Ganymede comes out the real Rosalind and she is married to Orlando. Oliver falls in love with Celia and gets himself married to her. Then they all leave the dreamy land of the Forest of Arden and return to the real world.

 

The mixture of realism and romance is the symbol of the mixture of sorrow and pleasure, darkness and sunshine of real life may be seen to be the central position of the play but the return of the banished Duke along with his companions finally, gees to show that realism and romance are an integral part of human life they exist side by side, life is like that.