A Study of a Japanese Adaptation of

“AS YOU LIKE IT “

Literary Adaptation is the adapting of a literary source

into an another genre. It can involve adapting the same literary work into

another version. It can also work out into a different wavelength where it

consists of interesting characters and elements. Shakespeare based his

comedy “As you like it “primarily is based on three other works. It is

followed by the structure of Rosalynde published by Thomas lodge in 1590.

The second work was the Tale of Gamelyn written by an unknown author in the

mid- fourteenth century. With the fresh background of the forest of Arden

seeing as an escape for the main characters. Lastly, it included a brief

discussion of how these factors might influence a production of this clever

and entertaining work. It was during the medieval period and this

entertaining novel filled with spectators with delight. Shakespeare’s

activity as a writer for the stage extended over some twenty four years. The

plays could be within these arranged in the order of production. We are able

to follow the evolution of his genius art and his thought and style. This

pastrol comedy “As you like it” comes under the romantic comedy which

expressed about the restoration and regeneration of society through the

human values like brotherly love and tolerance.

It involves a traditional literary style of moving

sophisticated an urban courtiers out into the country side. The play is a

historical preservation of Renaissance music. The plot of “As you like it”

has been put into the silver screens. But the background settings have been

displayed into various versions. The very first time in 1936 it was brought

into theatre directed by Paul Czinner. It was the very first time that the

play made into a speaking movie. The time duration of the play was of

ninety-six minutes. The play was performed in London.

After long years there was another production by Kenneth

Branagh in the year 2006 with the picturesque of Japanese settings. Branagh

put up his settings which was entirely different from the movie in 1936. In

comparison to the movie in 1936 the timing was for one twenty seven minutes.

This research article will analyse the original play “As

you like it“ written by Shakespeare and the movie directed by Kenneth

Branagh and released in the year 2006.

The play is set in a duchy in France, but most of the action takes place in

a location called the Forest of Arden, which is a forested region covering

an area located in south eastern Belgium, Western Luxembourg and north

eastern France, but sometimes is identified with Arden. The play goes like

this and it happens that Duke Ferdinand had been forced into exile from the

court by the usurping Duke Frederick. He took refuge in the Forest of Arden

with a band of faithful lords. Rosalind the daughter of Duke Ferdinand who

accompanied to her cousin Celia, Frederick’s daughter.

Orlando de boys, who was the youngest son of the late Sir Rowland de

Boys had been kept in poverty by his brother Oliver since his father’s

death. Orlando decided to wrestle for his fortune at Fredrick’s court. This

was the time when he first met Rosalind and they fell in love with each

other. The Duke banished Rosalind and he felt that she was a threat to his

rule. But Celia refused to be parted from her cousin. She decided to go with

Rosalind. For their safety they disguised themselves as a male folk.

Rosalind as the boy, Ganymede and Celia as his sister Aliena. They persuaded

the fool Touchstone to accompany them.

On hearing the news of Orlando’s death he decided to go the Forest

of Arden and took refuge with the exiled Duke. Finally Orlando revealed

Rosalind as Ganymede. She challenged his love-sick state and suggested that

he should prove the strength of his love by wooing. Elsewhere in the forest

too love also blooms. The shepherd Silvius who suffered unrequited love for

Phoebe, who had fallen for Ganymede. Oliver sent into the Forest to hunt

down Orlando, who had saved by his brother. He became filled with remorse

for his past behaviour and he fell in love with Aliena. Orlando and

Rosalind, Oliver and Celia, Silvius and Phoebe and Touchstone and Audrey all

are married in the final scene, after which they discover that Frederick

also has repented his faults, deciding to restore his legitimate brother to

the Dukedom and adopt a religious life. Jacques ever melancholic declines

their invitation to return to the court preferring to stay in the forest and

to adopt a religious life as well. Rosalind speaks an epilogue to the

audience, commending the play to both men and women in the audience.

The theatre scene that Shakespeare found in London in the late 1580 was

completely different from anything existing today .His works were basically

written for this world, it is very important to understand how well it

worked. During Shakespeare’s day, new plays were being performed

continuously. The characters of an acting company, there was also a set of

scenery. Likewise in the play “As you like it “ specific backgrounds, such

as forest scenes or palace scenes were re-used in every play. However very

minimal set pieces were present on the stage. There was no artificial

lighting to convey time and place, so it gave a clear idea to the audience

to imagine what the play would be like. Since the playwright was forced to

describe the setting in greater detail than would normally be heard today.

To establish time in one scene in “As you like it “. Shakespeare has Orlando

say “Hang their my verse, in witness of my love! And thou thrice crowned

Queen of Night, survey” (act iii scene ii). The costumes of this period

however were rich and luxurious; it served as a great source of great pride

for the performers. This made the audience to think over the historically

accurate measurements to envision the play.

Shakespeare beautifully expresses the pastoral atmosphere in this play. The

essence of pastoral literature is that glorifies the simple, plain shepherds

and condemns the correct court. Most of the play takes place in the Forest

of Arden. The Forest of Arden is the place of romantic unity where the

couples get together solving all the problems. Orlando spends his time

carving love poems on the bark of trees. Shakespeare writes down these lines

inscribing the pastoral life in the forest

“Under the greenwood tree

Who loves to live with me

And turn his mercy note

Unto the sweet bird’s throat (act iii scene v)

The Forest of Arden is dense and it breeds love and trust. The Duke and

his followers live in amity. The forest protects the characters who dwell

there. Even the villains who step into the forest for doing some harm they

are completely transformed to be a social being. This is the place where

Fredrick gives up all his evil designs and settles down a quiet life of a

recluse.

Shakespeare sorts out certain defects in the pastoral life also. Touchstone

says that the pastoral life may be simple but it is also tedious. Jacques

criticizes that they themselves become usurpers in the forest. Shakespeare

reveals that Arden and its pastoral atmosphere can give only a temporary

relief. Shakespeare early plays “As you like it” is a romantic comedy about

the restoration and regeneration of society through the affirmation of

positive human values such as brotherly lovely and tolerance.

With a setting inspired by 19th century Japan, director Kenneth Branagh

adapts Shakespeare's lightest and most delightful comedy 'As You like It,' a

celebration of the enduring power of love in all its many disguises. Witty,

playful and utterly magical, the story is a compelling romantic adventure in

which Rosalind and Orlando's famous courtship is played out against a

backdrop of political rivalry, banishment and exile in Forest of Arden.

During the 19th century many of the English traders made their homes in

Japan hence the presence of many British actors in their lead roles. It was

imagined with lots of elements in the play regarding the buildings, costumes

and the gesture. The British ladies made there attire to be royal and

pretty. When the leading characters were sent out to the Forest of Arden

they played by a mixture of Japanese and Western actors. The de Boys

brothers Orlando and Oliver were starred by back British actors.

Likewise, the change of setting the language remains that of Shakespeare

play. Branagh Japanese setting allows him to install the claustrophobic

interior spaces of the court by silk screens, filtered light, sliding doors,

tatami mats and maiden modesty with the scene of the forest scenes shot on

location at Wakehurst place in West Sussex. The setting was designed by

Branagh and Tim Harvey spot out the landscape with several Japanese touches:

large red tori through which the exiled party enters and exists Arden. A

Buddhist monk who greets the arrivals and become the incarnation of

Shakespeare’s “old religious man” a raked sand stone Zen garden where

Jacques seated in a melancholic state. The character’s name and the plot are

authentic. Some of the critics seem to tell that it was praiseworthy since

the majority of the characters were not Japanese. Branagh also invented a

new prologue in which ninja warriors attacked on Duke Senior and his family.

This was performed in Kabuki theatre. Branagh is able to show the moment

that Duke Fredrick takes away his brother’s kingdom. The highlight part in

the story is Orlando fights not as a mere wrestler but as a sumo wrestler.

The epilogue of Rosalind takes a turning point in the film in disguise of

Ganymede in the Forest of Arden.

Oliver is the oldest son of Sir Rowland de Boys and also the elder brother

of Orlando. He is not the exact type of his brother but a jerk. He treats

his own brother like his servants and refuses to pay for Orlando’s

schooling. Oliver’s bad behaviour turned into the larger social issue

primogeniture. Shakespeare was really interested in the problem

primogeniture. It comes into the play King Lear and also in Henry IV. Oliver

is not just a tightwad and would have been murdered Orlando killed by the

court wrestler. He has prejudice over his brother and he devotes himself to

be “bad brother”. Literary critic Anne Barton says Oliver’s pretty jealous

makes him a lot like the “bad witch” figured in the fairy tales. In other

words, Oliver is mean- spirited and hateful for no good reason which means

his character doesn’t have much depth. This idea is clear when he undergoes

a sudden “conversion” in the Forest of Arden. Adrian Lester an English actor

from the BBC program has very well absorbed the character and brought it

into the scene by giving the apt traits of Shakespeare’s Oliver proving to

be the bad guy accompanied by the Duke.

Orlando is a noble character loosely defined regarding character. He is

loved by all people of all ranks. He is the hero of the play “As you like

it”. He is as brave as lion and with generosity. He does not have any

appropriate wit. He always has good chance to bring up his tenderness and

generosity. He stands up to his bully of a big brother, picks a fight with

guy, run away to the forest of Arden. He wins the wrestler Charles and as

well as save his brother from the lion. All the above he is likeable and

easy-going guy who might actually be able to handle his legacy cross

dressing girlfriend. In the film Adrian Lester does the character well. The

director portrays Orlando very beautiful romantic hero of the nineteenth

century. With Rosalind sporadically benched, the tension between

Orlando and his murderous brother, Oliver (Adrian Lester, who has played

Rosalind in an all-male production), has been amplified. Mr. Lester brings

spirit and intelligence to what is typically a caricature. His beleaguered

contempt for his brother audible in the cry “He’s gentle!” is gorgeous.

Rosalind dominates “As you Like It”. So fully realised is

she in the complexity of her emotions, the subtlety of her character that no

one has ever played. Orlando is the lover boy but unskilled yet still what

made Rosalind settles for someone less magnificent when she chose s him.

The endless appeal of Rosalind has much to with her success as a witty and

charming critic of herself and others. The play ever focuses on Rosalind

dazzling eyes which has been spot out. Rosalind can play both sides of any

field makes her identifiable to nearly everyone and so irresistible. She is

a particular favourite among feminist critics, who admire her ability to

subvert the limitations that society imposes on her as a woman. She serves

with boldness and etiquette disguised herself as a young man for the

majority of the play. There is a comic appeal in Rosalind’s character both

male and female. But the Elizabethan audience might have felt a certain

absurdity in regarding Rosalind character. At the end she discharges herself

from the male character and reveals herself. Rosalind, the droll heroine of

“As You Like It,” doesn’t thrill Kenneth Branagh. Mr. Branagh maintains that

Rosalind — the character who Harold Bloom has argued is the first modern

lover in all of literature — talks too much Or maybe it’s Bryce Dallas

Howard, the daughter of the American mega director Ron Howard, whom Mr.

Branagh wants to muzzle. Ms Howard plays Rosalind in Mr. Branagh’s “As You

Like It” also well . She’s what passes for an American starlet in a cast

pervaded by thespians, including Janet McTeer and Kevin Kline, and Mr.

Branagh’s hoary favourite’s Brian Blessed and Richard Briers. Fortunately,

Mr. Branagh hasn’t forgotten Rosalind altogether, and around the midpoint of

the film he has no choice but to let his leading lady lead. Miss. Howard

makes a passable Victorian young man. And Rosalind’s in-drag seduction of

Orlando has a kind of “Brokeback Mountain” manliness.

Celia values her relationship with Rosalind so much that very little else

matter to her, which is why she runs away with Rosalind to the Forest of

Arden. This malar sense, as the girls initially seem like twin sisters.

Celia ever declares their trip into the forest is not banishment but liberty

as they get to be the woman they want to be. The story changes when Orlando

enters the scene. Rosalind and Celia both seem to see love as foolish fun at

the beginning of the play but at the end of the play they really makes love

and settle their life. Celia’s disdain of love comes into contact with

Oliver. She drops out the play totally engaged with the new boy. Then she

becomes a hypocrite of sorts and loses in another person and thus is lost

the world. In the movie Romola Garai enacts the character well. She feels

that she is the real cousin of the Rosalind. She attracts the audience

approach well.

If the melancholy Jacques is a glass- half

empty kind of person then Duke Senior is the person glass-half-full

characters. He is living in exile because his atrocious brother has taken

his kingdom. He has been betrayed by his own and now lives in a cave, Duke

Senior doesn’t let anything get him down. He tells that even though Arden is

cold, windy and rugged, it seems like the Garden of Eden to him since he

finds “books in the running brooks, Sermon in the stones and good in

everything”. He is also kind of tough because he is managed to thrive in a

Forest of Arden where some other city- slickers starve to death. He is

established a little community made up of his most loyal followers from

court who have interested to exile with him. Duke Senior lives in exile with

his crew and associated with the English outlaw who stole from the rich and

gave to the poor. He has a desperado thing going on in fact he manages to

make Arden work for him despite his lousy circumstances is a way of opposing

his corrupt and powerful brother. In the movie, Brian Blessed has casted

this wonderful character with grave, melancholic mood with a sombre

attitude.

Duke Frederick banished his brother from court and regained his title.

Likewise the condition of Oliver too is same as Duke Frederick. Shakespeare

has sketched the characters beautifully Duke Frederick when he was in

generous mood. The end of the play he strikes down Duke Frederick turns out

to be the “religious man” and decided to leave all his evil deed.

Shakespeare and Kenneth Branagh had the same perspective in designing the

character “Duke Frederick” in conversion towards a wise man at a random

speed that it is quite hardly to believe. The character seems to be the most

“meanest” of the mankind.

The fool or clown plays an integral part in most of Shakespeare plays. The

best known fools in Shakespeare’s play is two. One is Touchstone and the

other is in the “King Lear”. The Elizabethan audience, to be sure was very

fond of being tickled by the jokes of the clown. Shakespeare had to comply

with their tastes. Shakespeare’s fools generally appear as servants of the

major characters. Touchstone is the servant of the Duke in “As you like it”.

Shakespeare introduces Touchstone in Duke Fredrick’s court fool and ends up

being Rosalind and Celia’s partner for their run away adventure. As a

“licensed fool”, he literally has a license to say whatever he wants. He is

furiously witty and brilliant. He is insightful about human nature.

Touchstone is the most notable for his incredible ability words. He is also

known for the habit of driving his listeners to frustration whether they are

not as sharp as his goodness knows the man he can work on. Touchstone’s name

is an explicit reference to the type of rock called “touchstone”. A

touchstone is a stone that is used to identify precious metals by testing

their originality. Like a Touchstone, the fool in “As you like it” has the

ability to reveal the purity and human value in human beings. He himself

comments that he loves a good fool and more than once talks about the wisdom

of foolishness. All his cynicism and insight into human action. He laughs at

himself as easily as he laughs at others.

In the movie, Alfred Molina takes up the comical character

“Touchstone” who makes the audience to be amused through his wisdom and

comic sense. Hence Touchstone is considered to be the “character of Humour”.

Thus in the far, twenty- first century it has been first in a kind to the

movie Kenneth Branagh has directed this marvellous movie “As You Like it “

with a spark of Japanese setting excluding the Elizabethan setting and

placing them in new context to display the universality of the ideas behind

them. The scenes spot out the various elements of Shakespeare. It is one of

the faithful adaptations of one of Shakespeare’s best, guest starring

ninjas.

Key words:

Adaptation, Elizabethan setting, Japanese setting, ninjas

Work cited:

Mabillard, Amanda. The Globe Theatre. Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug. 2008. <

http://www.shakespeare-online.com/theatre/globe.html >

www.borrowers.uga.edu/781856/disday/muse.jhu.edu/journals/shakespeare-

bulletin/vo26/26./crowl.httml

www.shmoop.com/as-you-like-it/characters.html

www.shmoopeditorialteam”As you like it”

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As you like it (2006-film)

www.sfgate.com/tv/article/kenneth-branagh-sets-Shakespeare-s-as you-like-

2545955.php

Miss. Seetha Lakshmi. H

Miss. Sweety Majumder

I M.A English Literature

I M.A English Literature

V.O.Chidambaram College

V.O.Chidambaram College

Residence: 10 Sankarapuram

Residence: 5A Sivantha Kulam Road

Tuticorin- 628003

Tuticorin-628003

Mobile no: 9042356660

Mobile no: 7639324499

Email ID: seethakasthuri@gmail.com

Email ID: gleen_mac@yahoo.com