Sunday Shakespeare Society

Who appears where

One of our members has created "who appears where" matrices for each Shakespeare play. Each one lists the characters and shows how many speeches each character has and in which scenes. The page also provides  the complete text of each play in a format optimised for our reading sessions. 

Newsletter

Members receive a regular monthly newsletter containing production news, reviews and articles on matters Shakespearean.  The following pages contain a selection of items from recent editions. 



What happens to old Adam in As You Like It?

What happens to old Adam, the faithful retainer in As You Like It? Does he die of privation and exhaustion in the forest, or does he survive? Certainly, he disappears from the play after Act 2. His fate seems to be open to interpretation, depending upon how a director wishes to represent Arden.

For example, in the RSC production of 19, Arden forest was depicted as cold and wintry, and it was made clear in performance that Adam died, reinforced by his grave onstage thereafter. In the BBC Shakespeare As You Like It of the 1970s, however, Arden was a sunlit pastoral Eden Adam started to recover once given sustenance by Duke Senior’s courtiers.

Whatever view of the forest is presented, the fact remains that Adam vanishes from the plot. Why? Is it simply that he has played out the role and function assigned to him? As ever with Shakespeare, the place to start is to read the text for clues.

When Adam waylays Orlando to warn him of the murderous intent of his brother Oliver, Adam insists that ‘though I look old, yet I am strong and lusty … My age is as a lusty winter’ (II.3.47, 52). His age is revealed as ‘fourscore’ – about 80, a very great age indeed. Adam’s unflinching loyalty in the face of misfortune offers a stark contrast to the treachery of Oliver.

Much depends, however, on just how much of an ordeal that forest exile will be; obviously, a chill winter forest, devoid of edible plant life or shelter, is far more dangerous to an elderly man than a fertile summer one. So what does the text tell us about the season?

Duke Senior’s first speech sets the scene. In Arden, they face:

‘… the icy fang
And churlish chiding of the winter’s wind,
Which when it bites and blows upon my body
Even till I shrink with cold …’ (II.1.16-19)

It may be, of course, that he is merely making a general statement about winter conditions rather than specifying the weather at that moment. Later, however, the forest exiles sing again of chill weather:

‘Come hither, come hither, come hither.
Here shall he see
No enemy
But winter and rough weather.’ (II.5.39-42)

 

 

Amiens’ song later in the scene would seem to support this theme, ie. ‘Blow, blow, thou winter wind’ (II.7.175ff).

In the next scene, Adam is on the verge of collapse:  'I can go no further. O. I die for food.Here lie I down and measure out my grave.’ (II.6.1-2)

Orlando seeks to comfort him, promising to go and find food in this ‘uncouth’ and ‘savage’ forest. He adds ‘yet thou liest in the bleak air’ (II.6.13), surely the most direct indication yet of icy wintry weather. In such an inhospitable winter setting, food is scarce and the danger far greater.

When Orlando comes upon the Duke and his followers and challenges them at sword-point, he too is desperate for help: 

‘… the thorny point/Of bare distress hath ta’en from me the show/Of smooth civility.' (II.7.95-97)  ‘I almost die for food.’ (II.7.104)

A forest of Arden that provides real perils for the exiles is surely more fitting to the Shakespearean convention of a darker sub-plot, in this case underlying the pastoral-romance main story of Orlando and Rosalind. It adds greater depth to what is sometimes considered a relatively ‘slight’ play.

Once brought into the circle of Duke Senior’s woodland court, Adam gratefully accepts their help; thereafter there are no further references to him. He has served his function in the plot, giving Orlando a reason to go into the forest and then to seek help from Duke Senior.

There seems plenty of textual evidence pointing to a wintry Arden. On the death of Adam (or not), however, it is inconclusive. Maybe the valiant old man survives, his strength bolstered by the food and warm fire of Duke Senior’s exiled court. But it is equally possible to take Adam at his word and assume that cold and deprivation prove the death of him.

Sue Taylor