Customer Reviews

As You Like It (The New Folger Library Shakespeare)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My appreciation for Shakespearean comedies have increased with age. I liked "As You Like It" - it made for a good comedy and a good introduction for someone to Shakespeare.

The Kindle version is pretty much flawless - it's copied from a good source and doesn't have any glaring transcription errors as some free e-books do.

If you want a good introduction to Shakespeare, or even just want to branch out from his dramatic plays - give it a try. It's a free book - what can go wrong?

The plot involves a lot of people disguising themselves as the opposite gender but in the end everyone ends up with the one they really love. In that sense it's like a light romantic comedy but it also includes a lot of the great writing that Shakespeare is known for, including many of his most famous lines, such as the "all the world's a stage" monologue, and I hadn't realized this is the play the phrase "motley fool" came from. If you like Shakespeare, this is a must read, and it's entertaining as just a fun play.
This kindle version is well formatted, though no footnotes or line numbers.

The play begins with problems between two pairs of brothers. Duke Frederick has usurped his brother, "Duke Senior" and taken over the land, but the more immediate problem lies between Oliver de Boys and his younger brother, Orlando. Oliver's a bad dude of the Bad For No Reason school of villains and he mistreats Orlando because: "my soul, yet I know not why, hates nothing more than he." Oliver tried his hardest to keep Orlando from any sort of achievement or accomplishment, yet Orlando is "gentle, never schooled and yet learned, full of noble device, of all sorts enchantingly beloved". In other words, he's a Mary Sue. Everybody loves Orlando, except the antagonists. But for all that unearned virtue, he's still cool. He even wins me over, and I usually despise the leading men in Shakespeare's comedies *cough*BassanioandClaudio*cough* So those are the brother problems, and now we move on to the girls' problems.

Rosalind is the deposed duke's daughter, and she is best friends with her cousin Celia, the new duke's daughter. The new duke banishes Rosalind, and Celia goes off into exile with her. Both of them put on disguises so they won't be assaulted in the wilderness (apparently, taking Touchstone the clown with them is not sufficient protection). Rosalind disguises herself as a teenage boy called Ganymede, and Celia pretends to be Ganymede's shepherdess sister.

So, Orlando flees into the forest to escape from his brother, Rosalind and Celia flee to the forest from Duke Frederick, and suddenly all of the cool people in the dukedom are out in the forest of Arden. The disguised girls rent a cottage and relax, while Orlando occupies himself by writing really bad poetry and hanging it on the trees. Rosalind find his poetry, which is all about her since they had a love-at-first-sight thing back at court, but instead of revealing her identity she stays hidden and becomes Orlando's buddy while passing herself off as Ganymede.

One of the main things Rosalind does as Ganymede is to insult all women and to tell Orlando why he shouldn't love "his" Rosalind. She really lays it on thick, all the reasons why he shouldn't pursue her. When I first read this play, I thought Rosalind was just bing sadistic, enjoying Orlando's emotional pain while she taunted and baited him and risked nothing. I'm now convinced that's not what is going on. Orlando is acting the part of a stricken lover--sighs, groans, poetry, etc--and Rosalind's trying to figure out if he's legit. And, okay, maybe she's having a little fun watching him squirm. For the audience, part of the trouble with these scenes is that Orlando's flagrant displays of lovesickness and his later tested and true love for Rosalind both look much the same to us. We're comparing one type of old-timey love convention against another, and it's hard to sort out what's supposed to be lasting when we know well get a happy ending in either case.

Silvius and Phebe, a lover and his icy beloved are even more clearly ancient archetypes of love. Rosalind doesn't think much of their behavior, and rails on Silvius for pursuing an idiot. Rosalind's words for Phebe are even harsher: "Sell when you can, you are not for all markets". Burn! Silvius and Phebe are one of the four couples who get married by the end of the play, and you have to wonder how well their union will turn out. Silvius has no self-esteem and Phebe has no mercy. But then again, we are in a play where the evil usurping duke suddenly gets religious and easily gives his land back to it's rightful leaders, so maybe these crazy kids will turn fine, all evidence to the contrary.

I feel sorry for Celia, who gets few lines after she enters Arden, although she deserves better attention after bravely following Rosalind into exile. She's an excellent but underused character who gets to be part of the play's resolution. Orlando's land problems are solved when his brother Oliver falls in love with Celia and decides to take up shepherding. It's Oliver and Celia's insta-love that inspired the famous lines "no sooner met than looked, no sooner looked than loved" and so on. With four major weddings, everyone's happy in Arden except for Jacques, the resident gloom-spreader who is nevertheless a source of entertainment for his companions because they love to hear his weird turns of melancholy. The play ends kind of unusually when Hymen, the god of marriage, comes down to perform the marriage ceremonies. And nobody thinks this is weird. But any play that includes this many "hey nonny nonny"s isn't taking itself too seriously. Rosalind's one of Shakespeare's best heroines, and her play can survive guest appreances by retro figures from Greek drama.

I teach British Literature and find the price is right for my students, the book size is a bit too small, and the intoductory and closing notes and essay are very good.

Not my favorite Shakespeare play. Too many undeveloped characters appearing out of nowhere for my taste. On the other hand, it does have one of the most quoted monologues (All the world's a stage...).

Out of all the great Shakespeare's plays, "As You Like It" is undoubtedly... the fluffiest. This is cotton candy. Fortunately, cotton candy isn't too bad as long as you don't eat too much of it. And while the ending is excessively tidy, "As You Like It" is a charming little play with the full array of Shakespearean tropes -- transvestitism, love triangles, and mass confusion.

Backstory: The cruel Duke has deposed his far nicer brother, and the ex-Duke has run off into the Forest of Arden. At the same time, a young man named Orlando has been cast out by his cruel brother Oliver.

Then the Duke decides to exile his niece Rosalind, despite the pleas of his daughter Celia. So Rosalind (disguised as a boy), Celia and the jester Touchstone run away into the Forest of Arden the following night, and soon encounter the exiled Duke and his followers. So does Orlando and his faithful servant Adam.

Because of a previous meeting, Rosalind and Orlando are already in love. But not only does he not recognize her, but because she's disguised as a boy she's attracted the amorous intentions of a local shepherdess. And to make matters even more complex, Touchstone is in a love triangle of his own, and Oliver has stumbled into Arden as well. Is everything going to end well?

The biggest problem with "As You Like It" is the fact that the ending is just a little too tidy -- while it's plausible that the romantic tangles would be smoothed out, there's an conveniently-timed twist that stretches believability to the point of snapping. Fortunately, the rest of it is a pleasantly fluffy little story filled with Shakespeare's sparkliest, sunniest storytelling.

Shakespeare's plot floats along in a heady cloud of sunlit forests, poems pinned to trees and languid outlaws who hang around singing all day. His lines are filled with clever, sometimes bawdy jokes ("praised be the gods for thy foulness! sluttishness may come hereafter") and some nicely evocative imagery ("Between the pale complexion of true love/And the red glow of scorn and proud disdain").

The funniest parts involve the love quadrangle between Rosalind, Phebe, Orlando and Silvius, as well as Orlando's wretched poetry and Touchstone's mockery of them ("Winter garments must be lined,/So must slender Rosalind").

And it has a likable cast of characters, most of whom are amiable and likable (although I'm still not sure why Orlando and the ex-Duke don't recognize Rosalind!). Celia and Rosalind are fun and sprightly heroines, Orlando is an endearing underdog (if a rotten poet), and there's also the sharp-tongued Touchstone, dour Jacques, and the rather beyotchy Phebe.

As for this free download version, it's actually one of the better-formatted free texts I've seen. It's got the proper formatting, and it makes good use of font sizes, bolding, italics and such.

"As You Like It" is a puffy little wisp of a play, compared to Shakespeare's other works -- but it's still a nice little romantic diversion. Think of it as an Elizabethan romantic comedy.

Out of all the great Shakespeare's plays, "As You Like It" is undoubtedly... the fluffiest. This is cotton candy. Fortunately, cotton candy isn't too bad as long as you don't eat too much of it. And while the ending is excessively tidy, "As You Like It" is a charming little play with the full array of Shakespearean tropes -- transvestitism, love triangles, and mass confusion.

Backstory: The cruel Duke has deposed his far nicer brother, and the ex-Duke has run off into the Forest of Arden. At the same time, a young man named Orlando has been cast out by his cruel brother Oliver.

Then the Duke decides to exile his niece Rosalind, despite the pleas of his daughter Celia. So Rosalind (disguised as a boy), Celia and the jester Touchstone run away into the Forest of Arden the following night, and soon encounter the exiled Duke and his followers. So does Orlando and his faithful servant Adam.

Because of a previous meeting, Rosalind and Orlando are already in love. But not only does he not recognize her, but because she's disguised as a boy she's attracted the amorous intentions of a local shepherdess. And to make matters even more complex, Touchstone is in a love triangle of his own, and Oliver has stumbled into Arden as well. Is everything going to end well?

The biggest problem with "As You Like It" is the fact that the ending is just a little too tidy -- while it's plausible that the romantic tangles would be smoothed out, there's an conveniently-timed twist that stretches believability to the point of snapping. Fortunately, the rest of it is a pleasantly fluffy little story filled with Shakespeare's sparkliest, sunniest storytelling.

Shakespeare's plot floats along in a heady cloud of sunlit forests, poems pinned to trees and languid outlaws who hang around singing all day. His lines are filled with clever, sometimes bawdy jokes ("praised be the gods for thy foulness! sluttishness may come hereafter") and some nicely evocative imagery ("Between the pale complexion of true love/And the red glow of scorn and proud disdain").

The funniest parts involve the love quadrangle between Rosalind, Phebe, Orlando and Silvius, as well as Orlando's wretched poetry and Touchstone's mockery of them ("Winter garments must be lined,/So must slender Rosalind").

And it has a likable cast of characters, most of whom are amiable and likable (although I'm still not sure why Orlando and the ex-Duke don't recognize Rosalind!). Celia and Rosalind are fun and sprightly heroines, Orlando is an endearing underdog (if a rotten poet), and there's also the sharp-tongued Touchstone, dour Jacques, and the rather beyotchy Phebe.

"As You Like It" is a puffy little wisp of a play, compared to Shakespeare's other works -- but it's still a nice little romantic diversion. Think of it as an Elizabethan romantic comedy.

Unless it is hidden somewhere that I am unable to read, this edition is missing the following items listed in the Editorial Reviews - Product Description page:

* Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play

* Scene-by-scene plot summaries

* A key to famous lines and phrases

* An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language

* An essay by an outstanding scholar providing a modern perspective on the play

* Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books

I am amazed this one gets performed on stage these days, it is delightfully bawdy, absolutely entertaining, an accurate depiction of human nature, utterly insensitive to the delicate temperments of those who seek out offense in any reference to gender, and just a great play.

Rosalind and Celia are on the lam, trying to teach Orlando, the impassioned but impovershed younger son, a lesson in love, but the manipulative Rosalind ends up learning the lesson. The deposed Duke and his deposer are in the background throughout.

A great play, and well worth watching or reading.

E.M. Van Court

My daughter needs this for a requirement in High School, and we always go with Amazon for the best deal.