Note to As You Like It, 2.7.118: "Let gentleness my strong enforcement be"

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As You Like It,
Act 2, Scene 7, line 118.

Let gentleness my strong enforcement be: i.e., Let civilized feelings be my only means of forcing you to do my will. —This modestly ironical statement echoes Duke Senior's at lines 102-103: "What would you have? Your gentleness shall force / More than your force move us to gentleness."