As You Like It · Chapter
Scene III explained
Touchstone and Audrey prepare to marry in the forest, with Jaques observing and eventually intervening to counsel Touchstone against a hasty, informal wedding.
What happens
Touchstone and Audrey prepare to marry in the forest, with Jaques observing and eventually intervening to counsel Touchstone against a hasty, informal wedding.
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 Rising action.
- 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
- Love and Marriage
Touchstone's pragmatic and cynical view of marriage contrasts with Audrey's simplicity, highlighting the tension between romantic ideals and practical unions.
- Disguise and Deception
Touchstone's wordplay and feigning in poetry, as well as Jaques's hidden observation, underscore the theme of deception in relationships.
Characters to notice
- Touchstone
Attempts to marry Audrey in the forest, philosophizes about marriage and horns, and is counseled by Jaques.
- Audrey
Simple and honest, she agrees to marry Touchstone but is confused by his poetic talk.
- Jaques
Observes Touchstone and Audrey's exchange, then intervenes to advise Touchstone against a makeshift marriage.
- Sir Rowland de Boys
Referenced indirectly through the mention of 'good Master Oliver' (Oliver Martext), but not present.
Key passages
“the truest poetry is the most feigning”
The most genuine poetry is the most deceptive.
Touchstone argues that poetry, like love, involves pretense.
“as the ox hath his bow, sir, the horse his curb and the falcon her bells, so man hath his desires; and as pigeons bill, so wedlock would be nibbling.”
Just as animals have their natural restraints and behaviors, humans have desires, and marriage is a natural inclination.
Touchstone uses animal imagery to justify the urge to marry.
