Just as Orlando was tongue-tied in the previous scene, Rosalind is initially unable to speak at the beginning of the third scene. Both Orlando and Rosalind have been shot by Cupid’s arrow: they are in love with each other. Shakespeare uses a semiotic connection –both of them being tongue-tied – to link the two lovers together. In literature, semiotics is the use of signs and symbols to convey meaning. In this case, love has affected both in the same manner; and thus Shakespeare simply and effectively establishes a connection between the two lovers.
The third scene begins with Celia trying to urge her silent cousin to speak, and Rosalind briefly responds that she does not even have one word “to throw at a dog” (3). Dogs are usually fed unwanted table scraps, and Rosalind is thus implying that she does not even have any worthless words to speak. Celia, however, attempts to get Rosalind to speak and reveal why she is so moody:
No, thy words are too precious to be cast away upon curs. Throw some of them at me. Come, lame me with reasons. (4-5)
Cur is another word for dog, and Celia is declaring that the usually sharp and clever Rosalind should not waste her words (which are like fine food) upon the dogs. Celia then wittily uses a metaphor of throwing words being like throwing rocks. Celia then asks Rosalind to throw her words – her reasons for being