Monday, November 28, 2016


‘Tis no matter: ne’er a fantastical knave of them all shall flout me out of my calling.

-Sir Oliver Martext

As You Like It     Act III, scene iii  Line 102
I thought this Sir Oliver Martext fellow was a pretty minor character, so I decided to google him to see what was out there on him. I found an interesting blog post suggesting that Sir Oliver Martext is a clue pointing to the conclusion that Christopher Marlowe wrote As You Like It. You can read about that if you like. Here’s the link: http://marlowe-shakespeare.blogspot.com/2010/10/significance-of-sir-oliver-mar-text-in.html

In any event, apparently Sir Oliver appears only in this scene with three speaking lines, and is mentioned in one other scene. And yet he gets the final line, alone, in Act III Scene iii. He’s been called out as a fellow who is incapable of performing a legitimate wedding and so Touchstone, Audrey , and Jaques head off to find a proper vicar. At which point Sir Oliver says ‘No matter, these knuckleheads aren’t going get me to change my calling by insulting me.’

Considering that there is no real character development of this guy, and no further appearances by him, it’s hard to see what this line has to do with anything, or what purpose it has. So maybe that lends credence to that blog post referenced above. Or maybe not. Who the heck knows?

What do you think?

Looks like these folks are looking for the Vicar to perform a christening. I hope the Vicar hasn't been flouted out of his calling!


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