Character Sketch of Rosalind in As You Like It

Bard sh Avon
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (Poed)

Character Sketch of Rosalind in As You Like

JA TTO William
AS You Like_lt is a pastoral comedy by
Shakespeare writtea in 1599. The play is considered to be a work of
great merit. Shakespeare has dealt with a large variety of themes in
the play. The play portrays various characters. But Rosalind may be
considered to be the central charactr-of the play. She is the daughter
of Duke Senior whg has been deposed by his brother, Duke Frederick.
EZ1AI
Duke Senior is4Aid4hIla
banished. and after a row with her uncle, Duke
hTRETATA)
Frederick. Rosalind is also banished. She flees to a cottage on the
Celia,
edge of the For:st of Arden, accompanied by her cousin
daughter of the Duke Frederick and the court fool, Touchstone.
Rosalind is heartbroken about the disruption to her life,
who
especially as she has fallan in love with Orlando, a young
man

iives in the city. However she has iheänner strength to dosomething

herseif as a
positive 1ater tan sinply Demoan her fate. She disguises
and calls herself Ganymede. She
young nan of the sevam class
remains in that node for most of the play. Celia is disguised as

Ganymede's sister. Aliena. They are aceompanied by Duke

Frederick's fool, Torchstone. At the end of he play, afier a very

complirated set of roma itic events, several love matching are

àa woman and
resoived by Rosalini. Then she reveals herself as

reunites with ier father and marries Orlando.

best known female

R:salnd 0ne of Shakespeare's
characieIS. S :s Si intelligent and strongest women
Snelisnto cle ve
beautiful
O sto ng charscters. She ie ui ted,reil. t and resourceful, and
she's a bit
D
dtolas weli, S bas samung leai rship qualities. although
enough
She is a vty loyal young woman, and
n th nes, ofa schemecr, ui is artiess.
Aheck, chengueleTemains faith'i o hrr fiirnis nd faiiy igardless of the dangers
iAddacss tonra g-
Ode En lá,et farticalar pevon or ti Sohn teats (Host famous
Ode water)

Aligie 1anen
 As You Like It
Character Sketch of Rosalind
in

able to find her way through any

tricky
that presenus. She is always
as her real self,
such as the way she presents herself
situation,
while at the same time beinga
Rosalind, to her father and her lover
mind
that she can convert the shepherdess's
young man for Phebe so

towards marrying Silvius.

play, the and it is

Rusalind magical. She dominates
1s

out and the traits

of the other
through her that story is played
her cousin is central to the play.
characters illuminaied. Her loyalty to
well as family to Celia.
She keeps
She is à cornpanic and friend as
her spirits up as iney ilave fun together.

when her father iss

Rosahnd's first iest of strength comes

father in such
exiled. A young woman normally accompany a
wouid
is divided between
circumstanc es but she decides tu stay. Her loyalty
Celia. She ioves
protect her cousin
femaining to
going wih hiii and
torn, but puts the pain
both her iauner arnd Celia and she's emotionally
to a difficult decision that has
to
of mixed feelgs aside ad faces up
be made one way or the other
when she
She Shows her intelligence and her ingenuity
as a man. Sie docs that
because she knows how
disguises herself of
w o n a n lo be away from the protection
Gangerous it is for a young
in that role that she even fools her
her iome. She rs so convincing
laler in the Her courage is evident in her
play.
father when they mect
the story she
And all through
dep!oving thai device as wel!
how important her support
dononsrades those quolities She knows
and places herself last in supporting them.
for the othes thafacters is

Favoured with youth, beauty, intelligence, wit, and depth

most appealing creations.
of feeling. Rosalindis oneof Shakospeare's
as the ideal romantic
She has. indeed been frequently regarded
human.
heroine-Vey wmm and very

Prof. ensal "

 t
The me ab As You ike
De e

tle o scoMe
adik Pasdoaa
dy shakespkaK
As YouLken
of Lod o n be hind t e o ntng RS YoU ke
Jt

itivAtile o shallespeax ( Comedy play)

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Plot Corkt sUchon(SU MMaYY)
Theme of As You Like It ET
(o me dy
soA 1à
plarto1
authored by William
As You Like It is a pastoral comedy
considered to be a work of
Shakespeare writen in 1599. The play is
in
with a large variety of themes
great merit. Shakespeare has dealt
the Love, usurpation, injustice, forgiveness,
loyalty and
play.
life and country life are among them.
comparison between court

As You Like It, like other

Love is the central theme of
romantic comedies of Shakespeare. Following that tradition, As You
Like It manifests principle of "love at first
varied forms of love. This
of Ro_alind and Orlando, Celia and
sight" is seen in the love-stories Roalind,
of Audrey
Oliver, as well as Phebe and Ganymede. The love-story
and Touchstone is of romantic love. Another form of love is
a parody
love for his
between cousins, Rosalind and Celia's deep bond. Adam's
master and
master's son Orlando, expresses the lovely bond between
servant. The focus on romantic love and marriage
is clear, as the
the
reader follows the ups and downs of four couples on their way to

altar.
The play highlights the theme of usurpation and injustice
with
on theproperty of others. However, it ends happily
reconciliation and forgiveness. The new Duke Frederick usurps his
older brother Duke Senior, while Oliver parallels this behavior by
as to compel
younger brother Orlando so ungenerously
treating his
him to seek his fortune elsewhere. Both Duke Senior and Orlando
take in the forest, where justice is restored "through nature".
refuge
dukedom
Duke Frederick is converted by a hermit and he restores the
to Duke Senior who, in his turn, restores
the forest to the deer. Oliver
a change of heart and learns to love
Orlando. Thus, the
also undergoes
play ends on a note of rejoicing and merry-making.

Prof. Denson D Paul

Theme of As You Like It

theme of loyalty is present throughout the play.

on he
Duke Frederiek's lords are extremely loyal to him; they have given up
their wealth and position in society to follow him into the forest. Celia
her into
proves her loyalty to Rosalind by voluntarily accompanying
exile. The aged servant Adam was once loyal to Sir Rowland de Boys
his life's
and is loyal to his son Orlando, offering the young man
now
to his
savings and helping him flee to safety. Orlando remains loyal
deceased father, declaring that he is proud be Sir Rowland's son
to
heir. Even
and wouldn't give that up even to become Duke Frederick's
Silvius is loyal to Phocbe, despite how insultingly she treats him.
the
The differences between life at court and life in
Most of the play is a
country are explored by various characters.
and
celebration of life in the country. Life at court may be glamorous
more comfortable, but the country offers a certain freedgm ofifestyle
that is not possible within the hierarchy and social rules of the court.

People mix more freely in the country. The' standard of living is

similar for everyone in the forest. A passage between Touchstone, the
court jester, and shepherd Corin establishes the contentment to be
found in country life, compared with the perfumed, mannered life at
Court.

As with much of his work, Shakespeare drew inspiration

for As You Like It from already published popular literature and other
sources. His main source was the romance Rosalvnde (1590),
authored by English physician Thomas Lodge. Shakespeare adopted
most of his characters from this work, the major events of the plot,
and also its pastoral elements. Pastoral literature was quite popular at
the time and it focused on the pleasant country life of shepherds. It
often featured romantic love and included elements of verse or song.

As You Like It is full of such pastoral elements which establishes the

themes like love and loyalty in this brilliant piece of literature,
play Ecna
314 gmaginah on a 5 play AE
ShakespRO
Prof. Denson D Pau
 h a d sShalkespea e an Co medy ?
nde ?
ShakespeaeComnd a6 comedy shakespea
Shakespearean Comedy
ohad RoMantic comedy ?

WILLIAM SHAKESHPEARE

Shakespearean Comedy
"Classical"
into,two kinds, nehcoble
Comedy is generally dividedme8t,im Pos tant o

characteristics of
comedy and "Romantic" comedy. The salient
Classical comedy are its realism, satiric apd didcticpurpose Paand its e
R1HSTA7 E
ura l2s ET 2/TAT bother to
adherence to the classical rules. Romantic comedy doés not
be realistic, nor has it a very articulate didactic aim. They generally
have love for the theme.
Most of Shakespeare's comedies are of the romantic

type. Some comedies like The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the
Shrew, and The Merry Wives ofWindsor, are not much romantic. But
best comedies of Shakespeare, As You Like I1. The Merchant of
Venice, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, and 4 Midsummer
Night's Dream, are all romantic comedies and are characteristic of his
comic genius.

There are certain features which distinguish

Shakespearean comedy. The first among them is the romantic world
which he creates. His romantic comedies are all conceived in an
imaginative setting far away from the dull and dreary world of
everyday life. Their characters are also, different from, real wprld
humans as they do not belong to the humdrum world but"the
imaginary, colourful world of their own. The characters inhabiting
this world are romantic and remote from ordinary people of flesh and
blood. Theygo abput celebrating love, dancing, feasting, engaging
battle Smgtne
themselves in battles öf wit with one another,
singing and merry-
making. Life for them is very often one long spring. They seem to be
eating their bread not in the sweat of their face but by some more
pleasant, but unknown, method. They hardly go to business in these
Shakespearean latitudes.
shalcespea T

Prof. Denson D Paul

 Shakespearean Comedy

Despite the romanticized

world, Shakespearean comedy comeay e an
4
:+
It is, in its own manner, critic1sm
a
IS not altogether escapist n natåre.
EH 314
oflife. Shakespeate
{d 7 o}eaity 3e of
imports sóme
World of his comedy. For instance,
features
H E E)real world into the i
the
the Forest of Arden which
ntot1
EHT

Like It, is quite romantic and fanciful.

provides the setting for As You
parts of our own
But still it has certain features which represent
has the
provision of flesh, if
one
World. One may come to sufficient
breach the principles of nature by killing
Weapons and the impulse to
which the forest is assigned as native
its own creatures, the deer, to
world of Shakespeare's comedy
dwelling place. Though the ultimate
1S romantic, poetic, and imaginative;
it is by no means "unsubstantial
and fantastic".
this romantic
Shakespeare has the knack of adding
to

earthly characters who do not share

world, some very realistic and
their ways of life, attitudes, sports, and amorous fun.

built
Most of Shakespeare's romantic comedies are

around the theme of love which provides the chief motive force for
Love is
starting, regulating, and sustaining the machinery of the play.
the soul of Shakespearean comedy, in all its manifestations and in all
its kind. In As You Like It, love lives in many forms: in Orlando and
Rosalind, Celia and Oliver, Silvius and Phoebe, Touchstone and

Audrey. We also see other forms of love, the love of two sisters for
each other, of Adam for his master and vice versa, of Touchstone for
Celia and Rosalind, of a daughter's affection for her father. But these
kinds of love, outside the passion of youthful love, are but side issues,
due to the love of Shakespeare for lovingness.

Shakespeare's comedies are mostly love comedies. He

deals with love rather conventionally, so generally his comedies end
in a marriage. However, he himself wrote, "the course of true love did
never run smooth".

Prof. Denson D Paul

 p e a r e a nC o m e d y

wWomen in Shakespearean comedy constitute its verv

are dominated by their heroes,
ual. His
ragedies and history plays
tragedies

and and
downs
do of wh fortunes constituke what is mainly of
heroines are usually insignificant. But in
ups
the
interest in them. The tragic
comedies there are
Comedies, the reverse is true. In Shakespeare's
bic
heroines. They are much more
no heroes at all, there are only
Portia is
sparkling and interesting than their male counterparts.
Viola is constant and
vivacious and intelligent, Beatrice is witty,
the level of Portia,
Rosalind is charming. Bassanio does not come to
SMane
comparison
wit beside Beatrice; the Duke has
no
Benedick pales in
Rosalind. The women in
with Viola, and Orlando with the charming
Restoration comedy and even the women
in the novels of the
conmic heroines
Victorian age appear to be dated, but Shakespcare's
conceived much earlier.
are dateless, though they were

comedics is
A very attractive feature of Shakespeare's
to arouse laughter at the
their humour. The purpose of comedy is
corrective aim. But the
foibles and follies of man with a genial and
is entirely different
kind of humour in the comedies of Shakespeare
classical comedy of Rome and its
from the kind yisible in the
The kind of humour to be found in a
representation in Ben' Jonson.
the general attitude of the writer towards
literary work is governed by
Ben Jonson's humour is
his fellow-beings as also his moral standing.
not to tolerate and be
sarcastic and satiric. His aim is to lash and hurt,
amused.

the other hand, does not brandish such a

Shakespeare on

is and
whip of steel. His attitude towards his fellow being receptive
genial, not dismissive and cynical.
engbnd
He delights
um mCY
and does not teach. His
plays are like the of summer lightning, which hurts none, but
play
surprises, illuminates and charms.