As You Like It
How do the woods change with the arrival of the Duke and his Lords? How do they disturb nature? Is this right or wrong?
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The forest of Arden needs to be viewed a projection of the self, an intensifier of oneself. Duke Senior describes his men as being able to: "Find tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, / Sermons in stones, and good in everything" (2.1.16-17). This is an image of the goodness of the Duke himself. However, Oliver comes across quite a different version of the forest later on in the play. He encounters snakes and lions, and he himself becomes long-haired and wild looking. Thus Arden appears differently to everyone in it depending on their personalities.
In fact, this is quite apparent in 2.6 when we see Adam and Orlando walking around in a savage paradise, hungry for food. This contrasts with the banquet that Duke Senior is laying out for his men. Indeed, Orlando is the savage: "Forbear, and eat no more!" (2.7.88), he cries when he sees the food that Duke Senior has spread out on the ground. Surprised by the civility with which he is greeted, Orlando says, "Pardon me, I pray you. / I thought that all things had been savage here" (2.7.105-106). Orlando thinks he is in a savage place, yet the wilderness is more civilized than he is. The irony is that in this play the bestial man is found in the court, not the country.