As You Like It Group at eNotes

"As You Like It" has many shared elements with some of...

Wed, 2 Jul 2008 05:12:57 PST

"As You Like It" has many shared elements with some of Shakespeare's more famous comedies: the idea of the forest as a magic or transformative space away from restrictive and tyrannical society ("A Midsummer night's dream"); the theme of unrequited love and gender switching from ("Twelfth night"); and the exiled Duke and his playful daughter from ("The Tempest"). The mood is light, and it is easy to...

The play is a comedy for several reasons. First, it is a comedy in the...

Tue, 1 Jul 2008 17:56:12 PST

The play is a comedy for several reasons. First, it is a comedy in the sense of its dramatic form: the good characters end up together, and the lovers marry happily. Second, the mood is rarely darkened; it is easy to believe in a good universe here. Third, though, it is also a comedy in the sense of being funny. Some of the humor ranges is pretty obvious: Touchstone is a clown, and is an open exaggeration and parody. Other elements of humor...

How is the play "As You Like It" a comedy and give reasons why?

Tue, 1 Jul 2008 10:17:41 PST

How is the play "As You Like It" a comedy and give reasons why?

Here is the poem from Act III, scene ii of the play, written by Orlando...

Tue, 1 Jul 2008 08:11:14 PST

Here is the poem from Act III, scene ii of the play, written by Orlando to Rosalind:'From the east to western Ind,No jewel is like Rosalind.Her worth, being mounted on the wind,Through all the world bears Rosalind.All the pictures fairest lin'dAre but black to Rosalind.Let no face be kept in mindBut the fair of Rosalind.'The style is a series of couplets, meaning two lines together with rhyming last syllables. The style also uses the...

I believe that the targets for Shakespeare's are the court and in...

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:41:48 PST

I believe that the targets for Shakespeare's are the court and in particular the conventions of courtly love. In the play, nothing seems to be right at the court. The evil Duke Frederick rules in the world of the Court. Oliver can paln his brother's death at court. There at the court, the true love of Rosalind and Orlando can never thrive. However, out in the forest on Arden, that love can thrive. Every character who enters the...

Criticism in "As You Like It"?

Wed, 4 Jun 2008 19:46:13 PST

Who or what are the main targets of Shakespeare's criticism in the play As You Like It? Could it be romantic love? Life at the court and woman in general?...But why? I'm confused...thanx

"Adam is ill-treated by Oliver, and after the two brothers quarrel...

Mon, 2 Jun 2008 16:00:04 PST

"Adam is ill-treated by Oliver, and after the two brothers quarrel and physically struggle, he sides with Orlando and casts his fortune with him. He gives Orlando all of the money he has managed to save and travels with him to the Forest of Arden."He is the former servant of Sir Rowland de Bois, he accompanies Orlando, pledging not only his support, but all his money to fund the journey into exile.

What is the role of Adam in the play, "As You Like It"?

Mon, 2 Jun 2008 14:20:14 PST

What is the role of Adam in the play, "As You Like It"?

Oliver hates his brother,because his brother Orlando has all the...

Mon, 2 Jun 2008 03:31:16 PST

Oliver hates his brother,because his brother Orlando has all the qualities of a gentle man and he does not want that Orlando should become a gentle man.In the end of Act1 scene1,Oliver also tells that he has no cause to hate his brother.

Write a short note in the style of the mock-wooing of Rosaline and...

Thu, 29 May 2008 17:28:56 PST

Write a short note in the style of the mock-wooing of Rosaline and Orlando in "As You Like It".

Much like the difference between the court of Athens and the forest in...

Wed, 28 May 2008 19:47:15 PST

Much like the difference between the court of Athens and the forest in "A Midsummer Night's Dream," the difference between the court and the Forest of Arden in "As You Like It" represents the difference between the beauty and wildness of nature and the natural world versus orderly life governed by rules at court. In the link given below to the various themes of "AYLI," eNotes discusses the fact that...

Duke Senior takes his banishment to the Forest of Arden by his evil...

Wed, 28 May 2008 19:06:03 PST

Duke Senior takes his banishment to the Forest of Arden by his evil brother, Duke Frederick, very much in stride. Shakespeare wrote him to be a good, kind man - one who does not seek to use his power to subject and control other people. He takes to his life in the forest very well, enjoying the fact that the natural environment does not suck up to him with "flattering ambition" as people at court are prone to do.Check the links...

Oliver and Orlando are brothers, and it appears that Oliver is jealous...

Wed, 28 May 2008 18:59:58 PST

Oliver and Orlando are brothers, and it appears that Oliver is jealous of Orlando and simply dislikes him because Orlando is who he is. In the link below to Oliver's character analysis, eNotes mentions that coming up with a reason for Oliver's dislike of Orlando must remain "conjecture" as there really isn't a straight answer given for it in the text of the play.Remember, too, that Oliver and Orlando are feuding brothers who serve...

Exactly why does Oliver not like Orlando in the beginning of "As...

Tue, 27 May 2008 20:54:31 PST

I never seem to find a straight answer.

Shakespeare tells us in "As You Like It" that:"All the...

Tue, 27 May 2008 19:37:37 PST

Shakespeare tells us in "As You Like It" that:"All the world's a stageAnd all the men and women merely players".The characters in this story are trapped by the roles that society requires of them. Orlando, as a younger brother, is subservient to his brother. Rosaline, as a woman, is subservient to men and not in control of her own destiny. The only way for the characters to escape their "roles", ironically...

Discuss the significance of disguise in "As You Like It"?

Tue, 27 May 2008 19:25:26 PST

Discuss the significance of disguise in "As You Like It"?

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Tue, 13 May 2008 16:09:38 PST

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What is Touchstone's role in the play "As You Like It"?

Tue, 13 May 2008 15:58:16 PST

What is Touchstone's role in the play "As You Like It"?

In the play "As You Like It," what is Duke Senior's attitude...

Sun, 11 May 2008 08:49:48 PST

In the play "As You Like It," what is Duke Senior's attitude toward his life in the Forest of Arden?

As You Like It functions as a Shakespearean comedy is several ways....

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 07:03:27 PST

As You Like It functions as a Shakespearean comedy is several ways. First and most simply, it ends not just happily, but with an open festival and celebration. This shows the positive aspects of life, and a community coming back together. Second and related, romance is involved, and the lovers move from separate and together (another form of both happiness and unity). Third, there are the stock techniques Shakespeare used in his comedies, like...