Belonging is one of those universalities that appears simple and yet holds complex truths about humanity. It is the state in which an individual holds a place of purpose and is valued for one’s own intrinsic identity within a group or relationship. In order for belonging to occur, there must be an affinity between individuals in terms of shared aspects of identity. However, as each individual has a set of values that shapes their identity, there must be some negotiation in order to find commonalities. There are many ways through which an individual can belong to a group or relationship, however some individuals find it difficult to establish similarities in identity with others, so must suppress their individuality in order to belong or else completely withdraw. Thus it is evident that one identity affects, and is affected by whether or not and how one belongs.

This crucial relationship between identity and belonging is explored in the play As You Like It by William Shakespeare. The play deals with the ubiquitous dilemma of disconnected individuals searching for a place of belonging, to regain a lost sense of self. In the play Shakespeare identifies a number of different ways which one can belong; the family’s role in establishing one’s identity and self perception, the role of gender as defining identity, and love as an avenue for ultimate belonging. These concepts of belonging are explored through Shakespeare’s use of characterisation, plot and setting. Two other texts that explore the concept of belonging are Jane Austen’s novel Persuasion and the short story “Comrades” by Nadine Gordimer.

As You Like It follows several characters disconnected from society on their individual journeys to regain a place of belonging. The sense of discord in the play is evidently a result of the corruption in the court, the setting where the main characters ideally belong. Corruption in the court is identified through the family breakdowns that have occurred. The play opens with a sense of disorder, an unnatural situation where Orlando rails against his brother’s maltreatment of him. Oliver fails to fulfil the role “charged” him by his late father to provide Orlando with adequate education befitting a “gentleman of [his] birth”. By denying Orlando the means to his rightful place in society, Oliver removes a vital part of his identity, consequently denying him a part in the family; the “place of a brother”. The corruption in the court is further illustrated through the banishment of Duke Senior by his brother Duke Frederick. This lack of kinship conveys the need for a restoration of balance in the court.

However the devoted, loving relationship between Rosalind and Celia transcends shows how harmony can occur within the court. In a stark contrast to the tension in the previous scene, the atmosphere denotes a satisfying accord. The fact that the two are merely cousins yet are “coupled and inseparable” highlights the corruption in the court. Shakespeare contrasts the character of Celia to her father Duke Frederick to convey how the disparity in identity can result in a lack of kinship. When Rosalind is banished by her uncle, Celia not only rises to her defence, but is disloyal to her father leaving him to “seek another heir” and following Rosalind into the forest. Celia recognises her father’s “rough and envious disposition” which “sticks her at the heart”: unlike her father, Celia has a moral conscience.

As Shakespeare uses the contrasting characters of Celia and Duke Frederick and Oliver and Orlando to illustrate how ones identity is not completely shaped y ones family and that one does not always belong to their family, he also uses characterisation to show how an affinity in identity can allow two individuals to belong completely to one another. Orlando is characterised as virtuous and noble as Oliver himself admits Orlando’s natural gentility accepting that he is “learned...full of noble device”

and “enchantingly beloved”. Rosalind, similarly is portrayed as worthy by her banisher, Duke Frederick who acknowledges that “her smoothness...her patience” elevates her above his own daughter. The high merit of Rosalind and Orlando serves to highlight the injustice of Oliver’s deficiency as a brother and Duke Fredericks malevolence, as well as establishing the affinity between the two.

Similarly, in her novel Persuasion, Jane Austen uses contrasting characterisation to explore how family influences ones identity and state of belonging. The novel deals with the moral struggles of the art of persuasion and the consequences of its power.

The novel opens with the protagonists father Sir Walter Elliot perusing his “favourite volume”, the “Baronetage” in order to reaffirm his own history and social status as a Baronet. This clearly identifies not only Sir Walters’s superficial values, but also society’s prevailing value of maintaining a prominent position. Sir Walter blatantly displays his veneration of social rank as he exemplifies the target of Austen’s satire. Her mockery identifies Sir Walter’s vanity as “the beginning and the end” of his character which serves only, through contrast, to elevate the protagonist, Anne Elliot, as virtuous.

Juxtaposed to her father, Anne is portrayed as a worthy character. Having “elegance of mind and sweetness of character”, she is identified as separate from the conceit and “Elliot pride” of her father and her two sisters who hold the same preoccupation with status. The reader is also made aware however, that Anne is not valued for her endearing traits, instead she is “nobody with either father or sister” and evidently in isolation within her family. However, the rejection is not one-sided as Anne continually opts disassociates herself from her family refusing to ingratiate herself with her cousins of nobility, the Dalrymple’s. Austen goes so far as to make Anne “ashamed” of the Dalrymple’s bearing “no superiority of manner, accomplishment, or understanding” and merely being “charming”. Anne’s refined judgment of character identifies her as clearly not belonging to her family.

Beyond the contrasting characters, Austen also addresses a larger conflict between two whole attitudes and ways of life. Torn between her sense of acceptance within the naval circle at Uppercross and her duty to her family at Bath, Anne vocalises the disparities between the two social “sets”. While Anne is at home and with the Musgrove’s, Sir Walter and Elizabeth are at their most characteristic in the sterile vanity of Bath, “exulting: that their “acquaintance was exceedingly sought after”. Austen’s use of the contrasting locations of Bath and Uppercross highlights the ability of different settings to confirm individual values.

The use of setting to explore the ability of a location to either affirm or transform ones identity is evident in the setting of the Forest of Arden in As You Like It. The forest is a place of transformation, and idyllic world where one can “fleet the time carelessly” and gain a deeper understanding of themselves and society. This is evident in the characters often critical description of the court after being in the Forest. Duke senior himself describes life in the court as “painted pomp” and the woods “more free from peril than the envious court.” There is a unity with Dukes associating with fools and shepherds and the natural world is portrayed as harmonious, a place where one can belong regardless of their identity.

The forest also allows the characters to explore their identity through identifying the gender expectations that help shape them. In the play, Shakespeare toys with the idea of gender, suggesting that it is largely performative, but that there is an essential core of gender and identity within humans. The plot device of Rosalind posing as a male shepherd, Ganymede allows Shakespeare to convey this idea. While a man, Rosalind is able “command” the events of the play, exerting power that she did not posses as a woman. However, Shakespeare identifies that she is essentially feminine, allowing her to faint when Orlando proves his worth to her, despite her “counterfeit to be a man.”

The exploration of gender roles is only one part of the process the characters must undergo to regain a lost sense of identity. In the play, romantic love is explored as a means of creating harmony and restoring the disorder in society. The transformative power of love is illustrated by the relationship between Rosalind and Orlando, who despite having developed a relationship while Rosalind was a man, still share a connection that “no cross shall part” once they are married. The unconventional relationship between the ever devoted Silvius and the scornful Phebe is also transformed by marriage. Even though Phebe appears to command Silvius, making him “an instrument” of her will which was an unlikely role for women of the time, their marriage restores the balance and allows Silvius to regain his rightful place as her husband. In effect, the rightful identity of both individuals and both relationships is restored through a sense of belonging found in marriage. The various couplings in the play endow the characters with fulfilment; a sense of belonging associated another being.

While As You Like It deals with social order being restored by a regained sense of connection in individual characters, the short story “Comrades” by Nadine Gordimer similarly explores the necessity of individual understanding for social harmony to occur. Set in the racist society of apartheid South Africa, the text conveys the deep lack of understanding and acceptance in society through the individual experience of protagonist Hattie Telford. Telford is an individual who aims to eliminate the disadvantages faced by black people by joining a “committee of white and black activists” advocating for the education of black people. Gordimer characterises Hattie as holding different values to her affluent European society by her constant striving to acknowledge equality between herself and the “youngsters” she encounters. The fact that she identifies that it is “she with them” and not them with her conveys her belief that equality and a sense of belonging can be achieved by both races if there is a shared value for liberation from discrimination. However, the naivety of Hattie’s values is evident in her ironic declaration of the university being “a non racial enclave of learning” while European style “tended flower beds are incongruous with the “campus guards and dogs” that denote a need for protection from the black community who “alarmed” her at the story’s opening.

The setting of Hattie's house further illustrates her privilege and the irony in her belief of equality. In order to truly understand the great disparities between their two worlds, Hattie must undertake a journey of self reflection. The youngsters at her house are overwhelmed by “something she can’t see”. Positioned through Hattie's perspective, the reader is also unable to see what it is that overwhelms. The realisation begins to dawn however, when Hattie recognises the harsh realities of the boys’ lives. They do not go to school, for them “school is a battleground...with responsibilities beyond childhood”. Their silence points to the fact that they are awestruck by Hattie’s affluence; the “phenomena undifferentiated” has no place in their world of “political activity”. Their response

illuminates the large gap between the two worlds that cannot be bridged in a wider social context unless people come to recognise their ignorance as did Hattie Telford.

Belonging is a dilemma that has many aspects included in it. There are a number of ways in which an individual can belong and there is a vital relationship between an individual’s identity and their state of belonging. The texts As You Like It by William Shakespeare, Persuasion By Jane Austen and the short story “Comrades” by Nadine Gordimer all explore this concept of belonging.