The theme of love in As You Like It is central to the
play, and nearly every scene makes reference to it in one way or another.
Shakespeare utilizes a range of different perceptions and
presentations of love in As You Like It; everything from the bawdy
love of the lower class characters to the courtly love of the nobles.
Types of Love in As You
Like It:
- Romantic and
courtly love
- Bawdy, sexual
love
- Sisterly and
brotherly love
- Fatherly love
- Unrequited love
Romantic and Courtly Love
This is demonstrated in the central relationship between
Rosalind and Orlando. The characters fall in love quickly and their love is
articulated in love poetry and in carvings on trees. It is a gentlemanly love
but is fraught with barriers needing to be overcome. This kind of love is
undermined by Touchstone who describes this type of love as dishonest; “the
truest poetry is the most feigning”. (Act 3, Scene 2).
Orlando has to overcome many obstacles in order to be
married; his love is tested by Rosalind and proved to be genuine. However,
Rosalind and Orlando only met a couple of times without the disguise of
Ganymede. It is hard to say, therefore, whether they truly know one another.
Rosalind is not unrealistic, however, and although she
enjoys the wooing side of romantic love, she is aware that it is not
necessarily genuine, which is why she tests Orlando’s love for her. Romantic
love is not enough for Rosalind she needs to know that it is deeper than that.
Bawdy Sexual Love
Touchstone and Audrey act as a foil to Rosalind and
Orlando’s characters. They are cynical about romantic love and their
relationship is based more on the physical side of love; “Sluttishness may come
hereafter” (Act 3, Scene 2).
