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Shakespeare characterizes Duke Senior as a kind and gentle man who is quick to make the best of a situation. He is the father of Rosalind and the rightful ruler of the French dukedom in which As You Like It is set. At the start of the play, we learn that Duke Senior’s brother, Frederick, has usurped his title and banished him to the Forest of Arden along with his band of supporters. Given his backstory, one would assume that Duke Senior is a bitter man who resents his degradation from duke to simple forest-dweller. However, when we meet him in 2.1, it is instantly apparent that this is not the case. Duke Senior does not bemoan his new life—he relishes it. He is content because the forest provides him with everything he needs, from conversation to education to spiritual edification, for he “[f]inds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, / Sermons in stones, and good in everything” (2.1.16-17). However, Duke Senior does not only find comfort and entertainment in the Forest of Arden; he also finds freedom. He adores Arden because he finds the honest country lifestyle a liberating and welcome contrast to the “painted pomp” of the French court (2.1.3). He also reminds his men that they are now “more free from peril” than they ever were in the city (2.1.5). After all, the only thing that they have to worry about now is the incoming winter frost as opposed to scheming courtiers and political disputes.
Duke Senior’s overt veneration of country life is crucial because it highlights one of the play’s key themes: city life versus country life. As You Like It is a comedy and a love story but it is also a work of pastoral fiction, a longtime literary tradition in which a simple and idyllic rural life is contrasted with the complicated and corrupt urban life. In pastoral literature, the natural world is transformed into a paradise or a safe haven that provides the characters with the freedom to become the best versions of themselves. As You Like It’s Forest of Arden is one such space. While almost every character in the play feels the effects and experiences the benefits of their time in the forest, Duke Senior is their primary vocalizer.
