As You Like It

As You Like It is a comedy written by William Shakespeare in late 1599 or early 1600. It is a love story taking place in the forest and featuring multiple couples falling in love. The primary romance is one of convoluted deception as the play’s heroine, Rosalind, dresses up like a man (called "Ganymede") and teases the play’s hero, Orlando, for being in love with Rosalind – while she herself has actually fallen in love with Orlando.

As You Like It is one of Shakespeare’s more popular comedies, and is known for its heavy romantic element. You may have heard the play’s most famous speech, which begins with "All the world's a stage, / And all the men and women merely players." In addition to being a witty commentary on life, this famous quote is also a good summation of all the coupling that goes on in As You Like It. Everyone is playing everyone else, and with all the marriages at the end, you bet there’s going to be some fun throughout. As You Like It is also rather well known from the feminist angle, as its heroine (Rosalind) is one of Shakespeare’s most fleshed-out female characters.

As You Like It is a special work of literature because it doesn’t particularly care if you care or not. That’s the whole point of the play – life is this or that, depending on how you look at it, and how you look at it is your prerogative.

The work is a rare chance to see people at their finest because they’re honest about who they are. Rosalind delights in juxtaposition, so she dresses up like a man; Touchstone doesn’t care who thinks he’s foolish. Jaques just wants to be miserable, and so he is. With the possible exception of Orlando’s jealous brother, this play is all about being true to yourself, no matter how anybody else judges or thinks of you.

Amidst all these lofty topics of individuality, perception, social obligations and the like, the play has one character that embodies the mingling of the life of the mind and the life of the heart. Rosalind is the perfect example of someone who functions on intuition rather than intention. She doesn’t need to declare her beliefs or perspective – she just is them.

Yale professor and literary critic Harold Bloom credits Rosalind with being the first real lover in all of modern literature. She’s the first to make fun of love, and also the first to let herself be fully embraced by all its frivolity and pure joy. Bloom says "Rosalind is unique […] in Western drama, because it is so difficult to achieve a perspective upon her that she herself does not anticipate and share." Basically, this girl is incredibly self-aware. As a woman, Rosalind’s character doesn’t need to have all the drama and oomph of Shakespeare's male protagonists, yet she’s memorable because she’s so unexpected.

It’s not for nothing that Rosalind has the most lines of any of Shakespeare’s female characters; outside of the trappings of what women are supposed to be, she can enact the best of being a person, full of foibles but also capable of incredible insight. The best way to get at Rosalind is to realize she’s one of Shakespeare’s only characters that you’d actually like to be with while trapped in an elevator. Hamlet might bore you to death, and Macbeth might cut out your liver and send it to your mother, but Rosalind would probably play a game of travel Scrabble with you and then ask for your number with a wink.

Rosalind’s attitude and the breadth of her perspective color the whole play, which doesn’t come to any big decisions about what type of life is best. Court or country, fool or scholar, duke or exile – these are all just different ways to live, none better than the other. By having all of these different characters live the vastly unique lives they want to lead, Shakespeare reminds us that no two people choose the same two paths – and that’s OK. Yes, we’ve all heard "different strokes for different folks," but while you were busy embracing all the colors of the rainbow, Shakespearean literature was making the point in a far more eloquent manner and with 90% less eye-rolling.

So As You Like It is a healthy reminder of what is best put in the words of yet another great poet: Dr. Seuss. You should "be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind." So wear your multi-colored toe-socks and dye your hair pink if it makes you happy.