Language (as you like it)

As You Like It

In Jacques ‘all the worlds a stage’ speech, Shakespeare uses the assonance of different vowel sounds to create a rhythmic pattern, which makes it easy to listen to, like a song.

‘And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances’

Shakespeare’s also written this verse in iambic pentameter, again making the rhythm flow and it becoming easy to listen to. An exception to this is when he starts a new subject on a line; he has crafted it so it the syllables are a little over 10 so it creates the wrong pattern. This may ‘wake’ people up when they are watching as suddenly the beat they are familiar with has changed. This is very clever as it is a subtle technique to keep the audience engaged. Iambic pentameter is the rhythm of 10 syllables in a line in the sequence of deDum deDum deDum deDum deDum.

When looking at the scene between Rosalind and Orlando, we see a variety of rhetorical devices. When Rosalind speaks she uses alliteration; ‘holiday humour’ and ‘lovers lacking’ this creates a higher status for this character as it makes her speech seem eloquent and well-spoken. In this scene it is opposed by Orlando’s short utterances and repetition of what he has previously said and what Rosalind has previously said. This depicts the social class as Rosalind was higher up than Orlando so she may have a more formal vocabulary. This subtle difference gives Rosalind a more feminine aspect to her even when she is dressed as a boy so there is a contrast between the two 'men'.