Paper 1 Section III
Question 3
‘An individual’s interaction with others and the world around them can enrich or limit their
experience of belonging.’
Discuss this view with detailed reference to your prescribed text and ONE other related text of
your own choosing.
Prescribed text: As You Like It, William Shakespeare, c.1599
Related text: ‘Ulysses’, by Alfred Lord Tennyson, 1833 (Poetry)
The people we know, the relationships we form, the worlds we live in and every encounter in our
lives are experiences that reflect who we are and yet also
Starts with a general statement
shape a new sense of ourselves. We can be enriched by these
on belonging that is developed to
contacts or we may find that we are limited. It all depends on
tie in with the question
the individual and how each individual chooses to participate
in the worlds and with the people they encounter. This
understanding of where each individual belongs in the
scheme of life emerges in many texts through different times.
Shakespeare’s play As You Like It and Alfred Lord
Tennyson’s poem ‘Ulysses’ both offer us examples of
Both texts are linked to the thesis
characters who face different experiences that take them
away from the safety and security of the homes where they
belong, enriching them in many ways but also making them
aware of the limiting nature of the place they call home.
Characters in both texts are
discussed by responding to the
first part of the question about
interaction with others and the last
part of the question, can enrich
Deals with the second part of the
question about the individual’s
interaction with the world around
them
Both texts deal with characters of high social standing who
lead their communities and who have been exiled. In As You
Like It, Duke Senior, his men and then his daughter Rosalind
have been banished to the forest by his brother, Duke
Ferdinand. While in the forest the Duke encounters many
different people and learns to live with nature. The court he
leaves behind represents rigidity, authority and lacks personal
connection. In contrast the forest is a place of freedom and
nature where relationships between people are more
egalitarian. The strength of each character is indicated by the
way he or she adapts to the forest. Duke Senior overcomes
the confines of the court and becomes a better person, able
to return to his court as a better leader. His brother Duke
Ferdinand, who sought to overthrow his brother, also
discovers goodness but he remains in the forest, as he is too
weak to resist the influence of the court. In ‘Ulysses’ the
legendary hero, Ulysses, faces different choices. He is home
again after his long travels after the Trojan Wars and he is
having trouble adapting to the life he leads. His experiences
away from home have enriched him and broadened his mind
while also making him aware of the narrow existence of the
island life he leads.
In both texts there are expectations about where and with
whom each character belongs. Jaques reminds the first lord
in As You Like It that “we / are mere usurpers, tyrants and
what’s worse, / To fright the animals and kill them up / In
Quotations are used to support
statements
The words like and unlike
establish a connection between
the two texts
Topic sentence links both texts
Through a series of examples the
paragraph leads to a conclusion
that returns us to the question
about enriching and limiting
experiences
their assigned and native dwelling place”. The animals are the
“native burghers of this desert city.” But the men of the
court hunt them and take over their natural environment.
The sense of what is natural extends to the discussion
between Corin and Touchstone on occupations and manners
of different people. Touchstone realises that a shepherd’s life
is a “private” and “solitary” life but also “vile”, fitting his
“humour well”. The manners of the court, Corin observes
“are ridiculous in the country as the behaviour of the country
is most mockable at the court.” Implicit in this conversation
is a criticism of the men of the court who come to the forest
and disturb the status quo. Even the Duke Senior, who has
the respect of his “co-mates and brothers in exile”, is an
intruder in this forest where he sends his men to hunt
regularly.
Like the Duke, Ulysses in Tennyson’s poem is leading a
country but, unlike the Duke, he has returned from his
unexpected exile. He carries out his role as king meting out
and doling “Unequal laws unto a savage race / That hoard
and sleep, and feed, and know not me.” He is also a husband
“to an aging wife” and a father to his son, Telemachus. His
dissatisfaction with the roles he occupies is clear from the
beginning when he criticises himself as an “idle king”. He
identifies much more strongly with his “mariners” than with
his “rugged people”.
Identity goes beyond identifying with people and place and
translates itself through the emotions. Particular emotions
belong to particular groups of people. Rosalind acts out a
male role but knows that if she “cry like a woman” she will
“disgrace my man’s apparel”; instead she should be
comforting the “weaker vessel”, Aliena. Emotions are linked
to different occupations with the scholar being
“melancholy”, “emulation” being the characteristic of the
musician, the courtier “proud” and the soldier “ambitious”,
according to the amateur philosopher Jaques. The majesty we
expect of Ulysses who, as a king, should be protective and
feel a bond to his family and people, is lacking as he desires
the freedom of the sea, even in his old age “this grey spirit
yearning in desire / To follow knowledge”. He makes a
choice to break the expected mould and change his life,
being “strong in will / To strive, to seek, to find, and not to
yield.” By facing different places and different experiences,
Ulysses has realised the limitations and responsibilities of
belonging to one place. He loves his island home and feels
the kinship of family but he yearns for the “newer world”.
He learns that he, like all men, is “a part of all that I have
met”. “Experience,” for Ulysses “is an arch wherethro’/
Gleams that untravell’d world, whose margin fades / For
ever and for ever when I move.” Living on the island means
creating a boundary between himself and possibilities. By
taking himself outside the world he knows he faces the
challenge of the unknown but in so doing becomes enriched.
What we see by examining these two texts closely is that
Final statement that brings
together all the strands of
the essay and responds
directly to the question
belonging is not an easy choice. By moving from a place of
comfort to one of discomfort, we can enrich our lives, but we see
the limitations of what we have. This can lead to becoming a
better person or it can become a distraction that stops us from
appreciating what we have. For Duke Senior his move was a
positive one which allowed him to grow into a wise leader with
closer relationships with his people when he returned to his
court. For Ulysses, however, the lure of the unknown became too
great a temptation and he chose to reject the people and place he
belonged to, seeking adventure with his men.
Writing hint: Making notes
In the examination you will not have time to be too thorough but some time spent planning will
assist you in organising your thoughts and ensuring you respond to the question – here is one
way of planning using the words in the question.
Conclusions can be drawn when looking closely at the two texts. These statements can be used as
topic sentences. Start with a general topic sentence that covers both texts, and you will be able to
expand on the topic using the evidence in the other two columns as supporting evidence. This
can lead to a synthesised argument.
The individual
As You Like It
Ulysses
Duke Senior- (DS)
Duke Frederick (DF)
Rosalind - “thou art thy
father’s daughter, there’s
enough”
Ulysses, an adventurer
and traveller who is now
at the end of his days
reflecting on his life
Points of relevant
comparison
Individuals who are out
of place for different
reasons
DS and Rosalind exiled
by his brother the
usurper; Ulysses wants to
be exiled from his
“home”
Conclusion: ALL the individuals in both texts find themselves in different places where they need to
reconsider who they are and what they belong to.
Interaction with
Brothers and the
Lives with his “aged
DS has a good
others
courtiers:
wife” and son,
relationship with his men
“my co-mates and
Telemachus
in contrast to DF who is
brothers in exile” (DS)
not highly regarded
He doles out “Unequal
Rosalind and Orlando
laws to a savage race”
The different lovers also
and wants his son to
illustrate relationships
“make mild / A rugged
people, and thro’ soft
Rosalind’s gender change
degrees / Subdue them
shows how even gender is
to the useful and the
controlled by
good.”
expectations – as a
woman she acts gently
He’s fought with his
and supportively’
“peers”
Ulysses is stifled by his
relationships on land,
desiring the company of
his peers who have shared
battles with him
Conclusion: The roles we occupy in life – occupation, gender, family status and social standing – control
the relationships we have with people.
Interaction with
the world around
them
Forest versus court
Jaques says:
swearing that we
Are mere usurpers,
tyrants and what's worse,
To fright the animals and
to kill them up
In their assign'd and
native dwelling-place.
Touchstone:
Ay, now am I in Arden;
the more fool I; when I
was at home, I was in a
better place”
In his past he has known
many different “cities of
men and manners,
climates, councils,
governments” and has
been “Honoured of them
all”
He wants to “seek a
newer world”
DS is trying to fit into the
natural world of the
forest but the shepherds
fit in better
DF belongs in the court
where his cruelty fits in
and in the forest he has
trouble until he comes to
a revelation later showing
the influence of nature on
man
Ulysses has travelled the
world and sees himself as
a wanderer rather than a
leader on land
Conclusion: Everyone and everything belongs in their own place but when we are removed from the place
where we “belong” we realise other elements of our character. We gain knowledge about ourselves and
about the world by being placed in unusual places.
Can enrich
Nature and the forest
“drunk delight”
DS finds the support of
leads to the opening of
his men in the forest. He
people’s hearts
“all experience is an arch
realises the importance of
wherethro’ / Gleams that nature and the role that
untravell’d world, whose
every being has
margin fades / Forever
and forever when I
DF has to change as he is
move” (sense of
rigid in the court but in
dissatisfaction – need for
the forest he realises the
more)
error of his ways and
relinquishes the crown
“To follow knowledge”
Ulysses finds that the
wider world is what he
needs to be a fulfilled
person
Conclusion: Different places influence individuals in different ways and offer enrichment as they
reconsider their lives
Can limit
Court limits the Christian
Dissatisfaction with the
values and relationships
life on land:
There is an attitude that
everything has its place
Corin: “Not a whit,
“I cannot rest from
Touchstone: those that
travel”
are good manners at the
court are as ridiculous in
“How dull it is to pause”
the country as the
behaviour of the country
“Tis not too late to seek
is most mockable at the
a newer world”
court. ...”
Jaques: I have neither the
scholar's melancholy,
which is emulation, nor
the …
Conclusion: Both texts show that people can feel stifled and controlled by their place of belonging. Rather
than feeling safe, for some people home can be stifling
Experience of
Particular people belong
“I am a part of all that I
DS still belongs in the
belonging
in particular settings and
have met”
court but takes
act accordingly – when
knowledge about nature
they change settings they
“I am become a name”
and relationships with
have to renegotiate their
ideas about belonging
him
“To strive, to seek, to
find and not to yield”
Ulysses has experienced
Jaques: All the world's a
conflicting ways of
stage,
belonging and has
And all the men and
reached a resolution
women merely players:
…
Conclusion: All the individuals find knowledge by going to different places. They then need to make a
choice about where they belong and who they will be.