Pastoral Life versus Court Life In the play, As You Like It, by William Shakespeare, there is an omnipresent theme of a pastoral life versus court life that permeates throughout the play and engulfs all the characters. This ubiquitous theme italicizes and exhibits the similarities and differences that court and pastoral life play on the characters that inhabit these surroundings and environment. Characters such as Duke Senior, Touchstone, and Corin play a major part in …showed first 75 words of 676 total…

…showed last 75 words of 676 total…us that life in Ardenne is a temporary affair. As the characters prepare to return to life at court, the play does not laud country over city or vice versa, but instead suggests a delicate and necessary balance between the two. The simplicity of the forest provides shelter from the strains of the court, but it also creates the need for urban style and sophistication: one would not do, or even matter, without the other.