"Sir, I am a true laborer. I earn that I eat, get that I wear, owe no man hate, envy no man’s happiness, glad of other men’s good, content with my harm, and the greatest of my pride is to see my ewes graze and my lambs suck." -Corin
As I read Acts III and IV of As You Like It, this quote by Corin caught my eye. I absolutely loved the idea of the content happiness that he had. He knows that his life is as it should be and yet he still feels happiness for others as well. He enjoys the simple things in life like watching his livestock graze upon the land. I find that sense of natural happiness beautiful. It was just such an interesting contrast compared to the rest of the characters within the novel.
As we discussed in class on Monday, Rosalind and Celia seem to be discontented with their state of being. Since they have dimmed their statuses and become that of the lower class, they seem to be unhappy and scared. Neither one of them seems to want to give up their high stature within society. Therefore, I found Corin's happiness refreshing. He is simply pleased by life's little gifts and I find that beautiful.
Then, while I continued reading, I found it disappointing to see that Touchstone was appalled by Corin's happiness. Touchstone scorned Corin because he was happy to be a peasant and to live off of the land. It seems that Touchstone (although not as high in rank as Rosalind) still does not wish to give up his status as the court's fool per se. I suppose I can be very opinionated but I dislike this ranking system that they have within the times. But then again, I suppose that I am being hypocritical considering the system that we have today concerned lower, middle and upper class. Corin's simple happiness was just a shock to me and I absolutely love that.
2 comments:
Lauren, I was struck by this line as well. At first, I thought it was an interesting role reversal, and that the line Corin delivers is something that Touchstone should have been saying, but then it dawned on me that Touchstone absolutely should be the one analyzing Corin's life; it is so fitting a role for the Shakespearean fool. And, I agree with you. I still found what Corin had to say very profound.
I agree with Paige. That line hit me like a ton of bricks, very profound. I feel that Touchstone was jealous of Corin's simple happiness, simply because of his "occupation" of being a fool.
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.