1.

Support the claim that love at first sight is the main theme of play "As you
like it".

Answer:-
William Shakespeare’s As You Like It portrays love and marriage in a comical, amusing
manner. The play represents passionate love on the one hand, as well as disguised, blind and
even manipulated love on the other hand. Love as a state of being is omnipresent throughout As
You Like It. As the play’s major theme, love is illustrated essentially by eight characters who all
marry at the end of the play. However, As You Like It cannot be interpreted as a typical love
story. In fact, only one twosome, namely Rosalind and Orlando, illustrates a relationship of true
love which ends in a happy, mutually agreeable marriage. By falling in love at first sight, they
symbolize the typical Shakespearean romantic lovers whose love overcomes any obstacles. The
other couples in the play, however, seem to pursue rather different goals. Audrey and
Touchstone simply wish to act on their sexual desire, which they cleverly hide behind marriage
in order to prevent any “Vorwurf der Unzucht”[1] – a serious matter in Elizabethan times.
Phoebe and Silvius are both in love, though not reciprocally. Silvius does love Phoebe; she,
however, falls in love with Ganymede and is merely tricked into committing herself to Silvius.
Celia and Oliver are simply following the lead of Rosalind and Orlando, but seem to strive for
companionship rather than passion or true love. Shakespeare illustrates four different kinds of
love in As You Like It in a humorous way. He demonstrates that love and marriage do not
necessarily have to go hand in hand and adds comical aspects of love by turning some characters
into fools. In this way, Shakespeare builds on the Elizabethan assumptions about love as a
sickness, but still validates it as a valuable aspect of a happy marriage.

In this paper, I will examine the aspect of love in Shakespeare’s As You Like It. More precisely,
I will first analyze the attitude towards love in general terms in Elizabethan times and determine
how it is commonly understood by the characters. Next, I will investigate the four couples in the
play individually, starting with Audrey and Touchstone, then Phoebe and Silvius followed by
Celia and Oliver, and lastly Rosalind and Orlando. Finally, I will compare these four couples
with each other and will explore how their views on love and marriage coincide and/or differ.
Lastly, I will shortly summarize the characteristics of love in As You Like It.

Love in William Shakespeare’s As You Like It.

In the Elizabethan era, being in love had a bad reputation. People considered love as foolish and
believed that being in love would actually affect “die geistige Verfassung de[r] verliebten
Menschen” resulting in people’s “absonderliche[s] und ‚komische[s]’ Verhalten”. The state of
being in love was frequently described as an illness. Compared to the plague, ‘love-sickness’ was
understood to be transmitted through vapors by means of contact with the eyes of a ‘love
infected’ person causing actual sickness. Several characters in As You Like It exemplify this
general negative attitude towards love at that time. Rosalind alludes to it as “madness”[5] that
needs to be “cured”. Both Silvius and Touchstone speak of love as “folly”, confirming that being
in love turns people into fools. Jaques argues that “[t]he worst fault you [can] have is to be in
love”, since no one would seek foolishness or even illness by choice.

Even though love was clearly associated with negative feelings in Elizabethan times and thus in
the play itself, there are eight characters in As You Like It (Rosalind and Orlando, Celia and
Oliver, Phoebe and Silvius, and Audrey and Touchstone) who all marry at the end of the play.
Hence, love – despite all its negative connotations – still seems to be desirable. By taking a
closer look, however, it becomes apparent that the four marriages are not all motivated by true
love. In fact, only one couple marries out of pure love. The other three couples have different
motives for their marriage, such as security, companionship, and even sexual desire. Shakespeare
contrasts these different ideas of love and purposes of marriage with each other: he portrays true
love and its sickness on the one hand and a loveless marriage for practical or sexual reasons on
the other hand.

3. Discuss"As You Like It"as a comedy?

Answer:-
Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It’ is a finest kind of romantic comedy. A romantic comedy is a
play in which violates the classical or neo-classical rigid rules and norms and deals with love at
first sight, unbridled emotions and passions, imagination and fancy, fun and laughter. We need
to discuss various element and aspects of the play ‘As You Like It’ to justify how far it is a
romantic comedy. The mingling of comic and tragic incidents in As You Like It is romantic. In
this play the banishment of Duke Senior and Rosalind, Oliver’s plan to set fire to Orlando’s
lodging are sad happenings. But the play in its total effect is a comedy which provides much
amusement and mirth to us. As You Like It is romantic comedy in the sense that it does not
follow the classical; three unities of time, place and action. The action of the play occurs over a
period of at least ton days instead of 24 hours; the scene of this play shifts from the city to the
forest of Arden, from the forest of Arden back to the city, and then again to the forest of Arden
instead of centering round the same place; and here we find three sub- plots besides the main
plot.

However, the most striking romantic element in the plot is the theme of youthful love. In this
play, Rosalind and Orlando fall in love with each other at first sight. Then we find Orlando in the
Forest of Arden composing verses in praise of her beauty and virtue; and Rosalind disguised as
Ganymede induces Orlando to make love to her saying: “Come, woo me, woo me; for now I am
in a holiday humor and like enough to consent.” The sudden love of Celia and Oliver is a
romantic affair too. Phebe’s love for Ganymede has also a romantic basis. There is something
romantic about the attachment of Celia to Rosalind. Celia is so attached to Rosalind. Similarly,
there is something romantic even about the loyalty and devotion of Adam to Orlando. The play is
romantic also in its setting. In the city life, Rosalind’s and Orlando’s virtues arouse so much
envy that both must flee to avoid being murdered. In the country, these two noble characters
prosper. Virtuous Duke Senior seems to be happier in exile than he was at court. Country folk
like Corin and Audrey are simple, hardworking people. Silvius and Phebe may seem silly, but
they are harmless and rather charming. Finally both villains (Oliver and Duke Fredrick) renounce
evil as soon as they arrive in the forest. As You Like It is a romantic comedy in its treatment of
some sweet songs that add special charm and melodious atmosphere in the play. To conclude the
brief discussion given above proves clearly to us that As You Like It contains the qualities of
romantic comedy. So it may be just to say that As You Like It is a romantic comedy.

Short Note

Answer:-
A. Shall I .....a date.

These lines have been taken from sonnet 18.Sonnet 18 is the best known and most well loved of
all 154 sonnets.It is also one of the most straightforward in language and intent. The speaker
opens the poem with a question addressed to the beloved: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s
day?” The poet William Shakespeare thinks that his love is incomparable. He can’t compare her
to the summer’s days because; she is lovelier and milder than it. In summer the stormy winds
weaken the charming rosebuds and the prospect of renewed health or happiness lasts for a very
short time. The sun is occasionally very hot and its golden rays are often dim.

The beauty of every beautiful thing decreases and is spoiled accidentally or naturally. But the
eternal summer or the charm of the poet’s love will never be proud of taking the poet’s friend to
its dark kingdom. In fact, death will never enjoy its victory over his friend because the poet’s
verse will remain eternal all through the time. His friend may die physically, but her beauty will
remain in the poem. As long as the human race remains alive and as long as men can read, this
sonnet will live as it is eternal, and thus the poet’s friend will be immortal.

B.So long as.....to thee.

These lines have been taken from sonnet 18.This is one of the most famous of all the sonnets,
justifiably so. For as long as humans live and breathe upon the earth, for as long as there are
seeing eyes on the eart. That is how long these verses will live, celebrating you, and continually
renewing your life. But one is left with a slight residual feeling that perhaps the youth's beauty
will last no longer than a summer's day, despite the poet's proud boast. In line 12 we find the
poet's solution - how he intends to eternalize the fair lord's beauty despite his refusal to have a
child. The poet plans to capture the fair lord's beauty in his verse ("eternal lines"), which he
believes will withstand the ravages of time. Thereby the fair lord's "eternal summer shall not
fade," and the poet will have gotten his wish. Here we see the poet's use of "summer" as a
metaphor for youth, or perhaps beauty, or perhaps the beauty of youth.

But has the poet really abandoned the idea of encouraging the fair lord to have a child? Some
scholars suggest that the "eternal lines" in line 12 have a double meaning: the fair lord's beauty
can live on not only in the written lines of the poet's verse but also in the family lines of the fair
lord's progeny. Such an interpretation would echo the sentiment of the preceding sonnet's closing
couplet: "But were some child of yours alive that time / You should live twice; in it and in my
rhyme." The use of "growest" also implies an increasing or changing: we can envision the fair
lord's family lines growing over time, yet this image is not as readily applicable to the lines of
the poet's verse - unless it refers only to his intention to continue writing about the fair lord's
beauty, his verse thereby "growing." On the other hand, line 14 seems to counter this
interpretation, the singular "this" (as opposed to "these") having as its most likely antecedent the
poet's verse, and nothing more.