As You Like It Act 4 Scene 2

Song Meaning

This scene presents a peculiar ritual celebrating a successful hunt, where the act of killing a deer is reframed as a Roman conquest. Jaques, ever the cynic, suggests adorning the hunter with the deer's horns as a "branch of victory." The tone is mock-heroic, a stark contrast to the primal act of taking a life. The core tension lies in the forced jollity surrounding a death. The forester's song, meant to be celebratory, carries an undercurrent of obligation. The lyrics "What shall he have that kill'd the deer? / His leather skin and horns to wear" reduce the spoils to mere trophies, while "The rest shall bear this burden" implies a collective, perhaps grudging, participation in this charade. The most striking element is the reappropriation of the deer's horns. Jaques's "Roman conqueror" comparison and the song's insistence that the horn is a "crest" and has been worn by generations of fathers, attempts to legitimize the kill through inherited status. This is a masterful piece of wordplay, turning a symbol of the hunted into a badge of honor for the hunter. Ultimately, the effectiveness of these lyrics stems from their ironic detachment. The scene crafts a hollow triumph, where the hunter is lauded with symbols of his victim. It highlights how social rituals can mask the true nature of an act, creating a performance of victory out of a simple kill.