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How does Touchstone confuse Corin with his speech on the relative merits of the court life and the shepherd life?
Ans. Corin asks Touchstone how he likes the shepherd’s life. Touchstone compares the shepherd’s life with the court life, and confuses the poor Corin with his philosophical distinct between the two sorts of life. Here is his speech in which he describes the relative merits of the two sorts of life. Truly, shepherd, in respect of itself the shepherd’s life is a good life, but it is nothing to me because it is a shepherd’s life. I like it because it is peaceful, but it is a miserable life because it is solitary. I like it because it has fields and pastures, but it is tiresome because it is not court life. It pleases me with its frugal life, but I do not like it because there is here not much to eat.
Here Touchstone becomes almost the mouth piece of Shakespeare. Shakespeare has no philosophy of his own. He is the detached observer of life, and does not take sides. He sees life steadily, and sees it whole. Here in the speech of Touchstone we see an example of Shakespeare's Negative Capability.