As You Like It

• 1. Origins And Composition

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  The play As You Like It emerged from the creative ferment of late 1598 and early 1599. No quarto edition exists for this work, meaning its first printed appearance came only in the First Folio of 1623. Scholars have fixed the composition date to a period between the end of 1598 and the middle of 1599 using both external and internal evidence. External clues include the entry into the Register of the Stationers' Company on the 4th of August 1600 as a work to be stayed until copyright issues were resolved. Thomas Morley's First Book of Ayres published in London that same year contained a musical setting for the song It was a lover and his lass. This implies the play existed in some form before 1600. Francis Meres did not mention it in his Palladis Tamia list of twelve plays dated 1598, suggesting it was written after that inventory. The new Globe Theatre opened sometime in the summer of 1599 with the motto Totus mundus agit histrionem which echoes Jaques famous line All the world's a stage. Internal evidence points to references within Act III scene vi where Phebe quotes Whoever loved that loved not at first sight taken from Marlowe's Hero and Leander published in 1598. Another clue appears in Rosalind's speech about weeping like Diana in the fountain possibly referring to an alabaster image set up in Cheapside in 1598. These details suggest composition occurred between September 1598 and September 1599 though certainty remains impossible.

• 2. Plot And Character Dynamics

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  Rosalind flees persecution in her uncle Duke Frederick's court accompanied by her cousin Celia seeking safety and love in the Forest of Arden. They encounter the melancholy traveller Jaques who speaks one of Shakespeare's most famous speeches while observing life in the country. Orlando a young gentleman falls in love with Rosalind at first sight but is forced to flee home after being persecuted by his older brother Oliver. Rosalind disguises herself as Ganymede Jove's own page while Celia becomes Aliena meaning stranger. They arrive in the Arcadian Forest of Arden where they meet Corin an impoverished tenant offering to buy his master's crude cottage. Meanwhile Orlando and his servant Adam find Duke Senior living there posting simplistic love poems for Rosalind on trees. Rosalind meets Orlando as Ganymede pretending to counsel him to cure himself of being in love. The shepherdess Phebe falls in love with Ganymede though he shows no interest in her. Touchstone falls in love with the dull-witted shepherdess Audrey and tries to woo her before being forced to marry first. William another shepherd attempts to marry Audrey but is stopped by Touchstone threatening to kill him a hundred and fifty ways. Finally Silvius Phebe Ganymede and Orlando are brought together in argument over who will get whom. Orlando rescues Oliver from a lioness causing Oliver to repent for mistreating him. Oliver meets Aliena falling in love with her agreeing to marry. Four weddings occur in the final scene before Hymen restores harmony. Jaques declines returning to court preferring to stay in the forest adopting religious life.

• 3. Thematic Analysis

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  Scholars have long disputed whether As You Like It possesses high artistry or represents mere crowdpleasing. George Bernard Shaw complained it lacked Shakespearean capability while Tolstoy objected to character immorality and Touchstone's clowning. Harold Bloom wrote that Rosalind ranks among Shakespeare's greatest fully realised female characters. The elaborate gender reversals interest modern critics studying gender studies. Through four acts Rosalind disguises herself as a boy whereupon rustic Phebe becomes infatuated with this Ganymede name carrying homoerotic overtones. The epilogue states explicitly that she or at least the actor playing her is not a woman. In several scenes Ganymede impersonates Rosalind so a boy actor would be playing a girl disguised as a boy impersonating a girl. Penny Gay analyzes Rosalind's character showing how her demanding tone contradicts social norms dictating women's behavior as irrational. Her disobedience proves deconstruction of gender roles since she believes wiser women are wayward. Other scholars note the ending reconfirms patriarchal values arguing both Orlando and Rosalind harbor nostalgia for benevolent patriarchy. Kay Stanton notes Celia who alternatively images a world run by female solidarity remains entirely silent during act five. The play features multiple examples of usurpation yet ends happily with reconciliation and forgiveness. Duke Frederick converts restoring dukedom to Duke Senior who in turn restores forest to deer. Oliver undergoes change learning to love Orlando transferring father's inheritance to younger brother. Envy appears as universal globe inhabited by ordinary mortals shown happy and reconciled by love. Text can serve as pretext establishing respite from War Stage where Marston version of anonymous satire Histriomastix sparked conflict.

• 4. Performance History

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  No certain record exists of any performance before the Restoration though two specific dates have been suggested for first court performance. Shrove Tuesday the 20th of February 1599 at Richmond Palace occurred before Elizabeth I by Lord Chamberlain's Men. Another possibility is the 12th of December 1603 at Wilton House Wiltshire home of Mary Sidney before King James by same company renamed King's Men. Tradition holds play acted that night was As You Like It. During English Restoration King's Company assigned play by royal warrant in 1669. Known to have been acted at Drury Lane in 1723 in adapted form called Love in a Forest where Colley Cibber played Jaques. Another Drury Lane production seventeen years later returned to Shakespearean text in 1740. Notable recent productions include 1936 Old Vic Theatre starring Edith Evans and 1961 Shakespeare Memorial Theatre starring Vanessa Redgrave. Longest-running Broadway production starred Katharine Hepburn as Rosalind Cloris Leachman as Celia William Prince as Orlando Ernest Thesiger as Jaques running 145 performances in 1950 directed by Michael Benthall. Stratford Festival 2005 set play in 1960s featuring Shakespeare lyrics set to music written by Barenaked Ladies. Theatre critic Michael Billington named Cheek by Jowl's 1991 production directed by Declan Donnellan his favorite. In 2023 Rose Ayling-Ellis hearing impaired performed as Celia at sohoplace subject of documentary on living with hearing impairment. Shakespeare's Globe staged play in 2023 noted for LBGT/queer presentation.

• 5. Musical Adaptations

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  As You Like It known as musical comedy contains more songs than any other Shakespeare play. Thomas Morley composed music for It was a lover and his lass living same parish composing music for Shakespeare plays. Roger Quilter set Blow blow thou winter wind for voice and piano 1905 in three Shakespeare songs Opus 6. Florence Wickham wrote music and lyrics for opera Rosalind based on As You Like It premiering open air Rockridge Theater Carmel New York August 1938. Gerald Finzi included setting of It was a lover and his lass 1942 in song cycle Let Us Garlands Bring. Cleo Laine sang jazz setting of It was a lover and his lass 1964 album Shakespeare... and all that Jazz credited composer Young. Donovan set Under the Greenwood Tree to music recorded A Gift from a Flower to a Garden 1968. Hans Werner Henze included Touchstone Audrey William fifth movement sonata Royal Winter Music portraits Shakespearean characters 1976. Rush drummer Neil Peart incorporated passage All world indeed stage into Limelight lyrics 1981 progressive rock album Moving Pictures. John Rutter composed setting of Blow blow thou winter wind chorus 1992. Barenaked Ladies wrote released full album 2005 recorded exclusively Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Michael John Trotta composed setting of Blow blow thou winter wind choir 2013. Public Theater Public Works program presented musical adaptation 2017 original music lyrics Shaina Taub. Vancouver Bard on Beach introduced musical adaptation 2018 songs Beatles performed cast broke box office records touring cities returning 2023.

• 6. Cinematic Legacy

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  Laurence Olivier directed first Shakespeare film As You Like It 1936 serving acting capacity performing Orlando rather than producing or directing. J.M. Barrie author Peter Pan wrote treatment. Made England starred Paul Czinner wife Elisabeth Bergner playing Rosalind thick German accent not considered success by either Olivier or critics. Helen Mirren starred Rosalind 1978 BBC videotaped version directed Basil Coleman. Christine Edzard made another film adaptation 1992 featuring James Fox Cyril Cusack Andrew Tiernan Griff Rhys Jones Ewen Bremner transposed modern bleak urban world. Kenneth Branagh set in 19th-century Japan released 2006 starring Bryce Dallas Howard David Oyelowo Romola Garai Alfred Molina Kevin Kline Brian Blessed. Released theatres only Europe U.S. premiere HBO 2007. Kevin Kline won Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance Male Actor Miniseries Television Movie Jaques performance. CBeebies filmed children's version 2022. Salvador Dalí worked published costume set designs play directed Luchino Visconti Teatro Eliseo Rome 1948. Numerous artists inspired paint including John William Waterhouse Daniel Maclise Francis Hayman Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale Margaret Gillies William Hodges John Pettie Robert Smirke John Collier Walter Deverell William Hamilton.