After Silvius exits, Oliver, Orlando’s older brother, approaches Rosalind and Celia. He explains to the two ladies that he was sent by Orlando, who could not keep his appointment. Oliver explains that Orlando was on his way to them when he saw Oliver sleeping on the ground. A green and gold snake was wrapped around Oliver’s neck and getting ready to bite him. However, Orlando’s arrival scared it away. However, a lioness in the bushes had been watching the sleeping Oliver; and, as the snake was leaving, the lioness came out to attack its prey. Despite his dislike for his brother, Orlando battled the lioness and killed it.
Both Celia and Rosalind had heard, on a prior occasion, Orlando speak about Oliver; and Celia asks him if he is the same brother who had plotted to kill Orlando. Oliver responds that he is that same brother:
“’Twas I, but ‘tis not I. I do not shame
To tell you what I was, since my conversion So sweetly tastes, being the thing I am.
(134-36)
Oliver means that he is not the same person anymore. He has changed, and he is ashamed of his prior behavior towards Orlando. The key word in Oliver’s lines is conversion. The Forest of Ardenne – symbolic of nature itself – is magical. Nature has restored Oliver to his natural self. He had become cruel and unnatural by living in the city (or in society)