Story summary
Краткое содержание: As You Like It
- Чтение: 8 мин.
- 8 parts
- Аудио скоро
Two cousins flee a tyrant duke for the Forest of Arden, with Rosalind disguised as a boy for safety on their journey.
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As You Like It — кратко о книге
Краткое содержание: 8 min на чтение
- Время чтения
- Около 1 h 35 min1 h 15 min fast, 1 h 50 min slow
- Длительность
- Слов: 22 500
- Страницы
- Страниц: 6497 in large print
- Уровень в библиотеке
- Средний longer sentences, everyday words
- Первая публикация
- 1623by William Shakespeare
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). Сколько времени нужно на чтение классики · Обновлено
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As You Like It in short
As You Like It begins with two injustices that mirror each other. A duke has taken his brother's lands, and an elder brother has robbed a younger one of his schooling. Those who suffer flee into the Forest of Arden, and there the play changes from threat to play.
What As You Like It is about
Picture a young man with a thousand crowns to his name. His brother feeds him with the farmhands, while the family horses eat better and are trained better than he is. That is Orlando at the start of As You Like It. Within one day he wins a wrestling match, loses his heart to a duke's niece, and learns that a jealous duke wants him gone.
William Shakespeare wrote this comedy near the end of the sixteenth century. Two cousins, Rosalind and Celia, flee a tyrant's court for the Forest of Arden, where an exiled duke lives like Robin Hood. Rosalind dresses as a boy named Ganymede. You get quick wit, songs, and one of the best-known speeches on the stages of a human life.
Для кого. You will love this play if you enjoy sparkling dialogue, disguise, teasing love stories, and songs. It suits anyone who likes a comedy with real feeling underneath.
The story in 8 parts
Key idea 1 · free to read
A cheated younger son decides to rebel
The play opens in an orchard, where Orlando complains to his old servant Adam. Their father left Orlando only a thousand crowns and told the eldest son, Oliver, to give the boy a proper education. Oliver has done the opposite.
Orlando says he is kept at home like an ox. Oliver's horses are better trained than he is, and he eats with the farmhands. Oliver strides in, and the quarrel turns physical. Orlando seizes him by the throat and demands either the training a gentleman deserves or his small inheritance, so that he can make his own fortune. Oliver calls old Adam a dog.
Once Orlando has gone, Oliver sends for Charles, the Duke's wrestler. Charles tells how the old duke was banished by his younger brother and now lives in the Forest of Arden with a few loyal lords. He also warns that Orlando means to enter tomorrow's match.
Oliver could protect his brother. Instead he lies about him and says he would as soon see Charles break the boy's neck as his finger. Alone, he admits the real reason. Orlando is gentle, learned without schooling, and loved by everyone.
A duke has wronged his brother, and now an elder son wrongs his own, both out of envy. Envy turns families into enemies, and the play shows it twice before the first scene ends.
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A wrestling match changes two lives
The second scene moves to the lawn before the Duke's palace.
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Banished from court, the cousins choose freedom
Soon afterward Rosalind is in her room, quiet and troubled.
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The forest offers shelter, gloom, and kindness
The Forest of Arden is first shown through Duke Senior, who has made peace with hard weather.
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Rosalind as Ganymede offers a cure for love
Orlando has found a home, and he is busy writing.
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Other lovers in Arden mirror and mock the main pair
Love in the forest comes in many forms.
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Court and country are weighed and neither wins
The play keeps asking where a person is better off, at court or in the country.
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Disguise, play, and song shape how the story is told
Shakespeare tells this story with a mix of verse and prose.
Read all 8 key ideas now
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Characters, plot and themes
Main characters
- Rosalind The banished Duke's daughter, quick and teasing, who flees to Arden dressed as a boy called Ganymede and tests the love of Orlando.
- Orlando The youngest son of Sir Rowland de Boys, wronged by his brother, who wrestles for his future and falls in love at once.
- Celia Duke Frederick's daughter, who gives up her father's court to stay beside her cousin and travels as the poor Aliena.
- Touchstone The court fool, who goes with the cousins into the forest and courts the country girl Audrey with wit and mock learning.
- Jaques A melancholy lord in the exiled Duke's company, who loves sad songs and sharp comment and longs for a fool's freedom.
- Oliver Orlando's elder brother, who hates him from envy and plots his harm, and who pursues him into the forest.
- Duke Senior The banished Duke, Rosalind's father, who lives in Arden with loyal lords and finds hardship a better teacher than the court.
- Phoebe A proud shepherdess who scorns the shepherd Silvius, and who then falls for the harsh young Ganymede.
How it ends (spoiler)
Duke Frederick marches to the forest to capture his brother, but an old religious man changes his mind. He gives up the crown and the world and returns the lands to those he banished. Rosalind, dressed again as a woman, is given to Orlando by her father. Oliver weds Celia, Phoebe accepts Silvius, and Touchstone marries Audrey. Jaques chooses to go and learn from the converted duke.
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Вопросы о книге As You Like It
What is As You Like It about?
It tells of Rosalind and her cousin Celia, who flee a jealous duke and go to the Forest of Arden. There Rosalind, dressed as a boy, meets Orlando and teases him about love while other couples tangle.
Why does Rosalind dress as a man in As You Like It?
Rosalind and Celia fear for their safety on the road, since beauty draws thieves. Rosalind, being tall, decides to dress as a young man called Ganymede, and Celia travels as a poor girl named Aliena.
What does All the world is a stage mean?
These words come from Jaques, who describes life as a play in which each person plays many parts across seven ages, from infancy to old age. It is one of the best-known speeches in English.
Is As You Like It easy to follow?
The story is clear and moves quickly. Short scenes, lively teasing between Rosalind and Celia, songs, and comic characters like Touchstone make it easy to enjoy whether you read it or hear it aloud.
Who is Jaques in As You Like It?
Jaques is a melancholy lord in the exiled duke's company. He weeps over a wounded stag, loves sad songs, wishes to wear a fool's coat and speak freely, and delivers the speech on the seven ages.
Как сослаться на это издание
Shakespeare, William. As You Like It. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/as-you-like-it.
Shakespeare, W. (2026). As you like it. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/as-you-like-it (Original work published 1623)
Shakespeare, William. As You Like It. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/as-you-like-it.
@book{shakespeare2026as,
author = {Shakespeare, William},
title = {As You Like It},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/as-you-like-it},
note = {First published 1623}
}
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