Volu m e I - Purdue University Calumet

gained the knowledge of good and evil from biting into the apple, is able to look at the other characters,
make judgments, and unveil his wisdom. To suggest that Jaques’ ideas are more profound than any other
character’s, McAnuff has the entire room take on an eerie feel when Jaques reveals his deep insight that “All
the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players.” (2.7.139-40). Music plays quietly and the
other characters lie upon the floor of the stage staring up at Jaques as, with each epic line of his observation,
the audience feels further drawn into Jaques’ mind. By making such an emphasis on Jaques’ powerful range
of knowledge, McAnuff is suggesting that Jaques possesses a certain awareness that the other characters
lack. As part of Jaques’ Son of Man costume, McAnuff’s Jaques is often shown with a large green apple.
When Orlando advances on Jaques with a knife, Jaques bites into an apple and dramatically says “And you
will not be answer’d with reason, I must die” (2.7.100-1). In Shakespeare’s original work, Jaques bites into
a grape, and was therefore punning “reason” against “raison” (Shakespeare 115). By having Jaques bite into
an apple in his defense of reason, McAnuff is referring to the reasoning abilities that Adam gained when he
bit into the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Jaques stands alone in the Forest of Arden
with his unique ability to judge the actions and words of the other characters. As when Adam and Eve
realized it was sinful for them to be naked, Jaques can recognize the sins of others. In this performance,
McAnuff has Jaques counsel Touchstone about his sinful lust for Audrey off-stage. The actual dialogue from
Shakespeare’s script is not even present in the performance. Because the Forest of Arden is represented as
the Garden of Eden, and Jaques is capable of recognizing sin, he understands that such sin should not be
present within the Garden of Eden, and therefore, Jaques has the sin removed.
McAnuff uses stage business to reveal Jaques as the conscious observer in the Forest of Arden. In
order to suggest that Jaques is disconnected from the other characters, McAnuff creates a theme with the
manner in which Jaques and the other characters interact. In the beginning of the play, while Jaques is
offstage, crying over the death of a deer, McAnuff has Duke Senior’s men deride Jaques. When Duke
Senior asks his Lord if Jaques was left in his condition, the Lord responds, “We did, my lord, weeping and
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