As You Like It · Chapter
Scene VI explained
Orlando and Adam, exhausted and starving in the Forest of Arden, stop to rest.
What happens
Orlando and Adam, exhausted and starving in the Forest of Arden, stop to rest. Adam collapses, believing he will die, but Orlando encourages him to hold on while he searches for food, promising to carry him to shelter.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
This is the dramatic climax because Rosalind, who has been orchestrating the pastoral love games from a positi…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Brotherly Conflict and Reconciliation
Orlando's loyalty to Adam mirrors the familial bonds that contrast with his brother Oliver's cruelty.
Characters to notice
Key passages
“Dear master, I can go no further. O, I die for food! Here lie I down, and measure out my grave.”
Adam tells Orlando he cannot continue and is dying from hunger, so he lies down to await death.
Adam's despair highlights the physical toll of their flight into the forest.
“If this uncouth forest yield any thing savage, I will either be food for it or bring it for food to thee.”
Orlando declares he will either find food for Adam or become food for the wild animals himself.
Orlando's vow underscores his selfless devotion to Adam.
