Don P.—Will you have me, my lady?
Beat.—No, my lord, unless I could have another for working days. Your grace is too costly to wear every day.
Of the same bright, refreshing character is Celia, but Beatrice is more brusque, while Celia has a tender vein of womanliness which tones her raillery, while her sprightliness is more strongly thrown out in the early scenes of the play by its contrast with the constantly recurring melancholy of Rosalind. This antithesis is clearly observable in the following:
Cel.—Why cousin! why Rosalind! Cupid have mercy! not a word?
Ros.—Not one to throw at a dog.
Cel.—No, thy words are too precious to cast away upon curs; throw some of them at me; come, lame me with reasons.
Ros.—Then were two cousins laid up; when the one should be lamed with reasons and the other mad without any.
Cel.—But is this all for your father?
Ros.—No, some of it is for my child’s father. Oh, how full of briers is this working-day world.
Cel.—They are but burs, cousin, thrown upon thee in holiday foolery; if we walk not in the trodden paths, our very petticoats will catch them.