Seven Ages

Comedy · c. 1599

Shakespeare’s As You Like It

Rosalind, banished from a usurper’s court, escapes to the Forest of Arden disguised as a young man — and, meeting the lovesick Orlando, offers to “cure” him by letting him woo her in her disguise.

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By the Seven Ages editors2 min read · Contains affiliate links

The plot then largely stops so that conversation, song, and love in every register can happen instead.

Rosalind is the largest female role in the canon and the best company in it. Add the melancholy Jaques (“All the world’s a stage”) and Touchstone the fool, and you get the canon’s most purely pleasurable play about love as improvisation.

Which edition?

Typeset series plate: Arden Shakespeare, Third Series — As You Like It. A designed placeholder, not a picture of the book's cover.ARDEN SHAKESPEARE,THIRD SERIESAs You LikeIt

1Arden Shakespeare, Third Series

Ed. Juliet Dusinberre · Bloomsbury

Dusinberre is the best editor the play has had on Rosalind and on gender.

Amazon
Typeset series plate: Oxford World’s Classics — As You Like It. A designed placeholder, not a picture of the book's cover.OXFORD WORLD’SCLASSICSAs You LikeIt

2Oxford World’s Classics

Ed. Alan Brissenden · Oxford University Press

Brissenden knows the dances, and the play is full of them.

Typeset series plate: The New Cambridge Shakespeare — As You Like It. A designed placeholder, not a picture of the book's cover.THE NEW CAMBRIDGESHAKESPEAREAs You LikeIt

3The New Cambridge Shakespeare

Ed. Michael Hattaway · Cambridge University Press

Hattaway is excellent on the forest as a real place with real politics.

Amazon
Typeset series plate: Folger Shakespeare Library — As You Like It. A designed placeholder, not a picture of the book's cover.FOLGER SHAKESPEARELIBRARYAs You LikeIt

4Folger Shakespeare LibraryFirst read? Start here

Ed. Barbara Mowat & Paul Werstine · Simon & Schuster

The wit is the whole pleasure, and the glosses keep it landing.

Amazon

As You Like It on stage

As You Like It on screen

Typeset plate for the screen adaptation As You Like It (1936), directed by Paul Czinner. A designed placeholder, not a picture of the poster.1936As You Like ItPAUL CZINNER

1As You Like It (1936)

Film · dir. Paul Czinner

Laurence Olivier as Orlando

Typeset plate for the screen adaptation As You Like It (2006), directed by Kenneth Branagh. A designed placeholder, not a picture of the poster.2006As You Like ItKENNETH BRANAGH

2As You Like It (2006)

Film · dir. Kenneth Branagh

Set in Meiji-era Japan

Seven Ages recommends editions on their merits and takes no payment for placement. As an Amazon Associate, Seven Ages earns from qualifying purchases.

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Mark it in your record when you finish — one seat, kept for decades.

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