Saturday, February 20, 2016

What is the meaning of "Shall I keep your hogs,and eat husks with them?" spoken by Orlando to Oliver in As You Like It?IN Act 1st Scene 1st

In this scene, Orlando is complaining to Oliver about the
way Oliver (his older brother) is treating him.  He believes that he is being treated
like a animal or a servant.  This is what he is saying to his brother.  Oliver tells him
he should do more with himself, be more useful.  Orlando speaks the line you mention,
asking if he should act like a servant/animal.


In order to
fully understand what is being said here, you have to understand the allusion that is
being made in this line.  It is clearly an allusion to the biblical story of the
prodigal son.   If you are not familiar with this story, copy and paste this link (I
can't get it to work in the links
section...)


http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2015:11-32&version=KJV


In
this story, a younger son (like Orlando) goes off and squanders his part of his father's
fortune.  He ends up working for someone, feeding the swine and wishing he could eat the
"husks" they were eating.  The point of the story is that this son was really stupid and
wasteful and yet (later in the story) his father welcomed him
home.


Everyone hearing this play in Shakespeare's day would
have understood the allusion and what it was saying (since they were all Christian).  By
using this allusion, Orlando is rebuking Oliver.  He is pointing out that he himself has
not done anything wrong the way the prodigal son did and yet his brother is treating him
badly (unlike the actions of the father in the
parable).


So, to truly understand this line from the play,
it is important to know the biblical story to which it alludes.

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