Belonging

As You Like It By William Shakespeare
Belonging can be described as people, places, community and the world at large but it can be portrayed in many different ways. As You Like It by William Shakespeare published in the 1600’s does this by the story line of the play. Shakespeare represents this by using more than one plot line to reinforce the themes of belonging verses alienation. A prime example of this is Oliver and Orland after Sir Roland De Bois is killed. Oliver the older brother of the two is left in charge and he will do everything in his power to make his brother Orlando miserable.
One of the main ways that Shakespeare displays belonging is by the fictitious forest of Arden. The forest of Arden is a place where everyone that is there finds a sense of belonging in some way, in most cases through a relationship. When Orlando moves to the forest of Arden after his brother sets out a man hunt for him his lover Rosalind and her friend Celia also move there. On their journey to the forest they disguise themselves as Ganymede and Aliena respectively. They feel that if they are represented as the tough guy in the situation that they will remain safe for the duration of the trip. This little movement symbolises belonging. The forest of Arden is represented as a place where you can go to escape your worries and this becomes clearer in the later part of the play.
Amiens, a lords attendant should be seen to be a person that remains behind the curtain. To a certain extent he does but towards the end of the play he starts to change his character. Amiens coincidently happens to be a town in France which is known for its community spirit and religious state; this is shown through Amiens character when he leads the forest of Arden in a song. This is seen to be a strange thing to do but after knowing what his character means it represents belonging in many ways.
Another interesting way that Shakespeare represented belonging in As You Like It was in Act 1. Adam a...