Where Is Mercy Bred:A reading of As You Like It from the Perspective of the Philosophy of Ren

The turning point in the plot of As You Like It is the rise of compassion that has urged Orlando to save his villainous brother at the risk of his own life. Since then the play moves from confrontation to harmony. However, the play doesn’t have a detailed account of how Orlando makes up his mind to return good for evil. This paper proposes a cross-cultural reading of the reticence and omission in the treatment of the critical moment. Orlando’s deed may be read as a reflection of the spontaneous love of Christianity. In the light of the Confucian theory of ren , the omission of Orlando’s innermost thoughts at the critical moment may be an expression of how and why the feeling of mercy originates in his mind.