Quote 4
DUKE SENIOR
Thou seest we are not all alone unhappy.
This wide and universal theater
Presents more woeful pageants than the scene
Wherein we play in. (2.7.142-145)
If the Duke weren't such an upbeat guy, this might leave us a little worried. Even though the world does seem like one big "theater," it's a little depressing to think that our lives are nothing more than a "woeful pageant." It seems like the Duke finds a bit of comfort knowing that human suffering is a universal experience and that there's always someone else in the world with a tougher life than ours.
P.S. Didn't we hear something similar from Macbeth just after he learned that his beloved wife had died? We smell an essay topic!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing. (5.5.2)
Quote 5
Play, music.—And you, brides and bridegrooms all,
With measure heaped in joy, to the measures fall. (5.4.184-185)
When Duke Senior orders the wedding party to hit the dance floor, As You Like It begins to look like a modern-day musical, don't you think?
Quote 6
DUKE SENIOR
First, in this forest, let us do those ends
That here were well begun and well begot,
And, after, every of this happy number
That have endured shrewd days and nights with us
Shall share the good of our returnèd fortune
According to the measure of their states.
Meantime, forget this new-fall'n dignity,
And fall into our rustic revelry.— (5.4.176-183)
Duke Frederick's conversion has a major social impact. When he returns the dukedom to his older brother, Frederick makes it possible for Duke Senior, Rosalind, and Orlando to return to court, where they will (presumably) transform the once-treacherous court into a more civilized place.