In the first scene of Act IV, long after Orland has agreed to be instructed by Rosalind/Ganymede, she cajoles him by offrering him numerous examples of mythological models of love that have died "for love", and concludes with: "But these are all lies: men have died from time to / time and worms have eaten them, but not for love." In an odd way Rosalind seems to be saying two things at once. On one level, we hear Rosalind's point, and her logic is sound: it is a romantic idea to die for love, and romantics wrongly hold up heroic figures as models. She advocates for a more "realistic" or "down-to-Earth" model of love, and attempts to correct Orlando's high-flown ideals. Though, on the stress-pattern level (which are in bold), we see a different message. If we read only the bold words (these all men died time and worms eat but love), we still get the stark realism that Rosalind urges, yet the difference is that love is set off by the conjunction, opening the possibility that love is more lasting than time or worms.
This split message makes sense at this point. Since Rosalind has split her identity between her feminine role and her male role as Ganymede, she is obviously struggling to contain her roles and her affections for Orlando, and Shakespeare dramatizes this conflict on the sonic level. Orlando too hears Ganymede, but is unconvinced as his response is confident and a bit coy: "I would not have my Rosalind of this mind, / for, I protest, her frown might kill me." Orlando is often regarding as a tad dim, but, if nothing else, he has an impeccable ear. Due to Rosalind's conflicted message, Orlando finds a moment to assert his perspective and equalize himself against the loquacious, stage-managing, Rosalind.
So for a time Rosalind is forced to concede to his idealism, as her next lines reveal:
By this hand, it will not kill a fly. But come, now
I will be your Rosalind in a more coming-on
disposition, and ask me what you will. I will grant
it.
Orlando has backed Rosalind into a corner, and the only way out is to make a promise to him, and shake on it. Word and action are united in this moment, and we are brought to a hard stop with the period in the middle of the line. This stop acccentuates the flirtatiousness and intimacy through a moment of silence, and offers Rosalind an opportunity to expose her more feminine role. Rosalind's excitement here coupled with the the realization that Orlando will stick to his opinions, even if they are idealistic: Orlando is a true romantic and hopes to have that type of love in his life. This brief moment of exposure and contact energizes Rosalind, makes her feel powerful, capable, and in control of herself and the situtaion. It also speaks to her own desires to have type of love that is heroic and is worth dying for with another person.
Typically, Rosalind is seen as instructing the uncultivated Orlando. But in this moment, I think the opposite is true. Through Orlando's gentle assertivness, Rosalind learns she too is capable of being assertive (which will come in very handy in the entanglement with Phebe and Silvius). Rosalind too learns about her own thoughts and feelings regarding love, attraction, and her own limits. Her lines could be seen as a test to see what Orlando believes and how strongly he believes it. Once Rosalind discovers Orlando's desires, she discovers that she too desires the heroic love she downplayed earlier, and is willing to risk exposure (on many levels) to acheive that type of love.
The heroic "patterns of love" might be lies in some ways, but they are still remembered. Their love was so great, that these people were transformed from mere individuals into myth. So this may be a lesson for all of us: those who are willinging to risk much (life, property, money, identity, etc.) for the sake of love, have the chance for love transform their lives into something worth being remembered.
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