As You Like It
William Shakespeare
As You Like It
ClassicsHumor & SatirePlays & Drama
5 chapters·2h 49m listening
3.81from 91,194 ratingson Goodreads
"As You Like It" by William Shakespeare is a pastoral comedy written in 1599. When Rosalind flees her uncle's court seeking safety, she ventures into the Forest of Arden with her cousin Celia. There they discover a world of memorable characters, including the melancholy philosopher Jaques, who delivers the famous speech "All the world's a stage." In this enchanted forest setting, persecution gives way to possibility as Rosalind navigates disguise, love, and the contrast between courtly life and country existence.
Contains spoilers for the entire book
- Themes
- Atmosphere
About the book
Written around 1599 and first printed in the First Folio of 1623, As You Like It begins at a court where a duke has been driven out by his younger brother. When the usurper banishes the duke’s daughter Rosalind as well, she escapes to the Forest of Arden with her cousin Celia and the court fool Touchstone, disguised as a young man named Ganymede. Shakespeare uses the forest as a place where courtly manners, pastoral fantasy and plain country life meet and test one another. Rosalind, in disguise, coaches the lovesick Orlando in how to woo her, and the melancholy Jaques supplies the speech that begins “All the world’s a stage”. The comedy turns on love’s foolishness and the freedom that a change of place and costume allows.
Characters
Rosalind — Protagonist
A banished duke's daughter who enters the Forest of Arden disguised as a young man called Ganymede.
Orlando — Rosalind's suitor
A young gentleman mistreated by his elder brother who seeks refuge in Arden.
Celia — Rosalind's cousin
Rosalind's loyal companion, who leaves her father's court and takes the name Aliena.
Touchstone — Court fool
A witty fool who accompanies the women into exile and comments on country life.
Jaques — Melancholy observer
A member of the exiled duke's company, given to reflections on human folly.
Duke Senior — Exiled ruler
Rosalind's father, who holds a makeshift court in the forest after his brother usurps his position.
Oliver — Orlando's brother
The eldest son of Sir Rowland de Boys, whose hostility denies Orlando his proper upbringing.
About the author
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor, born in Stratford-upon-Avon to a glovemaker and educated no further than the grammar school there. In London he became a sharer — a part-owner — in the Lord Chamberlain's Men and in the Globe theatre, which is what made him money; the plays were the company's stock rather than literature, and he took no part in printing them. Two fellow actors collected thirty-six of them in the First Folio of 1623, seven years after his death, and eighteen plays exist only because they did. He also wrote 154 sonnets.