ENGL 339/Schwartz Pastoral Poetry
Pastoral (from pastor, Latin for "shepherd") refers to a literary work dealing with shepherds and rustic life. Pastoral poetry is highly conventionalized; it presents an idealized rather than realistic view of rustic life. Classical (Greek and Latin) pastoral works date back to the 3rd century B.C., when the Greek poet Theocritus wrote his Idylls about the rustic life of Sicily for the sophisticated citizens of the city of Alexandria. In the first century B.C., Virgil wrote Latin poems depicting himself and his equally sophisticated friends and acquaintances as shepherds living a simple, rural life. Shakespeare's knowledge of pastoral conventions was drawn both from his humanist education (which included Virgil and possibly Theocritus) and from his familiarity with the works of contemporaries who imitated the ancients by writing pastoral poetry in English.
Common topics of pastoral poetry include love and seduction; the value of poetry; death and mourning; the corruption of the city or court vs. the "purity" of idealized country life; politics (generally treated satirically: the "shepherds" critique society or easily identifiable political figures). A common form is the eclogue (a dialogue between two shepherds). This conversation may be between a shepherd and the shepherdess he loves (generally his attempt to seduce her); a "singing contest" to see which shepherd is the better poet (a third may act as judge); or sophisticated banter between two supposedly "rude swains" who discuss a lady, their flocks, or a current event; lament a dead friend (a eulogy or elegy); or praise a notable individual. Laudatory poems, laments upon a death, songs of courtship and the complaints of a lovesick shepherd also occur as pastoral monologues.
An important subgroup of the pastoral eclogue or monologue is the elegy, which expresses the poet's grief at the loss of a friend or an important person. Conventional features of pastoral elegies include: the invocation of the muse; expression of the "shepherd"-poet's grief; praise of the dead "shepherd"; invective against death; effects of the death upon nature (disruptions in climate etc. as expressions of a personified Nature's grief and sympathy); and ultimately, the poet's acceptance of the inevitability of death and hope for immortality. Pastoral elegies may also include such elements as a procession of mourners; digressions on a topical issue (frequently satirical); flower symbolism; the use of a refrain; rhetorical questions. The pastoral elegy was still practiced by 19th-century Romantic and Victorian poets; see e.g. Shelley's Adonais and Arnold's Thyrsis.
Shakespeare's contemporaries revived and imitated the topics and forms of classical pastoral poetry. For example, Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love," Ralegh's "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd," and Campion's "I Care Not For These Ladies" are pastoral songs of courtship and seduction. Eclogue 4 of Edmund Spenser's Shepheardes Calender (1579) and Mary Herbert's "A Dialogue Between Two Shepherds" (1599) praise Queen Elizabeth, while Milton's Lycidas (1637) is a pastoral elegy lamenting the loss of a classmate. Both Spenser's and Milton's pastoral poems include satirical elements: Lycidas denounces the corruption of the clergy, while the Shepheardes Calender attacks those responsible for the neglect of poetry (Eclogue 10).
Renaissance poets not only imitated these classical topics and forms, they also expanded the pastoral mode to include the romance and drama. Pastoral drama and romance lacked classical models, but were strongly influenced by Italian Renaissance models, e.g. Tasso's pastoral dramatic poem Aminta (1573) and Guarini's pastoral tragicomedy Il Pastor Fido (1590). Pastoral romances of the English Renaissance include Sidney's Arcadia (1590) and Lodge's Rosalynde: Euphues Golden Legacie--the work which supplied the story of As You Like It. Examples of English pastoral dramas include John Fletcher's The Faithful Shepherdess (Fletcher, 1579-1625, is the poet who collaborated with Shakespeare on Henry VIII and The Two Noble Kinsmen) and Ben Jonson's The Sad Shepherd (left unfinished at Jonson's death in 1637).
The affectation of rustic life in pastoral poetry is a purely artistic device; it creates a distancing effect which allows the poet to step back from and critique society. The artificiality of pastoral poetry is most explicit in the courtly language and dress of the "shepherds," which better fit the drawing rooms of polite society than the hills, swamps and sheepfolds of real rustic life. Thus, As You Like It contrasts the corruption of the court with the idealized Forest of Arden, in which the banished Duke Senior and his followers live a decidedly courtly existence. Note also that while Rosalind and Celia play at being shepherds, they never seem to spend any time taking care of sheep (no more than do Corin, Audrey, Silvius and Phebe). But while As You Like It is clearly pastoral in setting and themes, it transcends pastoral conventions, inviting the audience to a meditation on serious issues such as what constitutes "natural" behavior, or the connection between language and truth. On one level, As You Like It is about the power of language: it explores the ways in which figurative language or poetic conventions can help or hinder communication; the "truth" (or lack of same) of figurative speech; and the ways in which language can be abused (deliberately used to mislead; unwittingly misinterpreted; twisted in the pursuit of "unnatural" ends).
1) What are the two main settings of the play? What symbolic functions do they have? Where are most characters happiest? Why do the inhabitants of the forest go back to the city at the end of the play? Is "reality" affected by the characters' sojourn in the idealized "Green World" of the forest? Compare/contrast with MND.
2) Definition: a "dramatic foil" is a minor character who resembles or is in parallel circumstances to a central figure in the play. Foils are similar enough to the main character(s) to provide a useful basis of comparison, but different enough that the comparison is meaningful: they enhance our understanding of the main characters' personality traits or actions. Which characters in AYLI function as foils to which other characters? What does the comparison of these parallel characters (or sets of characters) bring to our understanding of the play as a whole?
3) In I.i. we learn that two sets of brothers are in a state of contention. What causes their quarrels and hatred? Why is Rosalind banished? Why does Celia go with her? Is their behavior "natural"? Note use of the words "nature," "natural" and "unnatural" (and instances of "unnatural" behavior) throughout the play. Like MND, AYLI ends with multiple weddings. What is their symbolic function? What initial conflicts are resolved by these marriages? What breaches are healed? Is love the "natural" antidote to "unnatural" hatred?
4) Consider the various depiction(s) of love in AYLI. How does Orlando show he is in love? What kind of lover is he? (realistic, idealistic, sad, silly, etc.?) How does Rosalind react to his behavior? Why does Ganymede tell him he needs a "love-cure"? What traits does Orlando share with Silvius? Why does Phebe reject Silvius? Why (other than the obvious reason!) does Rosalind reject Phebe? What kind of love is Touchstone most interested in? Why does he choose Audrey? Are they well matched? And what about Celia and Oliver? Keep in mind that women's parts were played by men in Shakespeare's time. What humor is derived from the sexual ambiguity of Rosalind's (or Ganymede's) interaction with Orlando and Phebe?
5) The "plot" of a (happy) love story typically involves the ups and down of a couple working toward the mutual acknowledgement of affection; each is tormented by doubt as to whether the other feels the same. But Rosalind has proof positive of Orlando's love for her early in the play. Why doesn't the story end there? (Since it is likely that her father would approve their marriage, why doesn't she reveal herself to Orlando and to Duke Senior immediately?) What is the purpose of her continued testing of Orlando? Is Rosalind a conventional romantic heroine? Who controls the love story between Orlando and Rosalind? Why might Shakespeare have given Rosalind the play's epilogue? Compare/contrast with Puck in MND.
6) Jaques is a conventional stereotype of the melancholic in Renaissance literature, a thoughtful, moral, serious type with a satiric wit and a tendency to moroseness (Hamlet is another famous melancholic figure). How does Jaques relate to Duke Senior, to Orlando, and to Rosalind? Touchstone represents another Shakespearean convention: the court jester as wise Fool, who speaks truth through apparently nonsensical utterances. Why is Touchstone's role so attractive to Jaques?
7) Note the way in which Shakespeare plays with pastoral conventions. Is the pastoral life meant to seem ideal? Why or why not? AYLI is also a "romantic comedy," referring not just to love relationships, but to the use of fantastic, magical or improbable elements (see MND handout). What magical or fantastic events occur in the play?
8) AYLI is a very talky play. Not much really happens after Act I, but the characters talk incessantly. Note in particular conversations or statements concerning language: how ideas are, can or should be expressed; difficulty in understanding language (or in making oneself understood); literal vs. figurative speech; the importance of saying what one means. Note also instances of poetic debates (another feature of pastoral poetry). To what extent is AYLI a play about language? What does Shakespeare seem to be saying by this emphasis on language? Is there a connection with what Rosalind wants to teach Orlando?
VIDEO QUESTIONS
(optional; for recommended screenings)For Instructions on how to complete video exercises, as well as the two general questions to ask for ANY Shakespeare video analysis, see the handout on Video Questions for A Midsummer Night's Dream at
Remember that you must answer the two general questions for any Shakespeare video AND the two specific questions for this play TWICE: once based on your OWN informed understanding of the text, prior to seeing the video. Then ask yourself the same questions about the performance screened (e.g. the BBC production, the 1936 film starring Laurence Olivier), answering them as you believe the director would do, based upon your attentive viewing of the video and informed knowledge of the text. Type up your answers if desired for (limited) E.C. (bring to class last day of discussion of AYLI).
Specific questions for AYLI:
1) What is the function of the pastoral themes? How would I, as director (or: how does this director) communicate this idea to the audience? (How "natural" would I make nature? How realistic would I make the pastoral elements?)
2) What is the function of the secondary couples Silvius and Phebe, Touchstone and Audrey, Celia and Oliver? (Are they dispensable?) Do they serve as doubles or foils? To whom? What would be the effect of their elimination? How would I, as director (or: how does this director?) communicate their importance (or lack of same) to the audience?
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