Loyalty in As You Like It by William Shakespeare Loyalty is the dominant theme in As You Like It by Shakespeare. Each character has a loyalty or disloyalty to another. These disloyalties and loyalties are most evident in the relationships between Celia and Rosalind, Celia and Duke Fredrick, Orlando and Rosalind, Adam and Orlando, and Oliver and Orlando. In these relationships, a conflict of loyalty causes characters to change homes, jobs, identities, and families. Two characters, Celia and Rosalind, are loyal to each other throughout the play, which is evident through the decisions made by Celia. In this quote, Celia challenges her father to remain faithful to Rosalind. "Which teaches you that you and I are one: shall we be separated? Shall we part, sweet girl? Nay: let my father seek another heir. Then devise with me how we may fly" (Act 1, scene 3). Celia unhesitatingly renounces her position as heir to the throne in order to remain faithful to Rosalind. Celia even gives up the throne when Duke Frederick declares Rosalind a traitor, as Celia says "If she be a traitor, why am I" (Act 1, scene 3). Celia gives up the court, her family, and her valuables out of loyalty. Similar to the devotion shared between Celia and Rosalind, Adam, the De Bois family servant, shows a great degree of loyalty towards Sir Rowland. This is demonstrated by his generous acts towards Orlando. Adam's undying loyalty to Sir Rowland is demonstrated by his response to Orlando's departure to the Forest of Arden: "Let me go with you; I will do the service of a younger man in all your affairs and necessities" (Act 2, Scene 1). Adam did not allow Orlando to go into the forest alone and gives him all his life savings so that Orlando can survive. Orlando is a great model of loyalty and commitment to service. Orlando reciprocates the loyalty of Adam, who at one point was close to death. Contrary to the above, three of the most important relationships in As You Like It lack loyalty. Loyalty is necessary in all healthy relationships, in As You Like It. The lack of loyalty in some relationships between characters emphasizes the need for loyalty in relationships in the play. The behavior of some characters in the play demonstrates that a lack of loyalty is harmful to their relationships. These relationships are between Duke Fredrick and Celia, Oliver and Orlando, and Rosalind and Orlando.