As You Like It - Dramatic Opportunities of Men

Compare the relations between older and younger men in the following extracts; pay close attention to the use of dramatic language and the opportunities offered by the text for different emphases in production: 1 Henry IV, 2.4.109-62 (Bevington ed., pp. 182-6) and As You Like It, 2.3.27-77 (Brissenden ed., pp. 131-3) The two extracts differ dramatically in their approach to the relations between older and younger men. In summary, the As You Like It scene is …

…characters of different social status. As You Like It shows this too, yet it's verse displays a more formal tone. It has been shown that both extracts can display sentiments contrary to audience expectations - the comic incorporates darkness, the sombre has the potential for humour. The Biblical allusions in this extract are replaced with comic oaths from Falstaff in Henry IV. Both extracts are linked by their examination of old and new world values.