Belonging is a natural human need which can be seen through Shakespeare’s As You Like It and Tim Winton’s Neighbours. Both texts explore how perceptions of belonging and not belonging can be influenced by one’s connection to place. This idea is conveyed through changes in place and how the changes can develop a sense of belonging or non-belonging.

Setting is used by both texts to convey how the significance of a change in place can affect belonging. In As You Like It Shakespeare juxtaposes the harshness of court life to the freedom of the untainted Forest of Arden. In Act one Scene one Orlando is placed in the orchard outside the house away from everyone portraying his alienation from his brother and household. Shakespeare uses animal imagery to emphasise Orlando’s outsider status through the lines “His horses are bred better” highlighting Orlando’s alienation. Adam, a servant of the family, also feels disconnected from the house as Oliver treats him with disrespect shown through animal imagery - “old dog” which illustrates how Adam’s disconnection to place is affecting his relationship with Oliver. This is then juxtaposed to the Forest of Arden which explores how the country fosters and teaches belonging as it is unrestricted by social constraints allowing relationships to foster. “Are not these woods more free from peril than the envious court” is Shakespeare expressing through the personification of the “envious court” that the forest is a positive place compared to the court. This is explored further through the alliteration of “painted pomp” and the biblical allusion to the forest of Eden through the lines “Here feel we not the penalty of Adam” which illustrates how life in the forest is much greater than the spiteful life of the court conveying the Duke’s developing attachment to the forest and its naturalness.

Neighbours a short story by Tim Winton, tells the story of a newlywed couple who have moved to the suburbs from the city who feel alienated in their new surroundings. In this Winton uses the setting of the suburbs to create a sense of alienation. Through the use of simile “the newlyweds felt like sojourners travelling to a foreign land” it conveys the lack of belonging the couple have towards their new surroundings. Through auditory imagery “The sounds of spitting and washing and daybreak watering came as a shock” this highlights the couples feeling of alienation as they consider what is the ‘norm’ in the suburbs to be absurd illustrating how lack of belonging can cause disconnection from the community. However the symbolism of seasons is used to illustrate how over time belonging can change –“As autumn merged into winter...the young couple found themselves smiling back at the neighbours” conveying the growing connection the couple have to place and therefore how it affects their relationships with the people in the neighbourhood. This highlights how the perception of belonging to people and communities can be influenced by connections to place.

Attitudes towards places can either hinder or strengthen bonds between a person and a place. In As You Like It Rosalind is banished to the forest however they see the forest as a place of positivity “To liberty, and not to banishment” and it is this symbolism of the forest that illustrates how a positive attitude can benefit ones perception to belonging to a place. Duke Senior also has a positive mind set about the forest and this allows him to adapt to forest life easier and even creates stronger bonds between his fellow “brothers and co-mates in exile”. This is shown through the personification of the forest “Find tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones” which illustrates that a change in setting can be a learning experience for an individual allowing them to learn life lessons and reassess their perceptions about belonging. Ultimately it is the natural setting of the Forest of Arden that allows the characters to develop a true sense of self and belonging.

In Neighbours however it is the negative attitude of the couple that creates a barrier between them and the rest of the neighbourhood. It is only when they choose to interact with the neighbours do they create a connection with the neighbours and their attitudes shift. This is shown through the shift in tone from “He watched in disgust” which uses emotive language to show discontent which is juxtaposed to “In the street they no longer walked with their eyes lowered. They felt superior and proud” highlighting the change in attitude through the emotive words ‘superior and proud’. This in conjunction with the motif of gifts repeated throughout the story – “the man in the deli gave her small presents of chocolates”, “the Polish man came over with barrowful of wood scraps for the fire” illustrates how the positive attitudes of the couple and the neighbours brings everyone closer together both in the neighbourhood and the wider community thus illustrating how belonging to place affects the belonging between people and the community.

Love is obvious theme in As You Like It and the relationships between the characters only develop dramatically once they move into the forest. An obvious change in relationship is between Orlando and Oliver. “I never loved my brother in my life” is Oliver expressing his hate towards Orlando and is ironic since brothers are expected to have a strong bond between each other. This is then juxtaposed to a later time in the Forest of Arden where Oliver describes Orlando as having “kindness, nobler ever than revenge” after Orlando saves Oliver’s life illustrating how the naturalness of the forest has restored the relationship between the two brothers. This conveys how belonging to places influences belonging to people.

This theme of love is expresses the concept of family and community in Neighbours. When the woman becomes pregnant the neighbours and people of the local community help out and devote more of their time to the couple. “It stunned them to be parents so early. Their friends didn’t have children until several years after – if at all.” The word choice of stunned emphasises the suddenness of the pregnancy and how unplanned it was which portrays how the couples lifestyle has changed from a scheduled organised city life to a relaxed, ‘go with the flow’ lifestyle of the suburbs. This illustrates how a change in place can alter an individual’s perception of belonging as the couple now belong to the neighbourhood of the suburbs and not the city.

Through literary techniques such as metaphors, similes, personification and so forth, Shakespeare and Winton have both explored the concept that belonging to place is an important part of an individual’s sense of belonging as belonging to place can affect the perceptions of a person and their beliefs about belonging.