Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Allusion #5 - Juno's Crown
As You Like It Act 5 Scene 4
HYMEN ... (this part removed)
Wedding is great Juno’s crown,
O blessèd bond of board and bed.
'Tis Hymen peoples every town.
High wedlock then be honorèd.
Honor, high honor, and renown,
To Hymen, god of every town.
It's the end of the play, and all the couples are getting married by Hymen. In his singing he mentions Juno, Roman queen of the gods, wife to Jove (god of the skies), and goddess of marriage. It is said that June, Juno's month, is a good month to be wed.
He says that wedding is Juno's crown, which is related to the current plot. Orlando and Rosalind are currently being married. Soon after, Jaques De Boys comes with the news that Duke Frederick, converted by a religious man, has returned to Duke Senior all that he took when he usurped him. This means that Orlando, having married Rosalind, will inherit his fortune, and in a way getting a sort of "crown", or power.
Juno is also goddess of pregnancy. Touchstone and Audrey have physical love, remember, and as soon as they are married, they will do the thing that causes pregnancy. If all works as it should, Audrey will become pregnant.
Not only does "great Juno" do all of these things, she also helps to straighten out arguments between spouses. However, it seems that she has decided not to assist the aforementioned Touchstone and Audrey, as according to Jaques' prediction, they will fight so that their marriage will last but two months.
As a Greek god of marriage ceremonies, Hymen seems to be "marrying" the situations with the song, as they relate and intertwine.
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