Aged Servant To Oliver example essay topic

"As You Like It" opens as Orlando complains to the aged servant Adam of his own "servitude" to his brother's bondage. He has been withheld what he feels he deserves: a high-class life with wealth, but his brother Oliver has denied him any rights to their father's money. It is ironic that he complains of his "servitude" to Adam who is in fact Oliver's servant. The two are bound by their common discontentment under the Oliver's dictatorship. Orlando says, "This is it, Adam, that grieves me, and the spirit of my father, which I think is within me, begins to mutiny against this servitude. I will no longer endure it...

". (Act I. i 21-24). We " re introduced to Oliver, the evil brother who plans to have Orlando killed by the Duke's wrestler. This, we discover, is a result of jealousy". (Orlando is) so much in the heart of the world, and especially of my own people, who best know him, that I am altogether mispris'd. But it shall not be so long, this wrestler shall clear all".

So, to gratify his pride he seeks to have his brother banished from existence. Banishment is common in the play, and is representative of the corrupt desires of greedy court people. The good Duke was banished and his kingdom taken by his brother. Here is another theme -- that of family members turning against each other. So powerful is this greed and evil that some even take up the sword against a member of their own family. Such is the case with Oliver and Orlando.

Also Duke Frederick and Duke Senior. Duke Frederick later, with no real explanation, banishes Rosalind, his niece and threatens her life. So it is no wonder all those who were banished or unhappy with their situation congregate to the forest -- they have no where else to go. The question of reality versus fairy tale is evident in this play. The two contrasting scenes -- the high-bred court life and the relaxed and magical forest -- present two very different ways of life and twists of fate. In the city, all goes wrong and people are corrupt.

But in the forest all is well, in spite of adversity, and people are happy. Duke Senior, who lost his kingdom, shows a remarkably good attitude toward his present lot. "Sweet are the uses of adversity... And this our life, exempt from public haunt, Finds... good in every thing". (Act II. i 12-17). Also in the forest people are converted from their corrupt ways.

Oliver comes there for some un-mentioned reason, and after his brother saves his life he is "converted", as he himself says it, and wants nothing more than to marry Celia, which he does. His conversion is so powerful that he is willing to give up all he has to his brother Orlando (from whom he had for so long withheld due support) and "live and die a shepherd" (Act V. ii 10-12). So it is that "As You Like It" is a lesson in servitude; of "noble" men learning how to be true servants and to humble themselves. Of course a sign of a truly humbled servant is his willingness to give up all he has and be content with his situation. Such was the conversion of Oliver.

Later we learn how Duke Frederick met "an old religious man" and was also converted and relinquished his captured kingdom, returning it to the formerly banished Duke. So the happy ending is not only conventional but comprehensive, as all involved get what seems right -- generally, a marriage. Rosalind who is seen in disguise during nearly all her scenes in the forest, teaches us a bit about women -- that women will love a man more than she " ll admit her love (Act. ii 387-9), that when a woman thinks she has to speak and thus can't keep silent (Act. ii 249-50), and that a woman's emotions and behavior changes after marriage (Act IV. i 148-161), which was displayed in "The Taming of the Shrew" as both Kate and Bianca changed drastically after their marriages. People are initially drawn to the forest for an escape from their unpleasant lives.

Adam, an aged servant to Oliver, expresses his discontentment and wishes to go away with Orlando. He shows his good heart and his true discipleship by giving Orlando his life savings which he had been keeping for his old age, when he would no longer be able to work as a servant. He goes with Orlando into the forest, promising to be a faithful servant to him. Why he disappears after their meal with the Duke is a mystery. In my mind, his memory came for the last time in the play (after a long disappearance) as perhaps the "religious man" mentioned as responsible for Duke Frederick's conversion (Act V. iv 160). There is a moral message in that men with good hearts can change others.

We are reminded, though, that the setting is not "real life". The forest is a place of disguises and historically is known as a land for fairy tales. Shakespeare also reminds us that poetry can be detached from reality when the fool says, .".. the truest poetry is the most feigning", and, "Now, if thou wert a poet, I might have some hope thou didst feign" (Act. 19, 26-7).

Remember that Shakespearean fools can spread wisdom as Touchstone himself says, "The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool". (Act V. i 31-32). Another reminder that this is just a play is the Epilogue where Rosalind seems to break character with the audience, as she asks them to "like as much of this play as please you" then makes a joke about the fact that she is really a male actor as she says, directed to the audience, "If I were a woman I would kiss as many of you had beards that pleas'd me". There's much meaning in the play, so take it as you like it, but remember... it's still a play. The author himself said so through his characters. And who's so bold as to challenge the great Shakespeare?