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1 1 2 I n t e r p r e t a t i o n Volume 41 / Issue 2Unlike Touchstone, Jaques mocks Orlando’s love itself (3.2.259–60,3.2.270–72, 3.2.282, 3.2.291–92). Typically, as we have seen, his only interestseems to be in Orlando’s intelligence: “You have a nimble wit; I think ’twasmade of Atalanta’s heels. Will you sit down with me? And we two will railagainst our mistress the world, and all our misery” (3.2.276–79). Jaques is aseager to talk to Orlando as he was to avoid the duke, as we have seen, showingthat he is as ambivalent in his attitude to dialogue as he is to music and venison.He would perhaps claim that conversation is only to be valued insofaras it facilitates philosophy, but the audience may again feel that he is moresociable than he realizes, since he later tries to engage Rosalind in conversation(4.1.1–2). In any case, Orlando rejects his invitation with some scorn,declaring that he will use his wit to criticize his own faults (3.2.280–94). Thisself-criticism is useful, for Orlando’s aim will presumably be to overcomethe pride which has been one of his chief characteristics, so that he can “liveand die [Rosalind’s] slave,” whereas Jaques’s detached analysis of society will,as we have seen, only serve to bolster his sense of superiority (3.2.154). Thecontrast between Jaques and Orlando is sharpened by their references to theAtalanta legend in the lines quoted above: whereas Orlando uses it to showthat he appreciates Rosalind’s wit as one ingredient of her charm, but balancesthis with praise for her constancy, Jaques focuses on the intellect to theexclusion of all else and has no notion of finding fulfillment through love.Orlando clearly has the intelligence to engage in philosophical dialogue, asJaques recognizes, but, like Rosalind, his priorities are elsewhere. The audiencemay well agree with him when he pugnaciously defends his love againstJaques’s attack, declaring that if it is a fault, it is superior to Jaques’s “bestvirtue” (3.2.282–84).Like Touchstone, Rosalind employs great ingenuity in order to secure aconstant love in a fickle world. Her initial excitement when she learns thatOrlando is in the forest is almost immediately matched by a contrasting prudence:“O ominous! He comes to kill my heart” (3.2.246). She is worried thatOrlando shows none of the signs of suffering that are the usual characteristicof the serious lover, so she decides to test his love in an extremely cautiousand restrained way, while preserving her male disguise; presumably with aview to suppressing her feelings if Orlando should be found to be untrustworthy(3.2.369–84). For some time the outcome is uncertain, as Rosalindcarefully balances Orlando’s apparent loyalty against his occasional unreliability,using his punctuality to measure his capacity for self-control andconsideration (3.4.4–26). She affects to deny that anyone ever died for loveand accuses herself of infidelity in order to test his response, worrying that