In the pastoral setting of the Forest of Arden in As You Like It by William Shakespeare, the characters are physically distanced from society, and therefore from the political, economic and the sexual rules that govern social life. If Arden is a paradise, however, it is illusory. Shakespeare initially represents Arden as a sanctuary where characters can reinvent themselves in roles that were not available to them in society. The experience of taking on different characters, however, only renews the characters' dedication to their traditional social roles. Shakespeare therefore presents the Ardennes Forest as a commentary on society's lifelong influence on individual identity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In Arden, both Rosalind and Oliver have the chance to reinvent themselves. Rosalind, having escaped the corrupt society of the court, approaches the Forest of Arden as a place where she could be free to be herself. In a move that suggests the particular oppression of women in Renaissance England, Rosalind reinvents herself as the mythological male figure of Ganymede: a Trojan boy of great beauty and cupbearer to Zeus (II.1.123). In Rosalind's attempt to lose her identity in outside society as the daughter of Duke Senior, she chooses the identity of a strong male. Beneath her disguise, however, she clings fiercely to her femininity. Even in her men's clothing, Rosalind insists that she can "cry like a woman" (II.4.5). Oliver is initially presented as a greedy and evil character who denies his brother the right to education. When the Duke orders him to enter Arden to find his brother who has escaped, Oliver has a chance to redeem himself. After being saved from the lion and the serpent by his brother Orlando, Oliver meets Rosalind and Celia. Asking who he is, Oliver announces to the women: "I am not ashamed / To tell you what I was, since my conversion / So sweet it tastes, to be what I am" (IV.3.134-136). Away from the pressures of the court, Oliver has the opportunity to judge his own character and redeem himself as an authentic person ("this thing that I am"). However, Oliver's redemption, presented in decidedly religious terms, fulfills the Duke's order and thus makes Oliver more suited to court life. For Oliver, Arden does not represent an escape from society, but a temporary opportunity to redeem himself in the eyes of the social world. Likewise, Touchstone and Duke Senior remind the reader that Arden is merely a temporary respite from human society. Its utopian character is illusory: Arden is not part of another world. Although Touchstone is one of the play's fools, he is one of the few characters who resists the madness of believing that Arden is some kind of paradise. Indeed, Touchstone reminds us that in Arden, "hour by hour, [they] ripen and ripen, / And then, hour by hour [they] rot and rot" (II.7.26-27). Provocatively, Touchstone suggests that Arden is not a supernatural realm: in Arden as in nature, nothing lasts forever. While the pastoral landscape of Arden may appear fantastic and ideal, time moves on and things are constantly changing. Duke Senior also demystifies Arden. The Duke tells of the wonders of Arden; how the woods are free from the dangers of the court and the punishment of Adam. It refers to the biblical Garden of Eden and the fall of man, contrasting it with Arden: a golden world in which the fall of man never occurred. However, as he continues, the Duke reveals an ambivalence regarding Arden's status as a mythical "golden world". He states that with “the frozen fang / and the rough;, 1998.