Few of Shakespeare’s plays rely as much on direct and indirect biblical references. The allusions to the Garden of Eden in particular are so numerous that they become a major theme of the story.
The plot centers on two pairs of brothers, both consisting of an evil brother casting a good brother out of his rightful place. Both outcasts resort to the Forest of Arden, an unexpectedly Edenic place where their banishments turn out to be blessings. Duke Senior, legitimate ruler of the realm, is overthrown by younger brother Frederick and banished to the forest along with his top advisors. Meanwhile Oliver, a wealthy young gentleman, plots against the life of his youngest brother Orlando, forcing him to escape into the same forest.
None of this sounds romantic, but there’s more. The evil Duke Frederick has a daughter Celia who is inseparable from her beloved cousin Rosalind, daughter of the rightful Duke. Rosalind is soon banished also, but Celia determines to escape with her cousin into exile and persuades Touchstone the jester to go along. Still no romance? Well, Rosalind and Orlando have laid longing eyes upon each other before their escapes to Arden, and that’s enough to set in motion not just one, but four love matches.
The “disguised female” feature results from Rosalind’s decision to dress as a man for safety in the forest. When she finds out Orlando is also in Arden, she takes (unfair?) advantage by role-playing as an advisor to the lovelorn without Orlando realizing he is dealing with the woman of his dreams.
Biblical references and themes
“Adam” is the fourth word of the play, and the recurring theme of Creation and Garden of Eden will follow. This Adam is the faithful, aged servant of the late Sir Rowland de Boys who will shortly abandon Sir Rowland’s evil heir Oliver, give his life’s savings to young Orlando, and attend him into the forest.
When we first see Arden, Duke Senior is addressing his fellow-exiles and we find that the forest is not the wild and threatening place the men had feared. In Act II, Scene 1, lines 1-11 (II.1.1-11 in the Folger Shakespeare Library edition) he rejoices that they are safer there where they “feel not the penalty of Adam” than they were in “the envious court.” Jacques laments the need of killing deer for food (II.1.21-25) as inconsistent with Arden’s unsullied environment.
Orlando assumes the forest to be “uncouth” upon first venturing into it (II.6.6) but is soon happy to find it full of gentleness (II.7.111-114). The cold winds that might arise (II.5.6-8) are declared to be not a curse, but a blessing compared with human sinfulness (II.7.182-184). Even the diabolical creature who invaded Eden to ruin mankind also has a sinister equivalent in Arden (the serpent in IV.3.114). Besides these reflections of the Garden of Eden, Rosalind’s casual remark that the earth is “almost 6000 years old” (IV.1.100) assumes the traditionally estimated date of the Genesis creation, 4000 B.C.
Direct references to Bible accounts in As You Like It include the prodigal son (I.1.37 and 74), God’s feeding of the ravens in Luke 12:24 and the sparrows in Matthew 10:29 (II.3.44-45), the woman as the “weaker vessel” from I Peter 3:7 (II.4.6), a tree yielding “bad fruit” from Matthew 7:18 (III.2.117), and animals coming in pairs to the ark from Gen. 7:8-9 (V.4.36-37).
Less direct allusions include the Judas kiss (III.4.8-9) and Ruth’s gleaning of harvest leftovers (III.5.106-111). Even the wicked usurper Duke Frederick seems to know Jesus’ lost coin parable from Luke 15:8 in his “seek him with candle” command (III.1.6). That parable leads directly into the better-known prodigal son story which Shakespeare had used more obviously in Act I.
In very general terms an orthodox God-centered worldview is further reflected in expressions like “sermons in stone” (II.1.17), “Is he of God’s making?” (III.2.209-214), “thank heaven fasting” (III.5.62-63), and the disclaimer that Rosalind’s “magic” is “not damnable” (V.2.63-65).
Respect for biblical marriage is upheld throughout the play despite the jester’s inclination to lower that standard with a questionable wedding. He is reprimanded by Jacques and persuaded to get properly married (III.3.83-105). Even the lowly shepherd Silvius professes a love for Phoebe that is “So holy and so perfect…” (III.5.106). All four couples, socially diverse though they are, share a respectable quadruple wedding at play’s end after chaste courtships.
Shakespeare oddly brings a representation of a Roman deity onstage to solemnize the ceremony (V.4.190-191), but the biblical tone is restored immediately as the closing scene is interrupted by miraculous news. Duke Frederick, upon entering the Forest of Arden with evil intent, has met an “old religious man,” been “converted from the world,” and surrendered his usurped crown (V.4.159-168). Not coincidentally Oliver, the play’s other villain, had earlier undergone a conversion soon after entering this beneficent forest. Jacques now declares he will go find Frederick and learn from this “convertite” (V.4.190-191).
So the story’s climax features the launching of four marriages, repentance of the villains, their reconciliation with their brothers, and a final picture of religious devotion with Eden restored.
When we first see Arden, Duke Senior is addressing his fellow-exiles and we find that the forest is not the wild and threatening place the men had feared. In Act II, Scene 1, lines 1-11 (II.1.1-11 in the Folger Shakespeare Library edition) he rejoices that they are safer there where they “feel not the penalty of Adam” than they were in “the envious court.” Jacques laments the need of killing deer for food (II.1.21-25) as inconsistent with Arden’s unsullied environment.
Orlando assumes the forest to be “uncouth” upon first venturing into it (II.6.6) but is soon happy to find it full of gentleness (II.7.111-114). The cold winds that might arise (II.5.6-8) are declared to be not a curse, but a blessing compared with human sinfulness (II.7.182-184). Even the diabolical creature who invaded Eden to ruin mankind also has a sinister equivalent in Arden (the serpent in IV.3.114). Besides these reflections of the Garden of Eden, Rosalind’s casual remark that the earth is “almost 6000 years old” (IV.1.100) assumes the traditionally estimated date of the Genesis creation, 4000 B.C.
Direct references to Bible accounts in As You Like It include the prodigal son (I.1.37 and 74), God’s feeding of the ravens in Luke 12:24 and the sparrows in Matthew 10:29 (II.3.44-45), the woman as the “weaker vessel” from I Peter 3:7 (II.4.6), a tree yielding “bad fruit” from Matthew 7:18 (III.2.117), and animals coming in pairs to the ark from Gen. 7:8-9 (V.4.36-37).
Less direct allusions include the Judas kiss (III.4.8-9) and Ruth’s gleaning of harvest leftovers (III.5.106-111). Even the wicked usurper Duke Frederick seems to know Jesus’ lost coin parable from Luke 15:8 in his “seek him with candle” command (III.1.6). That parable leads directly into the better-known prodigal son story which Shakespeare had used more obviously in Act I.
In very general terms an orthodox God-centered worldview is further reflected in expressions like “sermons in stone” (II.1.17), “Is he of God’s making?” (III.2.209-214), “thank heaven fasting” (III.5.62-63), and the disclaimer that Rosalind’s “magic” is “not damnable” (V.2.63-65).
Respect for biblical marriage is upheld throughout the play despite the jester’s inclination to lower that standard with a questionable wedding. He is reprimanded by Jacques and persuaded to get properly married (III.3.83-105). Even the lowly shepherd Silvius professes a love for Phoebe that is “So holy and so perfect…” (III.5.106). All four couples, socially diverse though they are, share a respectable quadruple wedding at play’s end after chaste courtships.
Shakespeare oddly brings a representation of a Roman deity onstage to solemnize the ceremony (V.4.190-191), but the biblical tone is restored immediately as the closing scene is interrupted by miraculous news. Duke Frederick, upon entering the Forest of Arden with evil intent, has met an “old religious man,” been “converted from the world,” and surrendered his usurped crown (V.4.159-168). Not coincidentally Oliver, the play’s other villain, had earlier undergone a conversion soon after entering this beneficent forest. Jacques now declares he will go find Frederick and learn from this “convertite” (V.4.190-191).
So the story’s climax features the launching of four marriages, repentance of the villains, their reconciliation with their brothers, and a final picture of religious devotion with Eden restored.
Similarities to other Shakespeare plays
Kings/Dukes usurped by younger brothers: As You Like It, The Tempest, Hamlet. (The princes in Much Ado About Nothing almost fit the category, as Claudio has apparently put down a rebellion led by Don John just before the action of the play begins.)
Weddings of multiple couples performed or impending: As You Like It, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew, The Merchant of Venice.
Women disguised as men: As You Like It, Twelfth Night, Two Gentlemen of Verona. [Mind-bending bonus: The As You Like It version of the gender disguise adds an extra twist when Rosalind masquerading as the male Ganymede proposes to role-play a woman—herself! Remember, female stage roles in Shakespeare’s time were played by boys dressed as women. So the first audiences of As You Like It were treated to a male playing a female disguised as a male role-playing a female!]
Question> Shakespeare's decision to name the old servant "Adam" seems to confuse the otherwise consistent theme of the Garden of Eden, doesn't it? this Adam is a respectable, virtuous old man, but in the forest "the penalty of Adam" is a bad thing as you point out in Act II, Sc. 1, line 5. Hard to believe tyhis is just a coincidence of names; Shakespeare is more purposeful than that. So is Adam supposed to be a good or bad thing in this play?
ReplyDeleteBTW, thanks for doing this blog. I really liked your analysis of All's Well. Thinking about teaching it next year. Are you going to post anything on Othello?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the notes, "Mr. Byron," and blessings on MTCS which I take to be a Christian school! I'm sure Adam is intended to be a positive presence in the play since the character bearing his name is, as you say, virtuous. So why the ambiguity with "Adam's curse?" How about this? Adam is also very old and frail, near death. Perhaps he repesents redeemed but still mortal man. Adam means "man" according to some linguists, or more specifically, "red earth." So he's redeemed and wearing the sacrificial virtue of Christ even as he continues to labor physically under his own curse of death. (BTW, did you know that Eve's name was also Adam? Genesis 5:2.)
ReplyDeleteSome scholars suggest that Shakespeare's Adam actually does quietly die as time passes during the play (foreshadowed by his own words in II.6.2?) since he is never mentioned in the script after Act II. Some directors, though, like to keep him wordlessly in the later scenes, possibly looking in better health implying a reinvigoration by the wonderful air of Arden! And why not?
As for Othello, I'm not planning anything very major very soon, but I can try to get a few nuggets out there that might help. Any specific questions? Have a great summer!
Hey, Norm!
DeleteGood stuff on Adam in the play. And what a nugget on Eve's name being Adam in the Bible! So they were "The Adam Family?" (Doodle-dee-doot!)
I'd be interested in something on Iago's motivation in Othello, and whether his motivation is in any way proportional to the profound evil of his revenge, if that's what it is.