Sarcasm is a use of language that we encounter on a daily basis. It is used to amuse as well as critique, which can be seen in As You Like It by William Shakespeare. As You Like It is a comedy and so the sarcasm is used to make the audience laugh and to make them feel like they understand more than the characters that are confronted with the sarcastic comments. Sarcasm is a form of connecting with the audience and to make them empathize with the characters. Shakespeare also uses characters to convey the character’s feelings, for example when Orlando conveys his hidden feelings to Oliver, asking him if he “Shall keep [his] hogs and eat husks with them?”. He’s being sarcastic because he is so bitter that he can’t even stay serious about the situation. It shows that he is not of the kind to whine about the fact that he hasn’t been given what he was promised. Love is ridiculed by Touchstone when he wants to marry Audrey just for fun, being married by an unserious priest so that he can leave her whenever he wants. Touchstone also constantly comments on society. The fact that he is a fool allows him to say and do whatever he wants, which makes some characters like Jaques in Act 2: “When I did hear the motley fool thus moral on the time my lungs began to crow like chanticleer, that fools should be so deep contemplative, and I did laugh sans intermission an hour by his dial. A noble fool!”. Sarcasm nowadays is used mostly to mock and amuse the audience and as we mentioned when talking about comedy, sarcasm makes us laugh.
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