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David M Knaak

Professor Timmons

English 321

15 September 2019

The Social Importance of Marriage in As You Like It

In As You Like It, Shakespeare invites his audience to contemplate some of the dysfunctions

of civilized life. They are led by the characters, plodding through the Arden forest, who

exchange jocular barbs and insights on ideas such as gender and sexuality. Inspired by the

freedom of the natural world, the characters also spend their time musing upon the importance of

social institutions, such as marriage. In Jean E. Howard’s introduction to the play, she argues that

Shakespeare “both celebrates and pokes fun at the social importance of marriage” (Howard).

Nearly every major and minor character either ridicules or praises the importance of marriage at

some point in the play. However, in the final scene of As You Like It, practically half of the entire

cast of characters are betrothed and set to wed at an extravagant ceremony hosted by the Greek

goddess of marriage, Hymen. As the play ends, it becomes clear that Shakespeare is trying to

convey a message about the social importance of marriage. Like civilized society itself, marriage

is an important institution that should be both examined for its faults and praised for its merits.

Throughout most of As You Like It, Shakespeare pokes fun at the social importance of

marriage. One of the best examples of this is represented in the interactions between Rosalind

and Orlando in Acts III and IV. Orlando is deep in the throes of love with Rosalind during this

phase of the play and pursues marriage through the typical, Petrarchan tradition. He muses upon

his admiration in poems, nails the poems to trees for all to see, and spends his days brooding in a

histrionic malaise. However, Rosalind is not impressed with his poems, referring to one as a
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“tedious homily of love,” (Shakespeare, 3.2.143) nor does she believe in the sincerity of his

“despair.” As a test, she pretends to reject his proposal for marriage and he responds, predictably,

with a wish to die. Rosalind uses this opportunity to confirm how Orlando’s responses are

primarily driven by the observance of tradition and goes on to remind him that men and heroes

“have died from time to time, and worms have eaten them, but not for love” (Shakespeare,

4.1.93-94). Jean E. Howard argues that Rosalind’s chiding and questioning of Orlando serves as

a vehicle that guides him toward the development of “a more realistic and egalitarian approach to

the relationship of man to woman” (Howard). Yet, it is clear that Rosalind, as a fictional

character, is also acting as a vehicle for Shakespeare to examine the faults of the traditions

surrounding marriage. Marriage has social value to characters like Orlando, but his self-imposed

agony is comically unnecessary. His eagerness to die, should marriage not occur, also makes him

look pathetic and irrational. Thus, as Shakespeare exposes, Orlando’s ardent pursuit of marriage

makes him into a fool that subverts his own self-interests.

Rosalind goes on to argue that these traditions produce unintended consequences and are

the reason why men are like “…April when they woo, December when they wed,” (Shakespeare,

4.1.128) and why women are “…May when they are maids, but the sky changes when they are

wives” (Shakespeare, 4.1.129). As expressions of the collective values of society, traditions can

conflict with the values of the individual. People become bound to customs that remove the

influence of individual spontaneity and creativity. Particularly in intensely personal matters of

love, this can diminish the earnest enjoyment of the experience. Such is the reason why

Touchstone appreciates the novelty of his relationship with Audrey. He exercises his freedom to

be outspoken about his desires and, as a result, is confident that he will escape the fate of

becoming a cuckold. He purposely avoids the self-imposed anguish of the Petrarchan tradition;
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the same anguish, he explains to Audrey, that gifts otherwise good men with the metaphorical

“dowry of his wife,” (Shakespeare, 3.3.46) later in their marriages. Just as tradition can corrupt

marriage, so too can it corrupt the children. In the beginning of As You Like It, Oliver and

Orlando are in the middle of an intrafamilial blood feud which has been instigated by the

tradition of primogeniture. The transfer of their father’s estate to Oliver creates great enmity

between the two, which Howard argues becomes one of the most potent signs “of the corruption

of ‘civilized’ life” (Howard). To solidify this observation again, Shakespeare utilizes Rosalind

later in the play to suggest that overly traditional relationships such as Silvius and Phoebe’s

makes “the world full of ill-favored children” (Shakespeare, 3.5.53). Luckily, being a comedy,

these issues seem to work themselves out naturally by the end of the play, which brings a sense

of levity to the narrative. However, those these ideas are presented in a light-hearted manner,

Shakespeare uses the subtlety of comedy to examine the complications of placing too much

social importance on marriage and overlooking the free expression of love.

In As You Like It, Shakespeare also celebrates the social importance of marriage. The

culmination of this celebration appears in Act V when four pairs of main characters are married:

Orlando and Rosalind, Oliver and Celia, Silvius and Phoebe, and Touchstone and Audrey.

Interestingly, though these characters come together in ceremony of solidarity and unity, they

actually express very diverse and conflicting perspectives on marriage leading up to the

celebration. For example, while Orlando pursues his marriage to Rosalind in an overzealous

fervor, Rosalind takes a more reserved and calculated approach. She concerns herself with trying

to convince Orlando of the benefits that virtues, such as patience and sincerity, will produce later

when they are married. This stands in stark contrast to Touchstone and Audrey’s relationship,

which is much more straightforward and pragmatic. Touchstone admires Audrey’s simple
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upbringing because it allows them to bypass the unnecessary complications of “poetic” romance

and cultivate a marriage centered on sexual love (Shakespeare, 3.3). This, again, stands in stark

contrast to the Silvius and Phoebe’s relationship, which is guided by contemporary ideals and by

the Petrarchan tradition. Phoebe, as a lady of higher social status, treats the lower-class Silvius

with disdain. In classic Petrarchan fashion, Silvius complains about her cruelty while also

contentedly suffering until they are wed, accepting “the wounds invisible / That love’s keen

arrows make,” (Shakespeare, 3.5.30-31) until her favor turns toward him.

Through these characters, Shakespeare symbolizes how discourses on important topics

such as marriage become fractured in society. Important topics generate intense social debate

because they are meaningful and filtered through the subjective thoughts and experiences of

individuals. Unfortunately, the focus sometimes shifts away from these debates and onto the

existence of conflict itself. Citizens become disillusioned with the perceived lack of solidarity in

society and dream of abandoning civilization altogether. Certainly, Shakespeare had this in mind

when he exiled Duke Senior into the Arden woods, who exclaims to his companions “Hath not

old custom made this life more sweet” (Shakespeare, 2.1.2). The forest becomes a retreat from

social tensions where characters can enjoy a “much-needed change of perspective and an

opportunity to see oneself and others in a new way” (Howard). It also allows the characters to

reflect on what is important and, for the main characters at least, this turns out to be love. As the

ceremony proceeds in Act V, the goddess Hymen proclaims “Then there is mirth in heaven /

When earthly things, made even, / Atone together” (Shakespeare, 5.4.99-101). This proclamation

suggests that, by overlooking their differences, the couples have produced harmony. Their

marriages become a symbol of how diversity of opinion is not a negative outcome of society, but

rather something that is inherent within society. And, while debates can divide, they can also
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unify and bind people together in a positive way. This, ultimately, is why marriages, particularly

marriages that are born out of free love, are socially important and something to be celebrated.

Certainly, As You Like It cannot be considered as a manual for how to fix the

dysfunctions of civilized society. Shakespeare does not offer any answers, but instead seeks to

remind his audience of the importance of appropriate examination and praise. While examining

and praising the institution of marriage, it becomes clear that, in many ways, it functions as a

microcosm of society. People engage in marriages in very different ways and they can become

dysfunctional and corrupted by tradition. However, like civilized society, they can function as

something special and that binds people together. As a result. rather than becoming disillusioned

and abandoning our institutions completely, Shakespeare suggests that, when times get tough, it

is perhaps wiser to retreat into the metaphorical forest to rediscover what is meaningful to us.

And, finally, perhaps it is also wiser to laugh about our own imperfections, rather than persecute

others for theirs.

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Works Cited

Howard, Jean E. “As You Like It Introduction.” The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen

Greenblatt, third ed., E-book, W.W. Norton & Company, 2016.

Shakespeare, William. “As You Like It.” The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt,

third ed., E-book, W.W. Norton & Company, 2016.