Readers and audiences have long greeted As You Like It with delight. Its characters are brilliant conversationalists, including the princesses Rosalind and Celia and their Fool, Touchstone. Soon after Rosalind and Orlando meet and fall in love, the princesses and Touchstone go into exile in the Forest of Arden, where they find new conversational partners.
The play centers around the central character, Rosalind, the daughter of the exiled Duke Senior, who is living in the Forest of Arden. Rosalind’s life takes a dramatic turn when her uncle, Duke Frederick, seizes power and banishes her from the court. She flees to the forest, where she is joined by her cousin, Celia, and the jester Touchstone. In the forest, they encounter a variety of characters, including Orlando, a young nobleman who has fallen in love with Rosalind.
To protect herself, Rosalind disguises herself as a man named Ganymede, and much of the play’s humor arises from the misunderstandings and complications that ensue when she and Orlando interact under this guise. Through the interactions and revelations that occur in the forest, themes of love, transformation, and self-discovery are explored. Eventually, love triumphs, misunderstandings are cleared up, and the various characters find resolution, with several marriages forming by the play’s conclusion.
Published on by eBooks
Categories: Fiction Romance / Adult Poetry Literature