), it is clear that the forest is a viable option and can be favored over the court. Yet others find the opposite, making the forest of Arden a place of "easy ambivalence about the place which characters find themselves and easy ambivalence among the characters" (Westlund 74). Since both Rosalind and Celia are dressed as shepherd and shepherdess respectively, they free themselves from any physical ties with their past courtly lives and are free to enjoying the ambivalent atmosphere of the country.
             Orlando's experience is rather different from that of Rosalind and Celia. He has been repressed and treated in contempt by his older brother, Oliver, who we find out is going to kill him. Oliver refers to his younger brother as "gentle, never schooled and yet learned, full of noble devices, of all sorts enchantingly beloved" (Shakespeare 8). Orlando appears to be well suited for country life and to have been rather unsuited for courtly life. The division that separates Orlando and Oliver is one of love and hate, a gap that closes upon their mutual experiences in the forest of Arden. Orlando leaves the court with Adam, an old servant of his father, who gives Orlando his money for retirement and offers his assistance, stating "my age is as a lusty winter, frosty but kindly" (30). Adam appears unsuited to courtly life as well for he values his friend, Orlando, so highly that he is willing to give his complete servitude and his savings. He is uncorrupt and trustworthy, perhaps naive as well, and this is noted in Orlando's remark that "thou art not for the fashion of these times" (31). These two set out in exile from the court in anticipation of a more simple life, perhaps one more suited to their natures.
             Duke Senior, banished in the forest of Arden at the start of the play, has the most idealized and paradisiacal perception of the country life. He reflects this perspective during his first speech where he states:
             Are not these woods m...