A detailed critical appreciation of As You Like It includes discussion of structure, plot development based around the conflict, conflict and resolution, character analysis, literary devices of elements and techniques, and literary tropes and conventions.
One critical comment, and that on structure, is that Shakespeare liberally combines prose and poetry in As You Like It, with the whole first scene of Act I between Orlando and Oliver delivered in prose, which may underscore Orlando's complaint that his education in academics and gentlemanly arts has been utterly neglected: He doesn't know enough to speak in verse. The first poetry is Duke Frederick's speech toward the end of Act I, Scene II, in which Celia and Rosalind earlier also converse in prose so as to perhaps establish a parallel of affinity between hero and heroine: Duke Frederick:
I would thou hadst been son to some man else:
The world esteem'd thy father honourable,
But I did find him still mine enemy:
Thou shouldst have better pleased me with this deed,
Hadst thou descended from another house.
But fare thee well; thou art a gallant youth:
I would thou hadst told me of another father.
Poetry is distinguished from prose in Shakespeare by the capital letter that begins each poetic line, as opposed to prose lines that begin with uncapitalized letters. Compare the Duke's speech above to Orlando's speech is Scene I:
Ay, better than him I am before knows me. I know
you are my eldest brother; and, in the gentle
condition of blood, you should so know me. The
courtesy of nations allows you my better, in that
you are the first-born; but the same tradition
takes not away my blood, were there twenty brothers
betwixt us: I have as much of my father in me as
you; albeit, I confess, your coming before me is
nearer to his reverence.
What can be written in a critical appreciation of As You Like It by William Shakespeare?
I would agree with Vangoghfan on this one. Given the fact that As You Like It has been dissected and re-dissected over time, you may want to look at it through a new lens (Darwinian or Naturalistic). The hardest thing about writing about Shakespeare is the fact that it has been examined so many times. My suggestion would be to find something novel to the play.
What can be written in a critical appreciation of As You Like It by William Shakespeare?
There is some information here on enotes. There is critical commentary of each act, which I think will be very useful to you. If you don't have an enotes pass, I suggest getting one so that you can use the great resources that are available for this play. Here is a link to the first one. http://www.enotes.com/as-you-like-it/act-commentary
What can be written in a critical appreciation of As You Like It by William Shakespeare?
There are numerous ways of approaching this topic in terms of themes or topics, although finding anything really original to say might be difficult since this play has been written about so much. You might want to look at the play in terms of "ecocriticism," which is a relatively new approach to studying literature; you might even want to look at it from a Darwinian perspective, which is another relatively new way of looking at literature. Your best bet for doing something original might be to focus on one short scene and discussing how it fits into the play as a whole and how it is effectively written in its use of various literary techniques.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecocriticism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwinian_literary_studies
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