AS YOU LIKE IT
ACT I SCENE I
1. My brother Jaques he keeps at school … stalling of an ox. (Pg 1 - Lines 5-10)
1) Identify the speaker and the context.
Ans:
- Orlando
- Orlando's frustration due to his brother's behaviour towards him, which is unfair and unjust.
Their father Rowland de Boys had left Oliver’s younger brothers in his charge and it was his duty to bring them
up like gentlemen.
Oliver sends his brother Jaques for formal education but Orlando receives no education or formal training.
Orlando feels that his life is not better than that of the animals in his brother’s stable.
2) State in your own words how the horses are looked after better than the speaker? How is the speaker robbed
of his natural abilities?
Ans:
Horses given better food; trained well; for this purpose Oliver hires expert horse trainers at a high price.
Compared to the manner in which animals are looked after and trained at Oliver’s place, Orlando gets a raw
deal at his brother’s hand.
Oliver's behaviour towards Orlando takes away all the abilities and rights that belong to him by the virtue of his
birth.
Orlando is not treated as a brother, he is taunted at for not being good enough, he eats with the farm labourers,
and Oliver does everything he can to belittle his younger brother.
3) What in particular incites the speaker to rebel against the treatment given to him?
Ans:
The knowledge that he is born of the same father as Oliver - entitled to all the things that men of noble birth
have a right to - makes Orlando rebel against the treatment given to him.
4) Give the meaning of the following in context:
a) keeps me rustically at home: Orlando is kept home and has been deprived of formal education or training.
Its not just staying home, but there is no scope of development and growth which is stifling because Orlando
has been confined to a life in the country, which is rough and far removed from what a person born in nobility
must get.
b) stays me here unkempt: Orlando despairs on his condition where he does not even consider himself neat or
tidy or well-groomed.
5) How do you feel for the speaker? Give two reasons to justify for your feelings.
Ans:
I feel strongly for the speaker. He is completely justified in feeling the way he does.
Being born in a noble family, he has a right to a nobleman’s life, which his brother has unfairly denied him.
He has not only been deprived of the status of a family member but is also made to live with the servants and
labourers.
6) Clearly explain the meaning of 'rustic' and 'gentleman'. How are these qualities used to distinguish between
the city and country life?
Ans:
Rustic means related to a life in country basically simple but rough.
We have come to associate simplicity and ill-mannered behaviour with country life, hence rustic and country
life go hand in hand.
A gentleman is person who is polite and well educated; who has excellent manners and always behaves well.
This word is therefore associated with cities and towns where the aforesaid attributes are highly valued and
appreciated.
2. The courtesy of nations … were there twenty brothers betwixt us. (Pg 2 - Lines 45 – 49)
1) Who says these lines and in what context?
Ans:
Orlando is the speaker.
As Oliver argues with Orlando about his ability to live a meaningful life, Orlando says that Oliver is better off
than him in terms of respect and wealth only because he is the first-born.
2) What is the speaker referring to when he says, "takes not away my blood"?
Ans:
Orlando says that Oliver’s position as the first-born entitles him to his father’s title and wealth because nations
follow that tradition.
In the same tradition, although he is the youngest of the three sons of Sir Rowland de Boys, his right as a son
cannot be denied.
3) Choose one of the following adjectives, which aptly depicts the tone of the speaker. Give reasons for your
selection.
(a) frustrated (b) angry (c) rebellious
Ans:
Rebellious: Orlando feels frustrated and angry both at the way his brother has treated him. Both these emotions
have made him rebellious. Orlando spares nothing to tell his brother what he thought about him or about the
way Oliver had treated him.
3. I am no villain …thou hast railed on thyself. (Pg 3 - Lines 56 – 61)
1) Who says these lines and in what context?
Ans:
Orlando is the speaker.
Orlando touches a raw nerve in the course of the argument that two brothers are going through. He says that it
is because of Oliver’s first-born status that he stands in his father’s place, implying that there was little that
could be granted as his personal achievement.
To this Oliver calls him a villain, which he meant in the way of a scoundrel or a rascal. Orlando, however, takes
it as ‘peasant’ that implies a person of low birth.
2) Do you agree with the speaker?
Ans:
No, I do not agree with the speaker, Orlando.
Orlando has been cheated out of his rightful inheritance and is therefore reacting to the situation. Here, he
shows a tendency to misunderstand what Oliver just said. However, I do sympathise with him as his own elder
brother has treated him unjustly.
3) Explain the phrase "thou hast railed on thyself". How has the person spoken railed on himself?
Ans:
The phrase – thou hast railed on thyself – you have abused yourself.
When Oliver called Orlando a villain, the latter had taken it as an insult to their father for he took the word
villain to mean a peasant, a man of low birth. How could a man of noble birth (their father) beget a peasant?
4) Who intervenes to establish peace between the speaker and the listener? What does he say to establish
peace?
Ans:
Adam intervenes to establish peace.
He asks them to make peace in the memory / name of their father.
4. They say that he is already in the Forest of Arden … as they did in the golden world. (Pg 5 - Lines 112 –
117)
1) Who says these lines and in what context?
Ans:
Charles says this.
Charles meets Oliver to talk about Orlando’s participation in the wrestling match that is to take place the next
day. He also informs him about the Old Duke’s banishment from the court and that some other lords had put
themselves in voluntary exile with him.
2) Who is ‘he’ that is already in the Forest of Arden? Explain the circumstances that made the old Duke seek
refuge in the Forest of Arden.
Ans:
Old Duke / Duke Senior, Duke Frederick’s elder brother; also Rosalind’s father is in the forest.
Duke Frederick usurped his elder brother’s title and dukedom and banished him.
3) Who is Robin Hood? Why is 'he' and 'his merry men' compared to Robin Hood?
Ans:
Robin Hood was a romantic character of English folklore.
He was an outlaw.
He lived in the Sherwood Forest.
He robbed the rich of their wealth and distributed it to the poor.
He (Duke Senior) is referred to as Robin Hood because he too is sort of an outlaw; wronged yet on the right
path; leads several people and commands respect such that they have put themselves into a voluntary exile.
4) Give the meaning of the following. Also what do these phrases show about the person described?
a) and fleet the time carelessly
Ans: pass time without any care / without worry … actually admiring their pastoral existence
b) gentlemen flock him
Ans: lords and other members of the nobility have chosen to be by the Duke Senior’s side, which speaks
volumes about his popularity even though the banished duke has not much to give them
c) golden world
Ans:
An era identified in the olden times before towns and cities grew up.
People lived in the country and found their food growing around them.
They really did not need to work for a living or slaughter animals for food.
They spent their time dancing and singing; writing poetry.
This age was much romanticized by some Greek and Latin poets as the ‘golden world’.
5. Now will I stire this gamester … that I am altogether misprized. (Pg 6 - Lines 158 – 165)
1) Who says these words? What does it say about the speaker?
Ans:
Oliver says these words.
That Oliver was a bad elder brother.
He was so selfish that he would go to any extent to get Orlando out of his way, even if it was to get him killed.
Though Oliver was blinded by cruelty and arrogance, he realised that his brother was a much better person than
him.
He also recognised the fact that people really loved Orlando more than him.
2) Compare these lines of the speaker about Orlando with other instances where the speaker comments about
Orlando in public. What do you infer?
Ans:
When Oliver speaks with Charles about Orlando, he tells him that Orlando is stubborn, ambitious, evil, envious,
scheming, etc.
However, in the lines above as he speaks to himself, he says that though Orlando never received education, he
is learned and most noble. He accepts that everybody loves Orlando as if he had cast a spell on them, whereas
he himself was completely despised and hated.
Though Oliver hates Orlando and wishes to see him dead he doesn’t know the reason of this hatred.
3) Give the meaning of the following:
a) of all sorts enchantingly beloved:
Ans: All types of people love Orlando as though he had cast a spell on them
b) kindle the boy thither:
Ans: encourage Orlando to take part in the wrestling match (where Charles would kill him)