As you Like It: Antagonist and Protagonist

"I knew when seven justices could not take up a quarrel, but when the parties were met themselves, one of them thought but of an ‘if’, as ‘If you said so, then I said so’, and they shook hands and swore brothers. Your ‘if’ is the only peacemaker; much virtue in ‘if’."  V.iv.92


       Though this quote doesn't exactly fit with the theme, it is about arguments and brothers, both ideas in this blog post. Throughout this play, we see multiple antagonists and protagonists. Of course there are the main pair, Orlando and his evil older brother Oliver. However, throughout the play we see other pairs. Duke Frederick is the antagonist of his family while Duke Senior is the protagonist, the laid-back, go with the flow kind of guy. Yet again, the mean Duke acts as an antagonist of Rosalind, exiling her into the forest with her father. This, like the unusually common love theme, is unique in its frequent appearance throughout the play. Good versus evil is emphasized throughout. The irony in this, however, is that in the end, there ends up being no evil. Oliver has a change of heart after being saved by Orlando. Frederick has a conversion after meeting a religious man. Yet again, this is unusual being as normally the villain dies in Shakespeare's plays.