Summary Duke Senior, Rosalind’s father, who is searching for Jaques, arrives on the scene and unexpectedly meets Jaques. Jaques describes, with evident delight, his meeting with Touchstone. He says that he wishes that he were a “fool” (and dressed in an identifiable coat of motley) so that he might be […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Act II: Scene 7Summary and Analysis Act II: Scene 6
Summary In the last scene, we noted that a meal was being prepared for the duke and his men; in this scene, in contrast, no meal awaits Orlando and Adam as they wander through the forest. Adam says that he is too weak from hunger to go on, but his […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Act II: Scene 6Summary and Analysis Act II: Scene 5
Summary Amiens, Jaques, and several lords of Duke Senior are gathered in another part of the forest. Amiens has been singing, and Jaques urges him to continue while the others sing along. Amiens does so and orders the others to lay out a meal under the trees. Jaques has been […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Act II: Scene 5Summary and Analysis Act II: Scene 4
Summary After we left Orlando and Adam hurrying toward the Forest of Arden in the last scene, we now meet a trio of weary travelers — Rosalind, dressed as a young man, and Celia, and Touchstone; they have finally reached the forest. As they pause to rest, a young shepherd, […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Act II: Scene 4Summary and Analysis Act II: Scene 3
Summary Arriving home, Orlando meets Adam, who tells him that news of his triumph in the wrestling match has spread and that Oliver is plotting to burn down Orlando’s sleeping quarters that very night. Failing that, Adam says, Oliver will try to murder Orlando by some other means. He warns […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Act II: Scene 3Summary and Analysis Act II: Scene 2
Summary In this scene, Frederick discovers that Celia and Rosalind are gone and that Touchstone is also missing. A lord tells him that the cousins were overheard praising Orlando; he suggests that they may be in his company. Frederick then commands that Orlando or — in the event of Orlando’s […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Act II: Scene 2Summary and Analysis Act II: Scene 1
Summary In the Forest of Arden, Duke Senior expresses satisfaction with the pastoral life. He tells his entourage that he Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, Sermons in stones, and good in every thing. (16-17) As they prepare for the hunt, he confesses that he is troubled […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Act II: Scene 1Summary and Analysis Act I: Scene 3
Summary Shortly afterward in the palace, we hear Rosalind confess her love for Orlando to Celia; she begs that Celia love him also for her sake. The girls’ talk of love, however, is interrupted by the duke’s furious entrance. “Full of anger,” he tells Rosalind that she is to be […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Act I: Scene 3Summary and Analysis Act I: Scene 2
Summary Celia, the daughter of Duke Frederick, and Rosalind, the daughter of the deposed duke, are talking on the lawn before the duke’s palace. Celia chides Rosalind for not being sufficiently “merry,” and Rosalind, although she grieves because of her father’s exile, promises to try and be cheerful and “devise […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Act I: Scene 2Summary and Analysis Act I: Scene 1
Summary In the orchard of the house of Oliver de Boys, Orlando de Boys complains to Adam, an old family servant, about how he has been treated by his elder brother, Oliver, who, according to their father’s will, was to see to it that Orlando was to be taught all […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Act I: Scene 1