Shakespeare explores the notion of romantic love in order to demonstrate that belonging in a relationship is a difficult process which ultimately leads to acceptance and fulfilment.
             The play's comedic structure allows characters to be removed from their world of corruption to a pastoral setting, where an absence of a social and political hierarchy facilitates their passage to finding a sense of belonging. Rosalind and Celia's exile from the court begins this process as they "go in content to liberty and not to banishment". The rhyming couplet places emphasis on 'content' and 'not banishment', foreshadowing that the acceptance of their situation will lead to an easier passage to finding fulfillment.
             The pastoral setting of the Forest of Arden, a symbolic manifestation of good values, acts as a catalyst for the deconstruction of regimented Elizabethan social paradigms. The use of song, which follows the foresters throughout the play, accentuates their carefree, joyous lives which are built around inclusion, "No enemy, but winter and rough weather." Shakespeare constructs the court, where loyalty and kinship have been forgotten, as a binary opposite to the forest. Duke Senior declares "isn't this life more sweet ... more free from peril than the envious court?" The juxtaposition of 'peril' and 'envious' to that of 'sweet' and 'free' effectively communicates the enriching outcome of their changing circumstances.
             In the idyllic forest time and patience are not requisites in their search for fulfillment. Good values which reside in the forest lay the foundation of lasting connections. For Celia and Oliver "No sooner met but they looked, no sooner looked did they love". The anaphoric assonance of 'no sooner' implies that the process to find acceptance in a relationship is smooth process that is no slav...