As You Like It Summary

As You Like It is a five-act play, following the standard structure of Shakespearean comedy:

Structure at a glance

• Act 1. The conflict is established: Orlando is mistreated by his brother Oliver, and Rosalind is banished from the court by Duke Frederick
• Act 2. The escape to the Forest of Arden, where the banished Duke Senior lives with his followers, including the melancholy Jaques
• Act 3. Rosalind, disguised as Ganymede, meets Orlando and begins her playful "cure" for his lovesickness
• Act 4. The mock courtship deepens, and the various tangled love plots develop
• Act 5. All disguises are revealed and the couples are united in multiple marriages

The movement from a threatening court to the liberating forest, and back toward restored order, is central to the play's comic design.

This summary of As You Like It by William Shakespeare begins at a court ruled by the usurping Duke Frederick, who has overthrown and banished his older brother, Duke Senior. Duke Senior's daughter, Rosalind, has been allowed to remain because of her close friendship with Frederick's daughter, Celia. Meanwhile, young Orlando is being kept down and denied his inheritance by his cruel older brother, Oliver.

Orlando and Rosalind meet and instantly fall in love when Orlando wins a wrestling match at court. Soon after, the tyrannical Duke Frederick abruptly banishes Rosalind, fearing her popularity. The devoted Celia refuses to be parted from her and decides to flee with her, and they take along the court jester, Touchstone. For safety on the journey, Rosalind disguises herself as a young man named Ganymede, while Celia poses as his sister Aliena. They set off for the Forest of Arden, where Duke Senior now lives contentedly in exile with his loyal followers.

As told in this As You Like It summary, the forest becomes a place of transformation and freedom. Orlando, too, flees to Arden to escape his murderous brother, and he wanders the woods pinning love poems to Rosalind on the trees. When he encounters Ganymede (Rosalind in disguise), he does not recognize her. Seizing the opportunity, Rosalind, as Ganymede, offers to "cure" Orlando of his lovesickness by having him pretend that Ganymede is his beloved Rosalind and woo "him" daily, a clever device that lets her test his devotion and explore the nature of love while remaining hidden.

Around this central romance swirl several others. The shepherdess Phebe scorns her devoted suitor Silvius but falls for the disguised Ganymede. Touchstone courts a simple country girl, Audrey. Throughout, the melancholy philosopher Jaques, one of Duke Senior's companions, offers wry commentary on the world, including the famous "All the world's a stage" speech, which frames human life as a play in seven acts.

The tangled situation moves toward resolution as fortunes shift. Orlando rescues his estranged brother Oliver from a lioness in the forest, prompting a change of heart, and Oliver and Celia fall in love at first sight. With the love plots ripe for untangling, Rosalind, still as Ganymede, promises to set everything right, arranging for all the couples to be satisfied "as they like it," and preparing to finally reveal her true identity.

As You Like It ends with the happy resolution typical of Shakespearean comedy: multiple marriages and the restoration of order. Rosalind, having orchestrated events while disguised as Ganymede, finally reveals her true identity. She promises each character the union they desire and delivers: she appears as herself to marry Orlando, freeing Phebe (who had fallen for Ganymede) to accept her faithful suitor Silvius.

Four couples are married in a joyful group wedding presided over by Hymen, the god of marriage: Rosalind and Orlando, Celia and Oliver, Phebe and Silvius, and Touchstone and Audrey. News then arrives that the usurping Duke Frederick, who had set out to attack the forest, encountered a religious hermit, underwent a sudden conversion, renounced the world, and restored the dukedom to the banished Duke Senior.

With the rightful Duke restored and all the lovers united, order returns to both the court and the forest. The conclusion of this summary of As You Like It is thoroughly festive: wrongs are righted, enemies are reconciled, and love triumphs. Rosalind steps forward to deliver an epilogue, unusually for a female character, cheerfully addressing the audience and inviting their goodwill.

Here are some of the most famous quotes from As You Like It by William Shakespeare. These verbatim lines capture the play's wit and its reflections on life and love:

"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts."

"The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool."

"Blow, blow, thou winter wind, thou art not so unkind as man's ingratitude."

"Can one desire too much of a good thing?"

"Do you not know I am a woman? When I think, I must speak."

These As You Like It quotes are widely shared because they distill Shakespeare's meditations on the theatrical nature of life, the wisdom of fools, and the follies of love.