As You Like It by William Shakespeare

*contains spoilers*


Arden, the forest to which the Duke and his people are banished at the very beginning of this play, has something about it that resembles the Eden from which Adam and Eve were also banished in the anonymous work of fiction, The Bible (ha!). Of course, we see all sorts of biblical (as well as classical) allusions in what I believe to be one of Shakespeare’s greatest comedies, As You Like It, as the beloved characters ponder the nature of life, death, family, enemies, wisdom, folly and the self – just like many do in those classical and biblical stories of old, including in this list Shakespeare’s greatest work, Hamlet. There are no ponderings on the whys and wherefores of flesh and being whilst holding aloft skulls of long lost beloved fools, but there are moments of reflection on the cycle of life itself, and most notably the stages of growth and the acquisition of wisdom or descent into folly.


Rosalind, Shakespeare’s most prominent leading female character (she says the most lines of any of Shakespeare’s female speakers), resembles the medial point between intellect and out-and-out folly, as she takes the reins early on, switching gender roles to become Ganymede so as to avoid acts of dishonour in the woods of Arden, and then manipulates the also strong-willed (and physically powerful) Orlando in her teasing game of love. Rosalind is quick-witted, organised, assertive, and yet cannot help but fall into the trap of taking her plans too far; even the slow-off-the-mark Celia knows that Rosalind must know when to stop, and often points it out, as Rosalind constantly pushes boundaries throughout the play.


Jaques, the melancholic fool who offsets Touchstone’s flagrantly untameable idiocy, provides one of the most famous speeches in any of Shakespeare’s comedies – you know, the one about the seven stages of life – and reminds us all that at the centre of the farcical elements lies a core where the deeper questions are posed: what is it all about, this life? We’re all the same but we’re all different, y’know? Shakespeare invokes the classics in several ways, as usual, with his inclusion of the god of marriage, Hymen, who, at the end, brings all the matching partners together, linking also Arden to the tales of the Golden Age, a time when there was no work, no pain, no hunger, and basically no worries. Take us back to those halcyon days, eh! Just as I like it.

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