As You Like It
William Shakespeare

A STEP BEYOND

TESTS AND ANSWERS

TEST 1

_____ 1. Charles says that the old duke and his men live in the Forest of Arden like

A. outcasts
B. Robin Hood and his men
C. animals

A. plain speaking
B. cleverness
C. nobility

A. natural fool
B. malcontent
C. court fool

A. get food
B. give Duke Senior a message
C. find Rosalind

A. winning her approval for his marriage
B. making fun of the poems Orlando has written
C. making fun of life in the country

A. any man would love a woman as beautiful as she
B. a man needs money, and she has a large dowry
C. a man has desires, and he needs a wife to satisfy them

A. natural fool
B. wise fool
C. whining schoolboy

A. he was lovesick
B. he had lost all his money
C. his wife had been unfaithful to him

A. romantic love
B. sexual love
C. platonic love

A. been killed
B. been punished
C. been converted

11. Compare life in the country with life in the city, as portrayed in As You Like It.

12. What varieties of love are depicted in the play? Give examples.

13. How is Orlando's nobility made clear in Act I?

TEST 2

_____ 1. Oliver says that most people consider Orlando

A. an envious emulator of every man's good parts
B. a noble, gentle young man
C. the rightful duke

A. a violation of God's will
B. proof of Frederick's superiority
C. foreshadowing

A. a court fool
B. a foppish courtier
C. an Elizabethan satirist

A. concern for animals
B. great eloquence
C. tendency to moralize

A. recalling his only true love
B. telling Rosalind that he sympathizes with her
C. making fun of Silvius

A. sweetness of life in the forest
B. sadness of banishment
C. joy of love

A. he's too young to give his heart to a woman
B. he doesn't bear any of the conventional marks of a lover
C. Orlando is smart, and lovers are all fools

A. rejection hurts his feelings
B. her disdain could kill him
C. he thinks she's being peevish

A. rustics
B. rulers
C. courtiers

I. The audience to like as much of the play as pleases them
II. for applause
III. the audience to join in the dancing

A. I and II only
B. II and III only
C. I and III only

11. How does Touchstone help you to understand the other characters?

12. Trace the themes of Fortune and Nature through the play.

13. Who are the two villains in the play, and what do they have in common?

ANSWERS

1. B
   
2. C
   
3. C
   
4. . A
   
5. . B
   
6. . C
   
7. . A
   
8. C
   
9. A
   
10. C

11. You can take either a literal or a thematic approach to this question. There are plenty of literal differences between the two settings. Many are discussed in the "Setting" section of this guide. Physically, the city is ordered into palaces or homes, orchards, and lawns. In the forest, trees grow wild, and locations are distinguished simply by being called "another part of the forest." Many city dwellers seem concerned with fashion. In the country there is no standard of fashion. Likewise, there is no ruler to please.

To approach this question thematically, discuss whether you think the play seems to be saying that country life is preferable to city life. To argue that As You Like It accepts the pastoral ideal, cite what Duke Senior says about the forest and the court in Act II, Scene i. Show how the noble characters fare much better in the country than in the city. To argue the opposite view, point out how Shakespeare questions the pastoral viewpoint. Touchstone has a lot to say on the subject, as does Jaques. Show how Corin, William, and Audrey serve to contradict the idea that rustics are naturally wise and eloquent. Finally, point out that Duke Senior and his lords return to the city the first chance they get.

12. The "Themes" section of this guide will help you here. Romantic love in its purest form is represented by Silvius and Phebe. Explain how their scenes employ all the conventions of that type of love. Use Touchstone's wooing of Audrey to show how the play deals with sexual love. Having established the two extremes, you can discuss how Rosalind and Orlando fit right in the middle by having elements of both. Rosalind and Celia's friendship represents another kind of love. Discuss how it is different from the other types.

13. A playwright reveals character in three ways: the character's actions, his speech (including both what he says about himself and how he speaks), and what others say about him. Use Orlando's first action in the play as an example. Orlando demands that his brother give him his due. If you examine how he makes that demand (his language), you will see that he is careful only to ask for what is rightfully his. Despite the way Oliver abuses him, Orlando extends the proper respect to his older brother. When Oliver describes how people think of Orlando, you get further evidence of Orlando's nobility. Other examples include the statements that Rosalind and Celia make about Orlando when they meet him.

TEST 2

1. B
   
2. A
   
3. B
   
4. C
   
5. C
   
6. A
   
7. B
   
8. B
   
9. C
   
10. A

11. Touchstone is an expert mimic. By imitating a quality he recognizes in another character, he helps you to understand that character. There are many examples to choose from. Silvius seems almost proud of all the ridiculous things he has done in the name of love. To prove that the shepherd is behaving foolishly, Touchstone imitates him. When Touchstone meets Jaques in the forest, he takes Jaques's penchant for gloomy moralizing one step further. In his scenes with Corin, William, and Audrey, Touchstone passes off nonsense as wisdom. Give examples of how he does that and discuss what that may reveal about the simplemindedness of real country people.

12. Start by defining the difference between Fortune and Nature. The discussions of these terms under "Themes" and in Act I, Scene ii, of this guide will help you. List the characters who are noble by Nature but who have been made to suffer by Fortune. Orlando is a good example. Though his spirit is noble, his lot in life is a hard one. By contrast, Oliver is petty and jealous, but his worldly position is much better than Orlando's. Duke Senior and Duke Frederick provide another example. By the end of the play, Fortune has corrected the inequity. Discuss the play's happy ending in terms of how characters who are noble in Nature are finally rewarded by Fortune.

13. Duke Frederick and Oliver are the two villains in As You Like It. They both have betrayed their brothers. Duke Frederick has usurped his older brother's dukedom. Oliver has withheld his younger brother's inheritance and deprived him of the education he deserves. Neither villain can stand for anybody else to be loved. Oliver wants to kill Orlando because other people think well of him. The duke banishes Rosalind because the people love her. Both of them show disrespect for the natural order of things. Oliver refuses to obey his late father's wishes. By deposing his older brother, Duke Frederick violates the natural order both in his family and in the dukedom. Finally, both characters undergo complete conversions by the end of the play.

[As You Like It Contents]

TERM PAPER IDEAS AND OTHER TOPICS FOR WRITING

• LOVE
  
  1. Contrast what love means to Silvius and Phebe with what it means to Touchstone.
     
  2. Explore the way in which Rosalind represents a balanced view of love.
     
  3. From the evidence of the play, decide how you think Shakespeare regarded romantic love. Defend your position.
     
  4. Compare the way each of the following characters feels about romantic love: Rosalind, Silvius, Touchstone.
• CHARACTER
  
  1. Why is Rosalind regarded as the most complete character in the play?
     
  2. Are Silvius and Phebe real characters, or are they only literary stereotypes?
     
  3. What is Touchstone's function in the play?
     
  4. Compare Orlando with his brother Oliver, and Duke Senior with his brother Duke Frederick.
• LANGUAGE
  
  1. Explore the use of language in Touchstone's scenes with Corin, Audrey, and William.
     
  2. Discuss Rosalind and Celia's sophisticated use of the pun.
     
  3. How does Shakespeare use language to reveal character in Orlando?
     
  4. Contrast Silvius and Phebe's use of language with that of Corin, William, and Audrey's.
• PASTORIALISM
  
  1. How does As You Like It portray city life? Isolate and discuss as many aspects as possible.
     
  2. How does As You Like It portray country life? Discuss the different life-styles depicted.
     
  3. How does Shakespeare use pastoral conventions to comic effect?
• THEMES
  
  1. Discuss the interaction of Fortune and Nature in As You Like It.
     
  2. How does the Elizabethan concept of a natural order affect events in the play?
     
  3. Isolate three types of artificial behavior in the play. Using the text, demonstrate the consequences of each.

REFERENCE
THE STORY, continued

[As You Like It Contents] [PinkMonkey.com]

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