Charracter Analysis of Touchstone

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Touchstone is the court fool in Shakespeare’s play, As You Like It. Even though he is labeled as the court fool, he takes on more than one role for the reader’s enjoyment and gives the reader and other character’s their comic relief. Comedic as he may be he also has a serious side and a sincere way of showing it. Touchstone is Duke Frederick’s court jester. With this title comes the authority to say anything he wants, and this is exactly what he does. Touchstone has an unusually quick wit and loves to create a mountain out of a mole hill. Taking the simplest spat and twisting someone’s words creating an uneasy atmosphere or even better making it hilarious for the audience. He is persistent; he never lets a little thing get by him. Touchstone makes the reader and audience laugh; of course he is just doing his job. Interestingly enough he has a lot to say and he speaks the truth and more often than not there is a meaning hidden within his statements. Of a certain knight that swore by his honor they were good pancakes, and swore by his honor that the mustard was not. Now, I’ll stand to it, the pancakes were naught and the mustard was good, and yet was not the knight forsworn. By my knavery (if I had it), then I were. But if you swear by that that is not, you are not forsworn. No more was this knight swearing by his honor, for he never had any, or if he had, he had sworn it away before ever he saw those pancakes or that mustard. (1.2.63-79) One would think with such a quick wit that Touchstone could never fall in love; at least this is what appears to be at first. The following makes the reader take a second look, “We that are true lovers run into strange capers.” (2.4.53-54) Touchstone does have a love interest, Audrey, she is an extremely homely girl, but Touchstone is only attracted to her for the physical part of love. He said he will
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