Meaning of Names in Shakespeare's As You like it

Often times in Shakespeare, we encounter strange names in the reading of the secondary characters and sometimes even the main characters. During class, it was brought up that these names may actually have more meaning behind them that just being unique. Upon doing some research with only a few sources on the Internet, I discovered that most of these names do in fact have a more diverse meaning. Interestingly enough, the meanings of these names shows that Shakespeare intentionally chose this name for the character based on their purpose in the story. Some serve as clever puns, some serve as devices to question the characters true intentions. The character names I will focus on are all found in the play As You Like It.

Rosalind. One of the main characters in As You Like It is Rosalind. She is the daughter to a duke that has been banished (Frederick) and replaced by his brother. Upon banishment, the new Duke, took Rosalind in as his own because his own daughter Celia was very close with Rosalind. The two of them are constantly being referred to as inseparable and begin our story together watching Orlando and Charles wrestle. Rosalind is described in the story as being beautiful and is the object of Orlando's affection and the subject of his tree tacked poems in the forest. The first of two origins for the name Rosalind is of Germanic origin- hros meaning "horse and "linde" meaning soft. "Soft horse" sounds a little strange but if you take into account Rosalind's two-sided persona it makes more sense. She is a very take charge and strong person on the outside, she will control a situation and make decisions when necessary. However, when she is alone with Celia, the dialogue between them is very soft and woman-like. Secondly, the Latin phrase "rosa linda" is a big reference to Rosalind as a person. It literally means "beautiful rose" and as Petrarchan poetry would tell us, such a thing should be revered and coveted as something near sacred. Orlando does just this and preaches his love for his Rosalind, his beautiful rose all over the trees of the Arden forest.

Celia. The counterpart to Rosalind is Celia, the daughter of the current Duke in power. Where Rosalind tends to make the decisions, Celia offers up the clever rhetorical questions and helps Rosalind make sense of things in the world. One of the possible origins for Celia's name seems a little unexplained, but I will touch on it later. Celia seems to be a Spanish form of the Roman family name Caelius which means "heaven," derived from the Latin word "caelum." Interestingly enough, even the lesser attractive of the two between Celia and Rosalind has a name meaning heaven, which is also a very Petrarchan description of a woman.

Audrey. Audrey is a "country wench" but is portrayed as the wise and witty down to earth woman. Touchstone, in the end marries Audrey- both of these two characters are witty rock-solid people very reminiscent of the couple in Much Ado about Nothing consisting of Beatrice and Benedick. Two shrews in a pod is how you would describe it. The origin of the name Audrey is derived from two words in Old English meaning "noble" and "strength." I found it strange that a country woman would possess a name meaning noble when she is clearly nothing of nobility but is marrying up and will ascend her status to what her persona matches. Strength of course is very symbolic of her as a person throughout the play.

Phebe. Phebe is a very interesting character in As You Like It. She is just a country shepherdess, yet she is worshipped by Silvius and she pays no attention to him. Phebe comes into contact with Ganymede, she is treated horribly by him and insulted when Ganymede says, "Sell when you can: you are not for all markets." Essentially Ganymede is saying, take what you can, because you are lucky to have that. For some reason, this is enough to send Phebe into a love trance and to fall completely in love with Ganymede, which as we the reader know, is in fact Rosalind in disguise. Rosalind as Ganymede tells Phebe to not fall in love with him/her and this alone sends Phebe into a bigger fancy for Ganymede. She is a glutton for punishment when you break it down. Phebe is actually a form of the Greek name Phoibe which is a derivative from the Greek phoibos. The word means "bright, pure." This is incredibly ironic considering in the end, this apparently "pure" person end up marrying the one person that truly loves her by accident. She loves the person that treats her terribly or "unpure" and treats terribly the person that truly or "purely" loves her. A very strange unity of opposites makes up the character that is Phebe.

Ganymede. Ganymede is technically not a character in the play but rather a fa�ade or pseudo-character played by Rosalind. When the Duke kicks Rosalind out and banishes her, Celia says she is going to go with her. The two decide that in order to evade being found, they will flee to the forest of Arden and hide out. Rosalind will dress up as a man and call herself Rosalind, and Celia will dress up as his sister Aliena. While in the wood, the two come across none other than Orlando, the man that Rosalind is madly in love with. After some conversation, Rosalind, as Ganymede, convinces Orlando that in order to woo his Rosalind, he must come to Ganymede everyday and attempt to woo him. Ganymede would then pretend to be Rosalind and help Orlando fine-tune his wooing capability. Essentially what ends up happening is we have Rosalind pretending to be Ganymede pretending to be Rosalind. On stage, in reality it would be a man dressed up as a woman, dressed up as a man, pretending to be a woman. This alone is ground for great humor as the play unfolds. Ganymede is an interesting name and is commented on by Rosalind in the play as being "Jove's own page." It is a direct reference to Greek Mythology which talks about a boy of "great beauty" who was carried away by Zeus and was the cupbearer to the gods. The name is interesting on many levels- Ganymede himself was originally surprised when taken away by Zeus and made to be a servant to the gods. Rosalind makes a reference to this by saying "Jove's own page," Jove being an idiom of the time referring to fate or surprise of fate and page meaning a servant boy. Both of which refer to the situation of Ganymede himself and the situation that Frederick imposed upon Rosalind. Both were surprised with what fate had presented them and both were considered extremely beautiful. Mythology said that Ganymede was a very beautiful boy with very woman-like features, which of course would make a proper pseudonym for Rosalind. She after all is a woman playing a man so of course her features would be woman-like. Ganymede is one of the most interesting names in the play as it is laced with double meanings and hidden references.

Aliena. This is the pseudonym that Celia picks up before leaving for the forest with Rosalind. Celia feels that she is also betrayed by her father for no apparent reason and thus takes off with Rosalind because of her love for her. Celia mentions in the play that she will no longer be called Celia but "a reference to my state." She then decides to go by Aliena. Yet another interesting name picked by both Celia and Shakespeare. Aliena has its root in Latin- alien in latin is the root of many words such as alieno, alienatio, or alienus. Alieno essentially means to go out of one's mind. Alienatio literally translates to aberration of the mind, and alienus translates to belonging to another or of another person. All these combined will explained why such a name is appropriate for Celia and her position. She feels that her father has betrayed both her and Rosalind in referece to the aberration of mind or losing of one's mind. Also, Celia picks Rosalind over her father and thus belongs to someone else. Celia picks the name Aliena because she is a person of alien or alienation would be the closest English word to describe her situation. This is an incredibly funny, witty, and interesting name chosen by Shakespeare.

Touchstone. Touchstone was a name that we briefly discussed in class. He, as a character, was a very witty person and was very much the jester of the play. Jaques claimed himself to be the funny one and the future court jester, yet it was Touchstone who always had the quick wit and funny things to say. He also was a sort of evaluator of person in the play. He questioned the love of everyone and made sure that what they had was real. The origin of his name literally comes from a hard stone that was used to measure the quality of fine metals such as gold or silver. The phrase was then turned into a sort of reference to an example that is used to measure the genuineness of others. Throughout the play he questions and pokes fun at others in hopes that they would prove their merit and prove their genuineness.

Jaques. I saved the most amusing for last. Jaques, throughout the play is a downer. He claims to be this funny jester always commenting on his motley outfit. In reality is a seemingly depressed, if not depressing character that everybody makes fun of and nobody really likes. In the very end he decides to go hide in a cave while everybody else lives their lives happily. Funny, yet strange at the same time. When I researched the name Jaques I was pleasantly surprised to come across this definition. Jaques in the play is pronounced Jakes. I am sure that Shakespeare spelled this either wrong, or included the Q to make it seem more French. Jakes in British English literally means a Privy or a Latrine. Shakespeare, quite literally, named the depressing and sad, unlikable character of As You Like It, "Toilet." If that does not describe Jaques as a character 100%, I don't know what does.

In the end, I discovered that Shakespare is quite the clever man. Even in the names of his characters, he hides meanings and double entendres and straight humor and puns. I am still amazed that even the most insignificant of woman still get names that are in reference to something heavenly or worship-worthy. With names such as "heaven" and "noble, strength" given to sub-characters, I can't help but wonder why Shakespeare would idolize women so much. I, no doubt, have no problem with this, as I believe all men should. I still find it incredibly interesting that Shakespeare does in fact, poke fun at Petrarch, yet seems to do the same himself. All in all, I leave you with this, sometimes if you find an awkward or strange name, it might just turn out to mean toilet.