As You Like It

by

William Shakespeare

As You Like It: Act 4, Scene 2 Summary & Analysis

Read our modern English translation of this scene.
Summary
Analysis
Jaques addresses the First Lord, who has killed a deer, and suggests that he present his kill like a Roman conqueror, and give the deer’s horns like a victory branch. The Second Lord accompanies the presentation with a song. The song touches on cuckoldry and includes the line, “take thou no scorn to wear the horn… the horn, the horn, the lusty horn, is not a thing to laugh to scorn.”
As in Touchstone’s remark, here horns are associated with cuckoldry and cuckoldry is posited as something natural and not shameful.
Themes
Fools and Foolishness Theme Icon