"As You Like It" - theme

"Duke Frederick, hearing how that every day Men of great worth resorted to this forest... where meeting with an old religious man, after some question with him, was converted." Act V. iv. 77

One of the major themes of this play is the power nature has on the characters. Throughout the play, the people who are facing difficult times often retreat to the forest. This allows them to escape the life in the city and experience real nature firsthand; something they were all not accustomed to. For example, while in the forest, Oliver changes his feelings for his brother, Orlando, after he experiences nature and the animals there. Another example is where Orlando writes all of his love poems and messages about/to Rosalind on the bark of the trees. This shows that nature has a positive effect on the characters. Touchstone seems to be the only character who truly does not like the forest. He was talking about city life and how it was more civil and simply better than the life of someone who lived out in nature. He also wished that he could go back to the city (pg 23). But other than that, nature is what brings all of the characters together in the end and allows them to live in harmony and gives them the chance for lots o' marriages.