Act 5: The End of Transgression?

The bulk of As You Like It takes place in the forest of Arden, a space in which lionesses, snakes, sheep, shepherds, and those banished from court coexist and the “lazy foot of time” is only tracked by the sighs and groans of the lover (III.II.209).   Within this space and state of relative timelessness, the breakdown of patriarchal order, which I discussed previously as beginning in the first act of the play, fully commences.

Within this new societal order, class conventions fade. The clown and banished princess verbally spar with a familiarity suggesting they are on the same level. Adam, the servant of Orlando, is invited to dine at the same table as the wronged duke. Oliver, the former merciless enforcer of his own patriarchal power decides to merry a woman he believes to be a shepherdess and bestow all of his riches onto his youngest brother, abandoning the laws of primogeniture to which he held fast within the court. One could go on and on.

Traditional gender roles and notions of sexual desire become equally muddled. Rosalind’s performance as Ganymede and the ensuing relationships with both Phoebe and Orlando legitimizes same sex desire on some level.  Moreover, all of the women of the story seem to be in full control of their romantic destinies. As Phoebe steadfastly refuses Silvius and pursues Ganymede, no father is consulted. Audrey is similar fatherless as she is wooed by Touchstone. These women seem to be making their own choices rather than being traded by the men in their lives, their futures dictated by custom. Ganymede’s role in resolving all the entangled love triangles to his/her own benefit and self-proclaimed status as a magician makes him/her the most cunning, and arguably the most powerful, individual in the play despite the fact her often referenced inherent femininity.

Nevertheless, the final act of the play is, in many respects, a restoration of the order that is all but lost in the forest. After the appearance of the nameless second brother, the rightful and now restored duke proclaims that all “That have endured shrewd days and nights with us/ Shall share the good of our returned fortune/ According to the measure of their states,” effectively announcing the class fluidity which has flourished in the forest will come to an end as everyone returns to the court and is given their rightful estates (V.IV.179-81). Rosalind’s restoration of order essentially rests on the impossibility of homosexual desire, as the stubborn Phoebe is left with the choice to marry a woman or Silvius, which Rosalind’s confidence in her scheme suggests is a non-choice.  As the weddings take place, Rosalind asks her father for permission to marry Orlando, her elaborate scheme to wed the man of her dreams becoming contingent on her father’s consent, while Phoebe becomes completely voiceless. Convention is restored, but not completely.

Primogeniture is only partially vindicated as the forest society prepares to transition back to the court. While the wronged duke is restored and Oliver retains his rightful lands, Orlando does one up his eldest brother by becoming the heir to the duke’s kingdom. This status would never be attainable by a youngest son in traditional patriarchal society. Whether or not this violation of tradition is progressive is debatable. In one sense, the overturn of patriarchal convention does survive outside the formless space that is the forest. On the other hand, the fact that the strongest, most courageous man attains the highest status in the court also characterizes the patriarchal system as malleable, and able to account for nature. The stakes of this should not be underestimated, just as the transgressive nature of the play should not be discounted because of the somewhat normalizing ended, which very well could have been an absolute necessity for an artist of Shakespeare’s era. 

Works Cited

WS                  Shakespeare, William. As You like It;. New York. Folger Shakespeare Library. 2009. 

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