As You Like It

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1. ACT I.

   At the court and Oliver's house, two sets of brothers are at odds. Orlando, denied his birthright by Oliver, throws Duke Frederick's wrestler and falls in love with Rosalind. The tyrannical Frederick banishes Rosalind, and she flees to the Forest of Arden disguised as a man, with her cousin Celia and the clown Touchstone.

   1. Scene 1 — An Orchard near OLIVER'S house.

      In the orchard, Orlando complains to old Adam that his eldest brother Oliver has denied him the education and breeding their dead father willed him. The brothers quarrel and grapple. After Orlando goes, Oliver plots with the Duke's wrestler Charles — who relates that old Duke Senior is banished to Arden while his daughter Rosalind stays at court with her cousin Celia — to have Charles break Orlando's neck in the next day's match.

   2. Scene 2 — A Lawn before the DUKE'S Palace.

      At Duke Frederick's court Celia tries to cheer the grieving Rosalind; Touchstone and the courtier Le Beau bring word of the wrestling. Against all warning Orlando throws the giant Charles. Rosalind and Orlando fall in love at once, and she gives him a chain; but when Frederick learns Orlando is the son of his old enemy Sir Rowland de Bois, he turns cold.

   3. Scene 3 — A Room in the Palace.

      Duke Frederick abruptly banishes Rosalind on pain of death. Celia refuses to be parted from her, and the cousins resolve to flee together to seek Duke Senior in Arden — Rosalind disguised as a youth, 'Ganymede,' Celia as a shepherdess, 'Aliena' — taking Touchstone with them.

2. ACT II.

   The scene shifts to the Forest of Arden, where the banished Duke Senior praises the simple life. Warned of Oliver's murderous plot, Orlando flees with faithful old Adam; Rosalind, Celia, and Touchstone reach the forest among shepherds. At the Duke's woodland banquet Jaques delivers the 'Seven Ages of Man,' and Amiens sings of the greenwood and of man's ingratitude.

   1. Scene 1 — The Forest of Arden.

      In Arden, Duke Senior finds 'sweet are the uses of adversity' and 'tongues in trees, books in the running brooks.' A lord describes how the melancholy Jaques wept and moralized over a wounded stag left by the herd.

   2. Scene 2 — A Room in the Palace.

      Duke Frederick discovers the girls gone, along with Touchstone, and — told they admired Orlando — orders Oliver to produce his brother.

   3. Scene 3 — Before OLIVER'S House.

      Old Adam warns Orlando that Oliver means to burn him in his lodging. The faithful servant offers his life savings and his service, and master and man set out together for the forest.

   4. Scene 4 — The Forest of Arden.

      Ganymede (Rosalind), Aliena (Celia), and a weary Touchstone arrive in Arden and overhear the shepherd Silvius pour out his love for Phebe to old Corin. Ganymede arranges to buy Corin's master's cottage and flock.

   5. Scene 5 — Another part of the Forest.

      Amiens sings 'Under the greenwood tree' to Jaques and the foresters; Jaques, who 'can suck melancholy out of a song,' mocks the singers and the sweet life.

   6. Scene 6 — Another part of the Forest.

      The fainting Adam can go no further; Orlando promises to find him food and carry him to shelter.

   7. Scene 7 — Another part of the Forest.

      At the Duke's banquet Jaques reports meeting a motley fool (Touchstone) and longs for a fool's 'liberty.' Orlando bursts in demanding food at sword's point but is gently welcomed, and fetches Adam — prompting Jaques's 'All the world's a stage' and its seven ages. Amiens sings 'Blow, blow, thou winter wind,' and the Duke welcomes Orlando as Sir Rowland's son.

3. ACT III.

   Frederick dispossesses Oliver and sends him after Orlando. In the forest Orlando litters the trees with love-verses, and the disguised Rosalind, meeting him, undertakes to cure his love by having him court 'Ganymede' as if she were Rosalind. Touchstone courts Audrey; Silvius woos the disdainful Phebe, who falls instead for 'Ganymede.'

   1. Scene 1 — A Room in the Palace.

      Duke Frederick seizes Oliver's lands and banishes him until he brings in Orlando, dead or alive.

   2. Scene 2 — The Forest of Arden.

      Orlando hangs verses praising Rosalind on the trees. Corin and Touchstone debate the merits of court against country. Rosalind reads the verses, and Celia reveals their author is Orlando. As 'Ganymede,' Rosalind engages Orlando to woo her daily as though she were Rosalind, claiming she can talk him out of love.

   3. Scene 3 — Another part of the Forest.

      Touchstone courts the plain goatherd Audrey and summons the hedge-priest Sir Oliver Martext to marry them under a bush, until Jaques intervenes and dissuades him from so irregular a wedding.

   4. Scene 4 — Another part of the Forest. Before a Cottage.

      Rosalind frets and weeps that Orlando is late to his wooing-lesson; Celia teases her about her lover's faith. Corin invites them to watch the 'pageant' of Silvius and Phebe.

   5. Scene 5 — Another part of the Forest.

      Silvius pleads with the scornful Phebe; Ganymede sharply rebukes her pride — and Phebe promptly falls in love with 'Ganymede,' quoting Marlowe ('Who ever lov'd that lov'd not at first sight?') and sending the youth a railing love-letter by Silvius.

4. ACT IV.

   The mock-courtship deepens: 'Ganymede' has Celia 'marry' her to Orlando in play and punctures every romantic cliché. When Oliver arrives with a bloody napkin and tells how Orlando saved him from a lioness — converting him — the disguised Rosalind faints at the news, almost giving herself away.

   1. Scene 1 — The Forest of Arden.

      After fencing words with Jaques about his melancholy, Rosalind-as-Ganymede plays out a mock-wedding with Orlando (Celia officiating), mocks the notion of dying for love ('men have died from time to time, and worms have eaten them, but not for love'), and warns comically of a wife's wiles. Orlando leaves, promising to return in two hours.

   2. Scene 2 — Another part of the Forest.

      Jaques and the lords turned foresters bring in the man who killed the deer, set the horns on his head as a trophy, and sing the horn song, 'What shall he have that kill'd the deer.'

   3. Scene 3 — Another part of the Forest.

      Silvius delivers Phebe's love-letter to Ganymede. Then Oliver arrives with a bloody napkin: Orlando, finding his sleeping brother menaced by a snake and a lioness, fought the beast and saved him, and Oliver is transformed. At the tale of Orlando's wounds, 'Ganymede' faints — nearly betraying that she is a woman.

5. ACT V.

   The knots are untied. Oliver and Celia fall in love and will marry; Touchstone routs his rival William; and 'Ganymede' promises by 'magic' to resolve every love. In the final scene the god Hymen presents the restored Rosalind and joins four couples at once, news comes that Duke Frederick is converted, and Rosalind speaks the Epilogue.

   1. Scene 1 — The Forest of Arden.

      Touchstone overawes William, Audrey's slow country suitor, and dismisses him.

   2. Scene 2 — Another part of the Forest.

      The reformed Oliver and Celia ('Aliena') have fallen in love and will wed tomorrow, Oliver resigning the estate to Orlando. Orlando aches that he cannot have his own Rosalind; 'Ganymede' promises to produce her by 'magic,' and orchestrates the chiming love-litany of Silvius, Phebe, Orlando, and herself ('And so am I for Phebe... And I for no woman').

   3. Scene 3 — Another part of the Forest.

      Two of the Duke's pages sing the spring song 'It was a lover and his lass' to Touchstone and Audrey on the eve of their wedding.

   4. Scene 4 — Another part of the Forest.

      Before Duke Senior, Ganymede secures everyone's promises and then returns as herself, presented by the god Hymen, who joins four couples — Rosalind and Orlando, Oliver and Celia, Silvius and Phebe, Touchstone and Audrey. Jaques de Bois brings word that Duke Frederick, marching to destroy his brother, met an old hermit, was converted, and restores the dukedom. The melancholy Jaques alone declines the festivity and joins the convert. Rosalind speaks the Epilogue.

Characters

• Rosalind protagonist

  Daughter of the banished Duke Senior and the play's quick-witted heart. Falling for Orlando at the wrestling, then banished herself by her uncle Frederick, she flees to the Forest of Arden disguised as a young man, 'Ganymede.' In that disguise she meets the lovesick Orlando and offers to 'cure' him of love by letting him woo 'Ganymede' as if he were Rosalind — directing her own courtship and anatomizing romantic folly even as she shares it. The prefix is always 'ROSALIND.'; 'Ganymede' is her assumed name, never a separate speaker.

• Orlando deuteragonist

  The youngest son of the late Sir Rowland de Bois, kept down and denied education by his eldest brother Oliver. He throws the Duke's champion wrestler Charles, falls in love with Rosalind at first sight, and flees Oliver's murderous envy into Arden, where he hangs love-verses on the trees and is schooled in love by 'Ganymede' (Rosalind disguised) without knowing it. Loyal and generous, he rescues the brother who wronged him from a lioness.

• Celia major

  Daughter of the usurping Duke Frederick and devoted cousin to Rosalind, whom she loves 'dearer than the natural bond of sisters.' When her father banishes Rosalind, Celia chooses exile with her, fleeing to Arden disguised as a shepherdess, 'Aliena' (the estranged one). There she falls in love with the reformed Oliver. The prefix is always 'CELIA.'; 'Aliena' is her disguise name, not a separate speaker.

• Touchstone supporting

  The court jester ('clown') who follows Rosalind and Celia into exile. A licensed fool whose name is the dark stone used to test gold, he tests the pastoral idyll against worldly wit — parodying the shepherds' love, courting the goatherd Audrey, and burlesquing courtly quarrels with his mock-treatise on 'the lie' (the Retort Courteous, the Quip Modest, and so on up to the Lie Direct). Jaques delights in him as 'a material fool.'

• Jaques major

  A melancholy lord attending the banished Duke Senior in Arden — the play's resident malcontent and detached observer, who 'can suck melancholy out of a song as a weasel sucks eggs.' He weeps over a wounded stag, longs for a fool's motley and 'liberty to blow on whom I please,' and delivers the play's most famous set-piece, the 'Seven Ages of Man' ('All the world's a stage'). At the close he alone refuses the weddings, withdrawing to the converted Duke Frederick. Distinct from Jaques de Bois, Orlando's brother.

• Duke Senior supporting

  The rightful duke, banished by his younger brother Frederick and living in the Forest of Arden with a band of loyal lords 'like the old Robin Hood of England.' Philosophical and content, he finds 'tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything,' and 'sweet are the uses of adversity.' Rosalind's father, he is restored to his dukedom when Frederick is converted. (Called 'Duke Senior' to distinguish him from the usurper.)

• Duke Frederick antagonist

  The usurping duke, who has banished his elder brother Duke Senior and seized his dominions, keeping only his niece Rosalind for his daughter Celia's sake. Tyrannical and quick to suspicion, he banishes Rosalind on a whim and threatens Oliver. Marching on Arden to destroy his brother, he meets 'an old religious man,' is suddenly converted, and restores the crown — the comedy's improbable reconciliation. (Called 'Duke Frederick' to distinguish him from his banished brother.)

• Oliver supporting

  The eldest de Bois brother, who inherits everything and cruelly denies his youngest brother Orlando the breeding due a gentleman, confessing 'I hope I shall see an end of him, for my soul... hates nothing more than he.' He plots Orlando's death, is dispossessed and sent by Frederick to hunt him, but is saved by Orlando from a snake and a lioness — a rescue that converts him. In Arden he falls in love with 'Aliena' (Celia) and is reconciled.

• Adam supporting

  An old servant of the de Bois family, faithful to Orlando, whom he warns of Oliver's plot and follows into exile, offering his life savings of 'five hundred crowns' and his service. Near death from hunger in the forest, he is carried in by Orlando to Duke Senior's table. The role is traditionally said to have been played by Shakespeare himself.

• Amiens supporting

  A lord attending Duke Senior in his banishment and the play's principal singer. He sings the forest songs 'Under the greenwood tree' and 'Blow, blow, thou winter wind, / Thou art not so unkind / As man's ingratitude' — lyrics that voice the play's pastoral debate between court and country, false friendship and the simple life.

• Silvius supporting

  A young shepherd hopelessly in love with the disdainful shepherdess Phebe — the conventional Petrarchan lover of pastoral, sighing, abject, and faithful. His complaint that to love is to 'break from company abruptly' draws Rosalind into the shepherds' love-tangle. He wins Phebe only when her infatuation with 'Ganymede' collapses.

• Phebe supporting

  A scornful shepherdess who disdains the faithful Silvius — until she falls suddenly in love with 'Ganymede' (the disguised Rosalind), quoting Marlowe ('Who ever lov'd that lov'd not at first sight?'). Rosalind rebukes her pride and binds her to a promise: if she ever refuses 'Ganymede,' she must take Silvius. When 'Ganymede' proves a woman, Phebe keeps the bargain and weds Silvius.

• Corin supporting

  An old shepherd, plain, kind, and content — the genuine countryman against whom the courtly exiles measure the pastoral ideal. He helps Rosalind and Celia buy a cottage and flock, and in his debate with Touchstone over court versus country manners defends the honest life: 'I earn that I eat, get that I wear; owe no man hate, envy no man's happiness.'

• Audrey minor

  A simple, unlettered goatherd whom Touchstone courts and marries in Arden, baffled by his wit ('I do not know what poetical is... is it honest in deed and word? is it a true thing?'). She abandons her country suitor William for the jester.

• William minor

  A slow country fellow in love with Audrey, routed in a one-sided exchange by Touchstone, who orders him to 'abandon the society of this female' on pain of comic death. He yields with a docile 'God rest you merry, sir.'

• Charles minor

  Duke Frederick's professional wrestler, who has maimed three challengers before the match. Warned by Oliver (falsely) that Orlando means him harm, he intends to hurt him — but Orlando throws him before the court, the upset that sets the comedy in motion.

• Le Beau minor

  A mannered courtier in Frederick's court who relates news of the wrestling to Rosalind and Celia, and afterward — more decently than his affected style suggests — warns Orlando to leave, hinting at the Duke's growing malice.

• Dennis minor

  A servant of Oliver's, who announces the wrestler Charles at Oliver's door in the opening scene.

• Sir Oliver Martext minor

  A hedge-priest (a poorly qualified country vicar) whom Touchstone summons to marry him to Audrey under a bush — until Jaques talks him out of so irregular a wedding. His name ('mar-text') mocks ignorant clergy who garble the liturgy.

• First Lord minor

  A lord attending the banished Duke Senior, who reports how the melancholy Jaques moralized over the weeping wounded stag.

• Second Lord minor

  A second lord attending Duke Senior, who with the First Lord reports on Jaques and later brings word of the encounter with Orlando.

• Lord minor

  One of the lords turned foresters in Arden; in the hunting scene (4.2) he is the one who has killed the deer, set with the deer's horns on his head 'for a branch of victory' while the company sings the horn song.

• First Page minor

  One of two pages of the banished Duke who, meeting Touchstone and Audrey, sing the spring song 'It was a lover and his lass' — both 'in a tune, like two gipsies on a horse.'

• Second Page minor

  The second of the Duke's two pages, who with the First Page sings 'It was a lover and his lass' to Touchstone in the forest.

• Hymen minor

  The Roman god of marriage, who appears in the wedding masque of the final scene to present Rosalind in her own person and to join the four couples, singing 'Wedding is great Juno's crown.' The figure ('A person representing Hymen') is part of the staged masque rather than a literal deity — a theatrical flourish that resolves the disguise plot and sanctifies the marriages.

• Jaques de Bois minor

  The middle son of Sir Rowland de Bois, brother to Oliver and Orlando, who appears only in the final scene to bring news that Duke Frederick has been converted by 'an old religious man' and has restored the dukedom. Distinct from the melancholy lord Jaques.

• Song ensemble

  Ensemble voice for the two songs printed under a bare 'SONG.' cue with no individual singer named: the foresters' horn song 'What shall he have that kill'd the deer' (4.2) and the pages' 'It was a lover and his lass' (5.3, sung by the two pages together).

Cross-references

• Folger Shakespeare
• MIT plain text
• Wikipedia