Cross-dressing , Improbabilities and Contradiction in "As You Like It" of William Shakespeare

Cross-dressing   in "As You Like It" :

The prolific and deft dramatist William Shakespeare has resorted different techniques in his plays to make them attractive and to achieve the desired result. The cross-dressing is one of such techniques that we find in his comedy "As You Like It". Rosalind, before setting out for the forest of Arden to find her banished father take the camouflage of a man. She titivates herself as a brave hunter or a martial-man with, in her word, "A gallant curtle-axe upon my thigh,/A boar-spear in my hand," She takes disguise of a man as she is 'more that common tall'. Now she is not Rosalind. She says: "I'll have no worse a name than Jove's own page"; she takes the name 'Ganymede'. Celia, her cousin, does not take male dress but she changes herself  with 'poor and mean attire' and 'with a kind of umber smirch' on her face. Celia , now 'Aliena( which means a stranger) has played a vital role in making the matter of 'cross-dressing' meaningful. Why do Rosalind and Celia camouflage in such way ?   The reason behind it, in Rosalind's word " Beauty provoketh thieves sooner than gold".

The Duke Frederick has banished the Duke Senior and has usurped the dominions , but he does not banish Rosalind with her father. It's no compassion, but self-interest that inspires him to keep Rosalind who would serve as a constant companion of his daughter Celia. Now, being jealous with Rosalind's good nature and disposition that, he thinks, belittle Celia's honour, the Duke Frederick has ordered Rosalind to leave the kingdom within ten days. Celia tries to persuade her father to revoke the order, but in vein and she also decides to leave the kingdom and to go with Rosalind to the forest of Arden. Why would she denounce such royal dignity and comfortable life ?  The reason is clear in Celia's words : " We still have slept together,/Rose at an instant,learn'd,play'd,eat together,/And whereso'er we went, like Juno's swans, / Still we went coupled and inseparable". However, the whimsical, jealous and cruel nature of the Duke Frederick  compel his daughter Celia to leave home stealthily causing much concern for her father. This is the cause behind the introduction of the 'cross-dressing' in the comedy "As You Like It". 

The 'cross-dressing' in "As You Like It" has brought about a new comic flavour in the play.The dress and disguise of these two royal girls add variety to this drama. The innovative power of Rosalind and Celia comes to the fore. The fertility of their brain proves with their thinking that the thieves are provoked more by the beauty  of woman than the precious gold.

The 'cross-dressing' helps in smooth movement and proper development of the play, it helps in the plot construction. Had it been avoided the play would have ended in the midway or would take turn in another way. If Rosalind and Celia left the kingdom in their original royal dress, they would have fled , they would have been caught by Duke's people.

The 'cross-dressing' helps Rosalind to gauge the depth of Orlando's love for Rosalind. The relationship of love between Oliver and Celia would not have developed.More than that the Duke Senior could recognize his daughter in normal attire and the play would suffer some further development . 

 

Improbabilities  in "As You Like It"  :

 

Improbability should not be termed as defect of the drama. It does not  mar the literature in it. Improbability can only itch the mind of the readers and disturbs him/her a little in the full enjoyment of the play. Some Improbabilities are found in 'As You Like It' like all other dramas of Shakespeare. First we point out the matter of Ganymede , the disguised Rosalind. It seems improbable that Orlando who loves Rosalind so much can not recognize her. More than that , the Duke Senior can not get the smell a bit  of his daughter. How can it be possible ? In disguise one can hide ones appearance to some extent or to a great extent, but the person does not undergo the change of such a  great proportion he/she becomes a person of new identity and personality. A careful view can detect the disguised person easily. It's a great wonder that Orlando comes to  close contact with Ganymede,he converses with disguised Rosalind and also woos her,yet he fails to recognize her.

Is it not an improbability that Celia who is very practical and intelligent falls in love with Oliver  who can not be an attractive lover. Oliver is basically a villain , he has a wicked past ,he hatches plans one after another to kill his own brother Orlando, he betrays even his dead father Sir Rowland de Boys. Love is a matter of finer sentiment and it can not be appropriate for a cruel person like Oliver.Celia-Oliver love affair is described by Rosalind in  amusing way  : "There was never anything so sudden , but the fight of two rams and Caesar's thrasonical  brag of Come, Saw and Overcome".  

Macbeth - William Shakespeare : Five different scenes including the opening one are five pillars in the structure of the play.

Introduction

"Macbeth" written by William Shakespeare is a great tragedy on historical theme. The opening scene of the play is very significant and necessary for this play. Beside this, the four other scenes known as  Dagger scene, Porter scene, Banquet scene and Sleep-walking scene are so adhering to this tragedy that without these scenes the drama would remain incomplete and  would be termed as a poor-structured  tragic composition. Before the discussion about the importance of these scenes we first locate the particular place and point where the said scenes occur.

 'Opening Scene' as the name suggests occurs  at the first of the play and it is the Sc. I of Act - I. Next the 'Dagger Scene' is arranged in Act - II , Sc. - I. The third one, the 'Porter Scene' is included in Sc - III of Act - II.One finds the 'Banquet Scene' in Act - III, Sc. - IV. The Act-V, Sc. - I of  "Macbeth" starts with the famous 'Sleep-walking Scene.'

'Opening Scene' : 

 

"Macbeth" starts with the popular 'Opening Scene' which introduces us to three witches who assemble in a  heath amidst the lightning and thunder. The second witch speaks in a very enigmatic way that they would again meet "When the battle's lost and won" and the third witch mentions the name of Macbeth. Besides all the witches jointly say: "Fair is foul and foul is fair." Though  the  volume of the scene is very short and very few words are uttered by the witches, the scene demands grave importance. 

According to some critics the play  "Macbeth" gains no dramatic effect by this scene. It may be regarded as poor and pointless by some critics, but the great poet Coleridge said that the opening scene of "Macbeth" strikes the key note of the whole play and thus he defended the scene. None can deny that this scene with the appearance  of the witches prepares the mind of the readers that some ominous is going to happen in the play. One thing is clear that the  witches are deliberately waiting for Macbeth as 'Evil' waits for the most unfortunate person. The epigrammatic utterance  "Fair is foul and foul is fair" indicates the 'reversal of values' and also throws some light on the character of Macbeth at the very outset of the play.

So this scene is of immense importance and its necessity is admitted for the fulfillment of the play.

'Dagger Scene'

The foregrounding  of the dark and evil atmosphere in the opening scene is strengthened in the dagger scene. When alone , Macbeth visualizes  a dagger hovering in front of him and the handle is towards his hand. He tries to clutch the dagger but it escapes him. After keen watch Macbeth realizes that the dagger is tangible and it is just like the dagger kept in his scabbard. His tension and terror increase when he discovers the drops of blood on the blade and handle of the dagger. Various dreadful thoughts dawn in Macbeth's mind and he vents his mind in his soliloquy. 

This dagger scene is very important as it reveals the inner working of the mind of Macbeth. Actually Macbeth's guilty mind creates a hallucination in the form of a dagger. As he is not a born criminal, it indicates his moral agitation. The dagger besmeared with blood is the external manifestation of the murderous design of Macbeth.The devilish character of this  valiant hero is , to some extent, revealed 

by the dagger scene.

'Porter Scene' 

In the porter scene the intoxicated porter thinks himself the janitor of the Hell Gate. He is going to be tired as there is continuous knocking at the door and the sinners enter this 'dungeon horrible' one by one.

A farmer, an equivocator and an English tailor are granted the hell for some sinful acts.

The porter scene is of immense importance.It serves as the comic relief as it removes the tension and  heaviness in the minds of the audience and prepares the minds for further actions to come. This scene provides some time between the exit of Macbeth in the previous scene and the entrance in the present scene after changing his dress and washing the spots of blood. The porter scent indicates that Macbeth has turned his castle into a hell after the murder of the king Duncan. 

'Banquet Scene'

The coronation banquet is ready and all the dignified guests are waiting in the great hall. The murderers appointed by Macbeth inform the latter that Banquo is murdered but Fleance, Banquo's son is escaped. When Macbeth utters Banquo's name , he with great horror and amazement discovers that the ghost of Banquo  is installed on seat reserved for Macbeth. He , thoroughly unnerved, addresses the ghost : " Thou canst not say I did it." Macbeth vents his rambling mind. With the reappearance of the ghost he loses his total control on himself. However, the intervention of Lady Macbeth somehow manages the situation but much thing is divulged. 

The ghost of Banquo appears only to Macbeth, nobody else, not even Lady Macbeth.The ghost is nothing but the personification of Macbeth's sense of guilt. Macbeth being unnerved exposed the secret of Bunquo's murder and proves that he is not a confirmed murderer. This banquet scene throws some light on the character of Lady Macbeth, on her cleverness and presence of mind.She vents some encouraging words to her husband, explains the cause of the abnormal behaviour of Macbeth and takes the charge of the situation with her extraordinary skill.  

'Sleep-walking Scene.'

The sleep-walking scene opens with a Doctor of physic and a Gentle woman talking about the somnambulism of Lady Macbeth. After the murder of the king she is mentally disturbed and is found walking in the room in her sleep during night. The lady appears with a taper and speaks about the murder of Duncan, Banquo and Lady Macduff. She takes paper, writes on it , seals it and keeps it. She washes her hands to remove the smell of blood. The Doctor comes to know all the misdeed done by Macbeth and his wife.

This scene is too much expository. This scene exposes the guilt of the two - Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. It reveals the fact that Lady Macbeth is after all a lady with all weakness of a woman, though she has projected masculine  mettle. This scene proves that Lady Macbeth is not a born criminal and she can not be called the 'fourth witch' of the play "Macbeth"

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