As You Like It - What Is the Meaning of Love?

“Love is many things: the protective love of a mother for her child, the passion of a couple newly in love, the deep love of long-term companions and the divine love of God,” (Anderson page one). Love happens to be the greatest gift that one can ever hope to give or receive. With love, one has the ability to feel invincible, like one can do or achieve anything, as long as they have love by their side. Love also can give one a sense of comfort and belonging in the world. When one completely gives themselves to another, and when they love their significant other no matter how many flaws they possess, that too is love indeed. Love has to do with tolerance, sincerity, respect and loyalty towards one another. In Shakespeare’s As You Like It, love is a major occurring theme. There are different forms of love between the characters, some variations of love more passionate as opposed to others. Love is something that can be genuine, that can be mistaken for infatuation, and something that can be unrequited. True, genuine love occurs between Rosalind and Orlando in Shakespeare’s As You Like It. When Rosalind first encounters Orlando at his wrestling match with Charles, she is instantly won over by his good looks and masculinity. The two then become smitten during this encounter, or in other words, fall in love at first sight. Orlando professes his deep, sincere love for Rosalind by carving their names on trees in the Forest of Arden, and even leaving poems about her there as well. Orlando then announces to Rosalind, as Ganymede, that he is in love with Rosalind. Orlando, thereafter, declares that, “then, in my own person, I die,” (4.3.98). This means that if Rosalind does not love Orlando back, he would rather die, for he is deeply in love with Rosalind and cannot envision a life without her. At the end of the play, Orlando and Rosalind finally get married. Orlando and Rosalind’s relationship shows that true love does indeed exist. The relationship between Touchstone

Cited: Shakespeare, William, Brian Gibbons, and Michael Hattaway. As You Like It. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ., 2000. Print. Holy Bible: The New King James Version, Containing the Old and New Testaments. Nashville: T. Nelson, 1982. Print. Anderson, Alun. "What Is This Thing Called Love?" Science Reference Center. Web. 5 June 2012. <http://www.ebsco.com>