2 h 37 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 2 h 37 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 64 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 64 pagesAbout this book
What if hiding who you are gives you the freedom to speak your heart?
In William Shakespeare’s five-act comedy As You Like It, a harsh court gives way to the Forest of Arden. Banished Rosalind dresses as a young man called Ganymede, with her loyal cousin Celia beside her. Away from court, her disguise offers more than shelter: it lets her speak freely and test whether Orlando’s love is real.
Orlando faces his brother’s cruelty, while Rosalind must explore love without revealing herself. Around them, the fool Touchstone mocks pretence, the melancholy Jaques studies human folly, and shepherds stumble through desires of their own. From the court’s wrestling match to Jaques’s speech on the seven ages, the play mixes quick talk, songs, and questions about how people change.
What you’ll discover
- Rosalind takes the lead Follow a quick-witted heroine who uses disguise to question love and claim room to act.
- A forest beyond court Enter Arden, where exiles find shelter and distance from the places where power sits.
- Love loses its dignity Watch lovers grow foolish, tender, and confused as desire tangles their lives together.
- Fools with sharp eyes Meet Touchstone and Jaques, whose contrasting humour exposes pretence and probes human behaviour.
- Words made for play Enjoy Rosalind and Celia’s quick jokes, forest songs, and conversations that turn expectations upside down.
Who will love it
For readers who love quick talk, romantic comedy and stories where people change when they leave home. It also suits first-time readers of Shakespeare.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Two brothers wronged, two families split
- A wrestling match changes two lives
- The Forest of Arden offers shelter and strange company
- Rosalind in disguise teaches Orlando about love
- Love makes everyone a little foolish
- Talk, song and the world as a stage
Who’s who
- RosalindDuke Senior's witty daughter, banished from court, who disguises herself as the boy Ganymede and wants to know whether Orlando's love is real.
- OrlandoThe youngest son of Sir Rowland de Boys, mistreated by his brother, brave and honest, and eager to find his place and win Rosalind.
- CeliaDuke Frederick's daughter and Rosalind's loyal cousin, who gives up her comfort to follow her friend into exile as Aliena.
- TouchstoneThe court fool who follows the cousins to Arden, mocks every pose, and takes a rough fancy to the goatherd Audrey.
- JaquesA melancholy lord in the forest who enjoys sadness, watches others with a cold humour, and delivers the speech on the seven ages.
- Duke SeniorThe rightful duke, driven from power by his brother, who lives calmly in Arden and finds lessons in hardship.
- OliverOrlando's elder brother, who keeps him poor and plots against him out of envy and a hunger for control.
- PhoebeA proud shepherdess who scorns the loving Silvius and then falls for Ganymede, which brings new trouble to the forest.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 2 h 37 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in, 64 pages: USD 6.95 when you start free, USD 12.95 on its own.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in, 64 pages: USD 13.95 when you start free, USD 19.95 on its own.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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As You Like It
by William Shakespeare · 1623
In the Forest of Arden, Rosalind disguises herself as a boy and tests whether Orlando's love is real.
Medium level2–5 hours to read25 languages
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In short
As You Like It is a comedy in five acts by William Shakespeare, written around the turn of the 1600s and first printed in the First Folio of 1623. It draws on a prose romance by Thomas Lodge called Rosalynde.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Two brothers wronged, two families split
The play opens with trouble in two households. Orlando is the youngest son of the late Sir Rowland de Boys. His father left him a fair share, but his eldest brother Oliver has kept him at home like a farm hand. Orlando has no schooling, no money and no rank to match his birth, and he says so out loud.
At the same time, a larger wrong has taken place at court. Duke Frederick has seized the dukedom from his elder brother, Duke Senior, and driven him into exile. Senior now lives in the Forest of Arden with a band of loyal lords, where they hunt deer and live like the outlaws of old English tales. The two stories mirror each other. In both, an elder brother is wronged by a younger one or by a brother who holds power, and in both, someone good has been pushed out into the wild.
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What is As You Like It about?
It tells of Rosalind, banished from her uncle's court, who flees to the Forest of Arden dressed as a boy. There she meets Orlando, who loves her, and many other lovers, and tests how real love should be.
Who is Ganymede in As You Like It?
Ganymede is the name Rosalind takes when she disguises herself as a young man in the forest. Her cousin Celia calls herself Aliena. Rosalind uses the disguise to speak freely and to test Orlando.
What does all the world's a stage mean?
It is the opening of a speech by Jaques, who compares human life to a play. People enter, play many parts across seven ages, and exit. It is a bleak view of how life passes.
The author
William Shakespeare
1564–1616 · English playwright and poet
William Shakespeare was an English playwright and poet, born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564. He worked in London as an actor and playwright. He wrote plays, including Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth, and published sonnets in 1609. He died in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1616.
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