As You Like It: Act I: Scene II

Extract I
Rosalind: Dear Celia, I show more mirth than I am mistress of, and
would you yet I were merrier? Unless you could teach me
to forget a banished father, you must not learn me how to
remember any extraordinary pleasure.
Celia: Herein I see thou lovest me not with the full weight that I
love thee. If my uncle, thy banished father, had banished
thy uncle, the duke my father, so thou hadst been still with
me, I could have taught my love to take thy father for mine:
so wouldst thou, if the truth of thy love to me were so
righteously tempered as mine is to thee. 

(i)  In what mood does Rosalind speak the words in the extract? Why is
she in such a mood?
        Rosalind is in a melancholy mood while she speaks the words in the
extract.
         Rosalind is in a sad mood because she is missing her father, the
senior duke, who has been driven away from the dukedom by her uncle,
the new duke. 

(ii) Give the meaning of:
(a) I show more mirth than I am mistress of: I try to be more cheerful
than I am really capable of.
(b) If my uncle, thy banished father, had banished thy uncle, the duke
my father: If your father, the senior duke, had exiled your uncle, my
father: 

(iii) What does Celia say to console Rosalind?
        Celia suggests to Rosalind to consider her father Frederick as her
own father for the sake of the true sisterly love that she (Celia) has
for her elder cousin. 

(iv) What injustice does Rosalind suffer? What does Celia promise to
do against such an unjust suffering?
        Rosalind suffers the injustice of being estranged from her father,
the senior duke, thanks to the evil and greedy nature of her uncle,
the new duke.
        Being the only heiress to her father’s dukedom, Celia promises to
give away her wealth and estate to Rosalind when she inherits the same
from her father. 

(v)     The princesses decide to talk about falling in love. What
warning does Celia give about falling in love as a sport?
        Celia warns Rosalind that even if she decides to fall in love for the
fun of it, she should not go so far as to risk her good name. In other
words, she should preserve her womanly modesty at all cost. 

(vi) How can you show from the context that Celia is a sincere and
loyal person.
        Celia’s clear assertion (because of her true love for her cousin)
that she would have loved the senior duke as her own father even if he
would have banished Frederick, her real father, demonstrates her
sincerity and devotion to Rosalind.






Act I Scene II Lines 223-230
Solved Contextual Questions (courtesy- Xavier Pinto)
6. (iv) Give the meaning of
(a) My better parts / Are all thrown down;
All my qualities and faculties have been overwhelmed;
(b) my pride fell with my fortunes;
With the loss of my good fortune and prosperity, I also lost my sense
of dignity;
(V) Explain clearly in what way has Orlando overthrown more than his
enemies.
Not only does Orlando overthrow Charles in the wrestling match but he
also wins Rosalind’s heart at the very first meeting, having charmed
her with his manliness and noble character.