In Act 1, Scene 2, Celia and Rosalind engage in a playful back-and-forth about Nature and wit. The dialogue is full of alliteration:
Rosalind: Indeed, there is Fortune too hard for Nature,
When Fortune makes Nature’s natural the
cutter-off of Nature’s wit.Celia: Peradventure this is not Fortune’s work neither,
But Nature’s, who perceiveth our natural wits too
Dull to reason of such goddesses, and hath sent
This natural for our whetstone, for always the dullness
Of the fool is the whetstone of the wits.
How now, wit, wither wander you?
Rosalind suggests that Fortune is stronger than Nature in this scene, as she has the power to send a “natural” (a fool) to interrupt two women using their natural wit. Celia responds that perhaps Nature is to blame for Touchstone's interruption. Perhaps Nature, thinking that their wit is not up to the task of comparing her with Fortune (“our natural wits too / Dull to reason of such goddesses”), has sent the two girls a fool as a “whetstone” to sharpen their wits against.
The silly, comical character of this dialogue is emphasized by the use of alliteration and wordplay throughout. In Rosalind’s speech, “n” and “o” sounds especially are repeated (When Fortune makes Nature’s natural the/ Cutter-off of Nature’s wit). In Celia’s speech, the consonant “w” is emphasized ("This natural for our whetstone, for always the dullness / Of the fool is the whetstone of the wits. / How now, wit, wither wander you?").
The effect is that their speech has a bouncy, sing-song quality that echoes the back-and-forth of the dialogue, as Celia and Rosalind riff on each other’s jokes. The use of alliteration here fits in well with the more lyrical aspects of Shakespeare’s style, which played with meter, rhythm, and rhyme to engage the ear of the audience.
