As You Like It

As You Like It is a comedy by William Shakespeare, generally dated to around 1599, although its exact date of composition is not certain. It was first published in 1623, in the First Folio, the great collected edition of Shakespeare's plays prepared by his fellow actors. No earlier quarto edition survives, so this printed version is the sole early source for the play. External and internal evidence suggests that it was written between late 1598 and mid-1599, though some scholars propose a slightly later date.

The story follows Rosalind, who flees the court of her uncle, Duke Frederick, who has usurped the dukedom from her own father, the rightful duke. Accompanied by her cousin Celia and the court jester Touchstone, Rosalind seeks refuge in the Forest of Arden, where her exiled father lives with a band of loyal courtiers. There they meet shepherds, shepherdesses and characters of very different temperaments, among them the melancholy traveller Jaques, who delivers one of Shakespeare's most famous speeches, beginning with the idea that all the world is a stage. Rosalind, disguised as a man, becomes entangled in a playful relationship of games and misunderstandings with Orlando, a young man mistreated by his elder brother Oliver, who has also fled into the forest.

The play draws on Thomas Lodge's pastoral romance Rosalynde, published in 1590, which Shakespeare reshapes with considerable freedom. The Forest of Arden works less as a precise geographical place than as a symbolic space, where classical and Christian traditions mingle, and where echoes of both the forests of France and those of England can be felt. This deliberate vagueness is reinforced by the contrast between the court, marked by intrigue and power, and rural life, idealised yet also viewed with irony.

The central theme is love and its power to transform people, alongside a reflection on the merits of court life compared with a simple existence. Disguises, wordplay and conversations about love lead to a finale of multiple weddings that restores order and harmony. Critical opinion has been divided: some regard it as one of Shakespeare's most accomplished comedies, while others place it below his greatest creations. Nevertheless, it has enjoyed a lasting stage history and has inspired adaptations for radio, film and musical theatre.