As You Like It - Pheobe Character Study

I play Pheobe in Act 3, scene 5. Having to make our scene contemporary, we have decided to set ours on the street, outside a house party. Transferring this scene to a modern setting was fairly simple. This scene was originally set in the Forest of Arden, which isn’t a vital setting towards the script, therefore our group had a wide range of options and ideas to choose from for our contemporary rendition. We decided on this particular setting because we thought the scenario fits perfectly with the scene, and will then show the great modern take on these traditional characters. As well as the contemporary setting, I have made Pheobe’s personality and physical traits modern.

It was very easy when thinking of an age for my character. As Pheobe is emerging from a house party, I thought her out to be between the ages of 17-19 seeing as this would be then an easy yet suitable choice. Her age isn't specified in the play, and she is only described to a “country-maiden and a shepherdess” so it gave me a lot of freedom on choosing what age I was going to play as Pheobe.

Pheobe's personality isnt at all hard to discover when reading the scene. In the beginning of the scene, Silvius is chasing Pheobe out of the house, begging her to stay and confessing his love for her. Her first line of response is “I would not be thy executioner, I flee thee for I would not injure thee!” This means that she is trying to avoid him so she won't hurt him, as she doesn't feel the same way. This shows the little care she has for Silvius, that although he is very persistent about his feelings for her, she belittles him for it and thoroughly enjoys the attention. Having previously been told that there is murder in her eyes, in her first paragraph she talks about how this is a lie. She says, “That eyes, that are the frail'st and softest things..” She is saying that she thinks her eyes are too frail and too soft to hurt anyone, and is truly offended when told otherwise. She belittles Silvius by trying to show his stupidity with his comment about her eyes, and says “If mine eyes can wound, now let them kill thee, now counterfeit to swoon, why now fall down..” making it obvious that her eyes did not hurt him physically and trying to make him feel stupid. In her next response to Silvius, she shows how slim her pity and understanding towards his feelings are. Silvius is saying that she will know his pain when she falls in love, to which she replies with “But till that time, come not though near me, afflict me with thy mocks, pity me not as till that time I shall not pity thee.” She is growing tired of his persistence. When Rosalind as Ganymede enters, telling Pheobe what she needs to hear, she instantly falls inlove with who she thinks is a man. During Rosalind's long beginning speech, she continuously insults Pheobe. Her aim to is knock sense into Silvius, but instead has Pheobe spark an interest in her. Pheobe is told by Ganymede (Rosalind) that she has no beauty, that Silvius is a thousand times a properer man than she is a woman, and that she should accept Silvius' love as she will not get anyone better. Although surprised and only merely insulted by Rosalind's words, her overwhelming and unexpected feelings for her overrule all of it. After Rosalind's speech, Pheobe says, “Sweet youth, I pray you chide a year together. I had rather hear you chide than this man woo!” Although numerously insulting her, Pheobe would much rather hear that than hear Silvius try and seduce her for a minute. This again shows how little the interest she has in Silvius and the great mass of interest she now has in Ganymede. I think this shows she can fall in love very easily, and when she falls, she falls very hard. It is obviously said that Ganymede is not interested in Pheobe, but that doesn't stop her feelings for him even when he's throwing insults at her. This is ironic because that is Silvius' position with Pheobe exactly.

Pheobe is a country-maiden, so therefore she isn't very well articulated and overall doesn't speak very well. As making a contemporary version of this character, I found it suited to turn her into a chav. She isn't at all bright, and I figured that with a lack of clarity to the voice and slightly dumb tone, it would show this. It would also show this with the lack of articulation with pronouncing the 't's in words aswell. An example of the voice I want to use as this character is Bianca from eastenders:

Her status is questionable throughout the scene. In the beginning, it is very obvious that she has a higher status than Silvius. He is the one following her around, and she tends to treat him as a puppet and plays with his feelings, although he is very persistent with his feelings towards her. When Ganymede enters, Pheobe instantly falls inlove with him and her status immediately drops the moment he starts to talk. Ganymede insults her, but it doesn't bother her because she just wants to listen to him speak. Ganymede has definitely got the highest status in the scene because of what he says, and because no one challenges him. I think that even when he leaves, Pheobe's status is still lower than his but higher than Silvius'. Pheobe's end paragraph is her confusing feelings for Ganymede, debating whether she loves him or not, and I think its these feelings that Ganymede is putting on Pheobe means for his continued higher status.

Her costume was very easy to decide. I again used Bianca from eastenders as an influence towards her costume. As she is coming from a house party, I chose for her to wear a tight crop top and a tight fitted short skirt. This would show a slight slutty side to her that would also link to her chavvy persona. I also picked big gold hoop earrings to finish the look. 

As You Like It - Context Research

As You Like It is a pastoral comedy written by Shakespeare in either 1599 or 1600. It follows Rosalind’s flee from her uncle’s court after being banished a short while after her father was. Accompanied by her cousin, Celia and the court jester, Touchstone they hide within the Forest of Arden in hope of finding safety, and eventually love. Rosalind disguises as men, as it would be too dangerous for two women to be traveling alone.

It’s assumed that the first performance was performed by the Lord Chamberlain’s Men in the new Globe Theatre in 1599. This was believed to be one of the first plays performed at the new Globe Theatre, alongside Henry V and Julius Caesar. There was a minimal amount of staging and scenery for each performance, as in that time period they didn’t have a lot of money to provide themselves with them. Aside this, the Globe has the audience surrounding the perimeter of the stage and therefore it would’ve been difficult to change the scenery subtlety. They’d primarily set the scene with dialogue so the audience would understand when the scene changes, for example “The moon is down; I have not heard the clock.” This was the easiest way on letting the audience know where the scene was without using any kind of set. However, they often used the pillars on either side of the stage as trees. Prop use was also minimal. Special effects were used, but were presented by things such as cannons and fireworks to recreate thunder and lightning. Performances had to be held only during the day as there was no electricity for lighting in the dark. There were three levels of seating, which depended on your social status. All seating levels cost 2 pennies and were for those richer audiences, whereas the standing area called “The Groundlings” cost 1 penny per person for the lower members of society. Those standing would tend to get distracted and rowdy, which would distract others aswell as the performers. A technique used to catch attention from these types of audiences was the change of verse form. The experience for the audience in the globe was very different to those who were to watch a performance at the famous theatre today. Those seated were obviously better class than those standing, which would take effect into the individuals' experience.

Within ‘As You Like It’, many themes are shown through relationships of the characters, issues between them and the plot of the play. ‘Love’ is one of central themes of this play, which is the theme Shakespeare is most popular for writing with. This theme is shown between many of characters such as Rosalind and Orlando, who follow his traditional love-stories by having ‘love at first sight’ which also feature between the relationships of the other characters. Love is also shown between Celia and Rosalind, who have a deep bond. Being a romantic comedy, there are also elements of mocking the theme with the relationship between Touchstone and Audrey. Usurping, injustice and forgiveness are all also featured themes within the play. The play ends happily with the issues being solved, such as Frederick being “converted by a hermit” and restored the dukedom back to Duke Senior. Oliver learns to love his brother, Orlando as he experiences a “change of heart”. The play ends in such merriment between characters. Another theme is ‘City life versus Country life’. This theme is extremely popular within pastoral comedy, and it suggests that those who are corrupted by city life can be remedied by a trip to the open country side. Those would then return to the city a better person, as the country is seen therapeutic. This links thoroughly with the play as throughout the beginning, it is set within the city and is then situated in the Forest of Arden following the Duke’s banishment. The mood of the city has adjusted after Fredericks revelation to return the throne back to his brother. This play however does not pit the two settings against one another, but suggests an equal balance between the both. This is because although the forest offers shelter from those strained from the city and court, it also yearns for urban style and vis versa.

A modern production of ‘As You Like It’ performed at the Courtyard Theatre in 2010 showed elements of a contemporary take of the play. In this production they use modern technology to create effect such as lighting and music. They however, maintain Shakespeare traditional elements and keep the time of the play as Elizabethan England. When performed at the Globe Theatre, they didn't have the opportunity to use such technical things to create such effect or sounds. Therefore, would use a canon to create sound and a live band to create music. Many of Shakespeares plays are contemporary yet save the Shakespearean language. This play maintains the era’s costumes and props however. Another contemporary aspect of this performance would be the set. With today's resources, the company don't hold back on creating a contemporary and very creative set for the performance. They have things such as trap doors and materials that were unable to get a hold off back in the 1500's/1600's. I find they use the modern technology and resources to their advantage, and use it to create a beautifully creative interpretation.