As You Like It 2

"JAQ: By my troth, I was seeking for a fool when I found you.
ORL: He is drowned in the brook: look but in, and you shall see him.
JAQ: There I shall see mine own figure.
ORL: Which I take to be either a fool or a cipher."
-Page 42 Act III Scene II

As You Like It is a comedy written by Shakespeare. A lot of people in class were wondering why it was a comedy when it wasn't actually funny. I originally thought it was just because they didn't understand the humor of Shakespeare's time, which is probably true. Actually though, a comedy means that it has a happy ending, unlike a tragedy play where everyone dies. I agreed with my classmates in saying that this play is not funny, except for maybe a couple instances, one being the quote above. Jaques and Orlando are contrasting characters, and in this scene, they are jokingly bickering back and forth. In the quote above, Orlando tells Jaques he can find a fool by looking at the water. Jaques then responds saying that he'll only see his own reflection in the water, where then Orlando basically says, "Exactly!" Jaques was looking for a fool as in a person who entertains royalty, but Orlando changed the meaning to be literally a fool. I found this joke to be witty and humorous. I also looked up the definition of cipher and found it to mean a person of no influence or importance, which goes right along with the joke.