"Cliff Notes - As You Like It" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cliff Notes)

AS YOU LIKE IT: JAQUES

Jaques (pronounced "Jake-ways" or "Jake-weez") has been the focus of
much debate. Is he a caricature of the many self-styled social
critics Shakespeare saw around him? Or is he a genuine critic of
society who voices Shakespeare's own cynical view of life? Many
readers see Jaques as a "railer," a professional griper who adopts a
melancholy pose. Is he profound or foolish? That you can even ask
such questions is a tribute to Shakespeare's genius in portraying
his major characters. You can take different views of them, just as
you can of real people.

Duke Senior and his followers treat Jaques with a certain amount of
respect, but they clearly derive more amusement than instruction
from his pronouncements. Touchstone patronizes Jaques, although
Jaques doesn't realize it. Orlando plainly tells Jaques that he
hates his company. Rosalind accuses him of being a traveler who
pretends not to like his own country only to get attention.

Are these assessments correct? Readers who see Jaques as
Shakespeare's spokesman point to his speech about the Seven Ages of
Man. If Shakespeare wanted to satirize Jaques's cynical views, would
he have Jaques express his sentiments so beautifully? On the other
hand, does the play as a whole support such a viewpoint? Would
Shakespeare have picked Jaques as his spokesman? You must make up
your mind based on your interpretation of the text.

Jaques is what Elizabethans called a "humor" character. To the
Elizabethans, humor meant temperament. A humor character is based on
an exaggerated personality trait. Elizabethans believed that a
person's temperament (mood or personality) was regulated by the
balance of four bodily fluids: blood, phlegm, choler, and melancholy.
According to this theory, if the balance of your bodily fluids
changed, your mood would alter. If a person was constantly sad and
gloomy, like Jaques, Elizabethans believed he had too much
melancholy (also called "black bile") in his system. That's why
there are references to "the melancholy Jaques."


AS YOU LIKE IT: TOUCHSTONE

Many noble households in Shakespeare's time kept "licensed fools."
These fools were essentially entertainers. They wore "motley," a
patchwork coat of various colors. Touchstone, the fool of Duke
Frederick's household, becomes Rosalind and Celia's traveling
companion when they escape to the Forest of Arden. Like Feste in
Shakespeare's Twelfth Night or the Fool in King Lear, Touchstone is
a "wise" fool. Under the guise of spouting amusing nonsense, he
reveals the truth about the people he meets.