Brideshead Revisited and As You Like It by Shakespeare Analysis - Book Report/Review Example

Compare Brideshead Revisited and As You Like it by Shakespeare. The pastoral comedy As You Like It by William Shakespeare and the novel Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh depict various similarities and differences prevalent in both texts. As You Like focuses on the nature of desire and love, while in Brideshead Revisited, Waugh struggles to explain and understand love as the novel explores various love kinds, from the sexual relationship and “romantic” love between male characters to the sibling relationships and stilted marriages. Consequently, both texts exhibit the theme of Religion whereby in Brideshead, Catholicism plays a vital role in expressing the Roman religion in literary form. Thus, the texts have similar themes of love, exile, religion, and homoeroticism, but Brideshead Revisited celebrate the failure of love while Shakespeare revels in love. The writing styles in both texts demonstrate a distinction between the two writers. As You Like is atypical of Shakespeare’s writing style where the characters indulge in problematic scenarios but with their own abilities find ways to resolve the problems they encounter. However, it is imperative to argue that Waugh’s characters adopt differing strategies for survival and succeed in resuming their individual lives. Even though the theme of love is prevalent in both texts, the play and the play present love at differing levels. As You Like It mocks the conventional literature and poetry associated with love whereby it is a disease that leads to torment and suffering to the lover, or portray the male lover as the slave of his mistress. As these ideas typify aspects of the courtly love custom of Shakespeare’s time, the play laments the suffering associated with love, but this is conducted in a ridiculous and unconvincing way. Love is a vital them in the play as it is manifested in story of Rosalind and Orlando, Ganymede and Phoebe, as well as Oliver and Celia. Consequently, the love story of Touchstone and Audrey tends to mock romantic love, while the relationship between Celia and Rosalind is a form of love tied by a deep bond. Shakespeare demonstrates the hypocrisy of “courtly” romance and elaborates the silliness of the male lover. The novel, Brideshead Revisited struggles in defining love as it demonstrates differing kinds of love including stilted marriages, and sexual relationship typifying men. Under the shades of love, the texts illustrate the theme of homoeroticism. Similar to numerous Shakespeare’s plays, As You Like It, focuses love on differing levels between individuals of the same sex. Even though, Rosalind and Celia seem close friends, their profound intimacy supersedes that of ordinary friends. In Act I, Celia’s words represent the protests of lovers. The play also depicts homoeroticism in Rosalind’s cross-dressing. Being confined and forced to live in a palace, Rosalind finds few chances to go out. Her close friend and cousin Celia is the sole reason behind her stay in the palace. When she is driven out of the palace, she chooses to dress up as a young boy in order to prevent herself from getting into danger. As a boy, she calls herself Ganymede. Thus, this is the first connotation of homosexuality. Consequently, in the Ganymede mythology, the name traditionally belongs to a beautiful boy who turns to Jove’s lover, and thus the name explicitly carries the connotation of homosexuality. Everyone from both sexes tends to love Ganymede, the boy who resembles a woman. Even though, the character Orlando should be in love with Rosalind, he enjoys the ideas of dramatizing his romance with Ganymede, the beautiful young boy. This demonstrates that the boy who resembles his lover is more pleasing than Rosalind. Phoebe is also pleased with the feminine Ganymede than Silvius. The pastoral tradition tends to influence homoerotism in the play as the culture incorporates aspects of the same-sex love. In Brideshead Revisited, the nature of friendship between characters is a topic a debate as the relationship between Sebastian and Charles portrays homoerotic implications. The reason Charles gives for falling in love with Sebastian’s sister is her close resemblance with her brother. The novel revels about the characters initial encounter, their eventual estrangement as well as blossoming friendship. Sexual connotations are prevalent in various ways. Charles makes overtly homosexual references in lines such as Charles was “in search of love in those days” when he encountered Sebastian. The line by one of the characters, “our naughtiness high on the catalogue of grave sins” might depict the nature of their relationship as typified by elements of homosexuality, because the act is a grave mistake in reference to the Catholic dogma. Consequently, reference is made in the manner in which Charles impatiently awaits letters from Sebastian. More often than not, Cara, Lord Marchmain’s mistress, refers to their relationship as a “romantic friendship.” Thus, both texts have homoerotic connotations, however, in the end the authors set the characters in the right direction as Rosalind marries Orlando and phoebe marries Salvius. In Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh demonstrates the death of love when Julia, under religious obligation, refuses to marry Charles. The themes of exile and banishment characterize both texts. As You Like It thrives in banishment as various characters have been threatened or forcibly removed from their residence. This includes Rosalind, Duke Senior, and Orlando. Some of them have voluntarily deserted their positions due to a sense of aptness including Adam, the noble servant and Celia. As Rosalind is forced to leave the palace, Orlando leaves his house because his brother persecutes him. It is then notable that the play winds up with a ceremony of four marriages that tends to unite individuals an ushers the couples into the society. The community at the end of Act V is the same that returns to the dukedom to be ruled and also exercise authority. Thus, the ceremony, which incorporates the poor and royalty, demonstrates a utopian society where a just world exists. Consequently, In Brideshead Revisited, Sebastian leaves the house in search of freedom while on the other hand Lord Marchmain has also abandoned his residence. Thus, the characters in both texts suffer the hardships of exile but the main difference is that Lord Marchmain and Sebastian suffer from self-induced exile. Religion is a vital them in Brideshead Revisited as Waugh attempts to explore various elements of Catholicism. From pre-wedding to dinner-date conversations, religious aspects dominate the novel. In one way, the characters tend to struggle with religion, including the atheist protagonist. The single-most concept that individuals in the novel tend to agree with is that being holy entails suffering. In reference to the principal, the religious characters decide to suffer in order to be closer to the Supreme Being. According to the authors, his intent was for every individual to accept and define divine grace in their own way. Through the nonbeliever Charles Ryder, the readers meet the deeply but severely flawed Catholic family of Marchmain. The themes of reconciliation and divine grace are prevalent throughout the story as many of the characters experience a conversion in differing ways. For instance, Lord Marchmain, who converted to Catholicism form Anglicanism, lived in adultery, reconciled with the Catholic Church before his death. Julia who marries Rex Mottram, a matrimony that is regarded invalid with the church, while she is also involved with Charles in an extramarital affair. She later comes to view her relationship with Charles as immoral and decides to part with him despite the attachment they shared. The flamboyant alcoholic, Sebastian, ends up in a monastery as he fights with his alcohol problem. The most significance conversion in the book revolves around the protagonist, Charles, which is demonstrated cunningly at the end of the novel, when he kneels down at Brideshead chapel’s tabernacle to pray. Although As You Like It does not include spiritual conversations similar to Brideshead Revisited, the Christian designation fails to entail the religion itself, instead it signifies the regeneration and restoration of the society through the declaration of various values of the Christian doctrine. These Christian values include marital love, tolerance for differing perspectives or viewpoints, optimism about life and brotherly love. Despite the injustice shown to individuals throughout the story, the play ends in happiness. The play focuses on the theme of injustice and usurpation on other individual’s property. Duke Frederick seizes the authority of Duke Senior, his older brother, while Oliver does the same by mistreating Orlando by forcing him to seek his fortunes in another place. Both Orlando and Duke Senior seek asylum in the forest, where through nature justice is restored. However, reconciliation and forgiveness form an imperative part of the ending in relation to Christian values, as a Hermit converts Duke Frederick and restores dukedom to the older brother, Duke Senior. Conversely, Oliver undergoes a transformation as he learns to love his brother, Orlando. Hence, it is imperative to argue that the two literary works, Brideshead Revisited and As You Like It have significant similarities as well as differences. Both texts revolve around similar themes of love, religion, exile and banishment, and homoeroticism. Even though both writers were distinguished by their own writing styles that enable their characters to resolve the problems they encounter. Read More