"Purify the unclean body of the infected world / If they will patiently receive my medicine" (Shakespeare 304). William Shakespeare addresses a disorder known as melancholy through the character Jaques in As You Like It. In this quote, Jaques blames the outside world for imposing his own "infections" on him. Robert Burton defines this condition in Anatomy of Melancholy: Jaques's symptoms indicate that he suffers from what Burton defines as a habitual melancholy of emulation and love. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay To understand Jaques disease, it is crucial to study its symptoms. Robert Burton explains that the signs of melancholy within the body are “obvious and familiar” and that the afflicted “betray themselves willingly, are too frequent in every place…their complaints are too well known” (Burton 382). In Act 2, Scene 1 of As You Like It, Shakespeare introduces readers to Jaques through a revealing conversation with Amiens. Amiens acknowledges Jaques' discomfort with a song he performs. The lyrics encourage others to sing together and fear nothing except "winter and adverse weather" (Shakespeare 302). Jaques responds with cynical comments to this positive message. He wants Amiens to continue singing, prolonging his sad feelings. His interaction with Amiens reveals his well-known melancholic nature. Amiens openly addresses the fact that Jaques, who can "suck the melancholy out of a song like a weasel sucks eggs," cannot be pleased (Ibid. 302). Furthermore, Jaques admits in act 4, scene 1, that he suffers from "a melancholy of mine, composed of many simples, extracted from many objects, and indeed the varied contemplation of my travels, in which my often rumination envelops me in a humorous sadness" (Ibid. 315). This reveals Jaques's comfort and openness towards his complaints; he is willing to make everyone aware of his illness. The melancholic humor arising from the body "makes you laugh, cry, sleep, dancing, singing, shouting, and drinking" (Burton 383). Jaques' inconsistent behavior includes moments of sarcasm, contemplation, and silliness. In Act 2, Scene 5, Jaques sardonically comments on his enjoyment of the music and decides to create his own verse .His production includes cold, dry words; he criticizes the "dog apes" who have escaped from the courts: "Here he will see / Big fools like him / An if he will come to me" (Shakespeare 303). sarcastic that promotes his melancholic attitudes. In act 4, scene 3, Jaques insists that the gentlemen "sing. It doesn't matter how much it is tuned, so it makes enough noise" (Ibid. 317). This desire for noise arises from melancholy in the body. In addition to playful sarcasm, Jaques delights in contemplation. It expresses a philosophical concept underlying a deceptively simple idea. For example, in Act 2, Scene 1, Jaques describes a motley fool he encounters in the Forest of Arden. He speaks with youthful enthusiasm - in stark contrast to his darkest moments - when he describes this fool: "And in his brain, which is as dry as the biscuit left after a journey... Oh, that I were a fool! I am ambitious for a cloak colorful” (Ibid. 304). This statement represents Jacques' conflicted nature. Jaques wears a cloak of wit and melancholy that becomes part of his perpetual costume, but he shows a philosophical and intellectual side, just like the motley fool bit of irony in Jaques' character because his adamant desire to transform into the motley madman has already evolved Another example of his contemplative nature occurs as he preaches on thepassage of time and the inevitability of mortality. The constant shadow of melancholy that hangs over Jaques causes the development of his illness. It becomes evident through the study of Jaques's life symptoms that his melancholy is habitual in nature. Robert Burton states that the difference between melancholy of habit and melancholy of character lies in how infected individuals behave during times of suffering. Life is a “succession of pleasure and pain,” and all humanity experiences melancholy feelings regardless of their social, mental, or physical situation (Burton 144). Some learn to develop patience during times of illness, while others become their illness, often exposing their constant state of desperation. Jaques represents those whose melancholy defines their lives. He refuses to face periods of desperation with inner patience, and rather "gives way to [his] passion, voluntarily submitting... labyrinth of worries, misfortunes, miseries, and suffers that (his) soul is overwhelmed by them... dispositions become habits” (Ibid. 145). Evidence of this appears in Act 2, scene 7, when Jaques explains that “All the world's a stage / And all the men and women are merely actors” (Shakespeare 305) . He believes that human nature is just a performance and emphasizes the fact that life assigns certain roles. This corresponds to his previous comments about how society does not expect a fool to speak deeply or intellectually society as “Monsieur Melancholy” (Ibid. 309), and thus participates in this dramatic world he describes. Furthermore, society encourages his desperation, causing Jaques to turn his melancholy into a habit society indicates that his melancholy is rooted in both emulation and love. Many aspects of emulation and love are intertwined into one category, as love inspires thoughts of emulation and jealousy. Cyprian describes emulation as a “consummation to make another man's happiness his misery, to torture… they grieve, sigh, and groan ever day and night without intermission” (Burton 266). This “nursing of wit and valor” (Ibid. 267) occurs between Orlando and Jaques as they walk together in the Forest of Arden. Orlando writes love poems to Rosalind in the trees, while Jaques develops an intense disgust towards his overly romantic acquaintance. He judges Orlando harshly, expressing negativity towards Rosalind and the entire miserable world. “The worst fault you have is to be in love” (Shakespeare 309). Jaques attempts to convert Orlando's feelings of love into feelings of indifference. He tries to convince Orlando that his actions are superficial and that only a foolish woman could appreciate superficial love poems. A similar circumstance occurs in Act 2, scene 7: “And then the lover / Sighing like a furnace with a sorrowful ballad / Made to his mistress's eyebrow” (Ibid. 315). Jaques mocks Renaissance love conventions , but his apparent hatred for lovers is simply a custom. He secretly envies couples like Orlando and Rosalind, but cannot escape his melancholy role in the world. This example crosses the line between emulation and love melancholy. According to Burton, those who suffer of love melancholy they become angry when they hear of and between lovers: “What greater contrast can there be than that between a lover and a sober man, an admirer of beauty and a madman?” (Burton 5). to accept love and he develops into a bitter, mad, and melancholy being. Shakespeare, however, believes that Jaques's melancholy differs from Burton's definition: I have neither the, 1997. 288-325.