As You Like It.
As it turns out: I didn't.
This one just wasn't my favorite. I don't know if this was because I crammed it right into the middle of the Harry Potter series (which I am currently reading for the first time in my life) or what, but As You Like It has taken its place at the very bottom of the list of Shakespearean comedies I've read so far. I just didn't think it was that funny. Especially when compared to Much Ado About Nothing or The Taming of the Shrew which are my two favorites to date. Let me see if I can hit the high points for you.
We open on young Orlando lamenting his regrettable position in life as Oliver's younger brother. You might be tempted to think like I did that this is the overdramatic whining of a spoiled, bratty kid, but then we actually meet Oliver and realize that Orlando's downplaying it. Oliver really does hate him and is plotting his death.
Cut to Rosalind and Celia, fair cousins and BFFs having a conversation in which Celia is telling Rosalind she needs to buck up and be happy because who cares if her dad has been wrongfully banished by his brother as long as she's got Celia around to be her gal pal for life.
Then Orlando shows up to fight Charles (a famous wrestler who is in league with Oliver to kill Orlando) and Celia and Rosalind and basically everyone around try to talk him out of it because he is for sure gonna die. But Orlando won't be swayed, and, as it turns out, he apparently has enough rage to kick Charles' butt at which point Rosalind falls madly in love with him.
At this point, Duke Frederick (Celia's dad/Rosalind's uncle/the guy who banished his brother for no apparent reason) decides he's had enough of Rosalind hanging around and decides to banish her, too (also for no apparent reason). Celia would rather eat nails than be parted from her cousin/BFF so she and Rosalind concoct a plan to run away together assuming the fake identities of Ganymede (a homely guy played by Rosalind, because would this even be Shakespeare if we didn't throw some cross-dressing into the mix?) and Aliena (a peasant woman played by Celia). They run off into the forest of Arden and buy a cottage from a couple of shepherds.
Meanwhile, Orlando has also run away into the forest of Arden because his brother Oliver is still trying to kill him.
And did I mention that the forest of Arden is where Rosalind's dad (the wrongfully banished Duke) has been hiding out ever since his brother double-crossed him?
So pretty much all our major players are milling around the forest of Arden.
Orlando is feeling all lovesick for Rosalind so he's carving their initials into every tree he comes across. And since this is a forest we're talking about, we can assume that's a lot of trees. He ends up running into Rosalind (disguised as Ganymede) and she somehow convinces him to pretend that she's Rosalind so she can cure him of his unfortunate ailment of love. (What?!)
In the meantime, we see Touchstone (a clown) and William (some country boy) both falling in love with Audrey (a country wench—Shakespeare's words, not mine), Phebe (a shepherd girl) falling in love with Ganymede (aka Rosalind in disguise), and Silvius (a shepherd boy) falling in love with Phebe. This makes for a couple of awkward love triangles, as you can see.
Well, while Orlando is "acting out" his courtship with Rosalind with the young boy Ganymede (aka actually Rosalind in disguise), he ends up saving his brother Oliver's life from a hungry lion. So Oliver, of course, makes nice with his brother and takes Orlando's bloody handkerchief to Ganymede (aka Rosalind) along with the story of how Orlando saved his life and couldn't make it to Ganymede's house in time for their date because he was basically bleeding out on his cave floor. Rosalind swoons over this valiant demonstration of love while Oliver is standing there falling in love with Aliena (aka Celia) at first sight.
You know how in Hamlet EVERYONE DIES? Well, in As You Like It, EVERYONE GETS MARRIED.
Rosalind (disguised as Ganymede) meets back up with Orlando and Silvius and Phebe and gets Orlando to promise that he'll marry Rosalind if she'll show up and gets Phebe to promise that she'll marry Silvius if she ends up refusing Ganymede for some reason. They all agree to meet the next day.
So the next day, with Rosalind's dad in attendance, Rosalind shows up to marry Orlando.
Phebe obviously isn't going to marry a girl, so she deigns to marry Silvius.
Celia marries Oliver.
Touchstone marries Audrey.
And a messenger comes bearing the good news that Duke Ferdinand has decided to stop being a jerk (for no apparent reason) and gives his brother back all his land and title.
And they all lived happily ever after the end.
Like I said, not my favorite. It didn't really flow for me like Shakespeare's plays usually do, and even though this little comedy contains some of Shakespeare's most famous lines ("All the world's a stage...") and, sure, there are some funny parts, I just didn't find myself loving it. So sue me.
What do you think of As You Like It? Is it your favorite Shakespearean comedy? Am I missing the greatness? Was it just a dumb idea to read this coming off of The Goblet of Fire? What Shakespearean comedy should I read next?
