Symbols

Main Ideas Symbols

Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.

Orlando’s Poems
The poems that Orlando nails to the trees of Ardenne are a testament to his love for Rosalind. In
comparing her to the romantic heroines of classical literature—Helen, Cleopatra, Lucretia—
Orlando takes his place among a long line of poets who regard the love object as a bit of
earthbound perfection. Much to the amusement of Rosalind, Celia, and Touchstone, Orlando’s
efforts are far less accomplished than, say, Ovid’s, and so bring into sharp focus the silliness of
which all lovers are guilty. Orlando’s “tedious homil[ies] of love” stand as a reminder of the
wide gap that exists between the fancies of literature and the kind of love that exists in the real
world (III.ii.143).
The Slain Deer
In Act IV, scene ii, Jaques and other lords in Duke Senior’s party kill a deer. Jaques proposes to
“set the deer’s horns upon [the hunter’s] head for a branch of victory” (IV.ii.4–5). To an
Elizabethan audience, however, the slain deer would have signaled more than just an
accomplished archer. As the song that follows the lord’s return to camp makes clear, the deer
placed atop the hunter’s head is a symbol of cuckoldry, commonly represented by a man with
horns atop his head. Allusions to the cuckolded man run throughout the play, betraying one of
the dominant anxieties of the age—that women are sexually uncontrollable—and pointing out
the schism between ideal and imperfect love.

Horns Symbol Analysis

A popular symbol for cuckoldry, supposedly grown on the heads of men whose wives have cheated on
them, horns come up in conversation at various points in the play. Jaques, for instances, proposes that the
lords put the horns of a deer they have slaughtered on the duke’s head, like “a branch of victory”
and Touchstone later asserts that the only audience he will have for his wedding with Audrey will consist
of “horn beasts,” and that “by so much is a horn more precious than to want.” In both instances, the
symbolic mention of horns does not refer to an actual cuckold or cheating wife, but rather to cuckoldry in
theory, and both come down positively on the hypothetical cuckold, though with a good deal of irony.
Jaques posits horns as a source of victorious pride, and Touchstone suggests that it is preferable to be a
cheated-on husband than a respected bachelor, better to be married and slighted than alone and unharmed.
 GanymedeSymbol Analysis

Ganymede, whose name Rosalind takes on as part of her disguise, was a divine Trojan hero,
described in The Iliad by Homer as the most beautiful mortal in history. In one myth, Zeus abducts
Ganymede in an act that has since been recognized as an act of sodomy. The name’s mythical association
with homosexuality further complicates Rosalind’s gender identity.

Ganymede
Rosalind’s choice of alternative identities is significant. Ganymede is the cupbearer and beloved
of Jove and is a standard symbol of homosexual love. In the context of the play, her choice of an
alter ego contributes to a continuum of sexual possibilities.

Orlando’s PoemsSymbol Analysis

Orlando expresses his love for Rosalind in the form of poems placed all about the forest. They allow him
to speak his emotions without addressing Rosalind in person. The ubiquity of their placement around the
forest and the sentimentality of their language attest to how great Orlando’s feelings are; their poor
quality indicates how much he needs the romantic education he ultimately receives from Rosalind in the
guise of Ganymede.

Key Facts about As You Like It

 Full Title: As You Like It

 When Written: 1598-1600
 Where Written: Stratford, England
 When Published: 1623, First Folio
 Literary Period: The Renaissance (1500-1600)
 Genre: Comedy
 Setting: French Court and the Forest of Arden
  Climax: Rosalind, dressed as Ganymede, sets the terms for the marriages of all the
characters that surround her, assuring Orlando that she will use her magic to bring
Rosalind to him, promising Phebe that “he” will marry her if “he” ever marries a woman,
and making Phebe promise that she will otherwise marry Silvius

Extra Credit for As You Like It

Shakespeare or Not? There are some who believe Shakespeare wasn't educated enough to write
the plays attributed to him. The most common anti-Shakespeare theory is that Edward de Vere,
the Earl of Oxford, wrote the plays and used Shakespeare as a front man because aristocrats were
not supposed to write plays. Yet the evidence supporting Shakespeare's authorship far outweighs
any evidence against. So until further notice, Shakespeare is still the most influential writer in the
English language.

As You Like It Summary

The play begins with Orlando complaining to Adam that his brother, Oliver, has unjustly
withheld his inheritance from him. Oliver enters, and Orlando expresses his discontentment.
Before telling Orlando to leave, Oliver hastily assures Orlando that he will receive some of his
will. With Orlando gone, Oliver receives Charles, the duke’s wrestler, who informs him that the
new duke, Duke Frederick, has banished his older brother, Duke Senior. He reports furthermore
that Rosalind, the banished duke’s daughter, has remained in court with Celia, and that the old
duke has retreated to the Forest of Arden. The wrestler also tells Oliver that he is scheduled for a
match with Orlando the next day; he advises Oliver to stop Orlando from fighting in order to
protect his life. Oliver deceitfully tells Charles that he has already tried to dissuade Orlando and
that Orlando is, in any case, a “villainous contriver,” leaving Charles determined to win the
match the following day. Oliver remains alone and articulates, in a passionate soliloquy, his
irrational hatred for his brother.

Celia tries to console Rosalind about the banishment of her father, and to convince her to
think of her father, Duke Frederick, as Rosalind’s own. They are interrupted by Touchstone, the
court fool. Monsieur Le Beau enters and informs Celia, Rosalind, and Touchstone that there
will soon be a wrestling match, between a young man and an undefeated wrestler who has
recently won matches against a set of three brothers. Rosalind and Celia beg the young opponent,
Orlando, to withdraw from the fight, but to no avail. Orlando wins, to the astonishment of all
spectators.
 Celia and Rosalind are discussing Rosalind’s newfound adoration for Orlando when
Duke Frederick interrupts and orders Rosalind to leave the court, at threat of death. Upon
Frederick’s exit, Celia promises that she will leave with Rosalind; they plot to go, with
Touchstone and in disguise, Rosalind dressed as a man and Celia as a shepherdess, to find Duke
Senior in the Forest of Arden.

Meanwhile in the forest, Duke Senior is optimistically relishing in his natural

surroundings, and planning to hunt some venison. Back at the court, Duke Frederick discovers
that Celia has gone missing with Rosalind, and orders his lords to go retrieve Oliver, who might
know where Orlando (who’s suspected to be with the girls) is. At Orlando’s own residence,
Adam warns Orlando that Oliver is inside and intends to burn down the house; he convinces
Orlando to seek exile, and offers him his own money and company.

On their way into the forest, Rosalind, Celia, and Touchstone meet Silvius and Corin, a
young man and an old man engaged in a dispute about love. When Rosalind and Celia discover
that Corin has no food to give them, they decide, on a whim, to buy the cottage, pasture, and
flock that he mentions are for sale.

Jaques returns after a long absence to Duke Senior and describes a fool he met in the
forest. Orlando rudely interrupts their conversation and, requiring food and thinking that he must
act savagely in the savage forest, demands that they give it to him. He is met with a warm
invitation by Duke Senior to join their meal, and briefly departs to retrieve Adam, who is weak
and hungry, so that he, too, may join.

At the court, Duke Frederick orders Oliver to bring Orlando to court within the year. In
the forest, Orlando begins posting love poems to Rosalind on trees. Privately, Celia reveals to
Rosalind that she knows Orlando to be the infatuated poet. Soon after, Orlando enters and
Rosalind (in disguise as a man named Ganymede) mentions the tree poems to him. When he
admits to being their author, she offers to cure him of his love: she will pretend to be Rosalind
and act as a despicable version of her.

Touchstone and Audrey, Touchstone’s fiancée, are conversing about Audrey’s non-
poetical nature when Sir Oliver Martext arrives to perform their wedding service. At Jaques’s
suggestion, however, Touchstone decides to have a proper marriage in a church, and so
dismisses Martext.

Corin invites Rosalind and Celia to come witness an exchange between Silvius and his
lover, Phebe, in which Silvius pleads with Phebe not to scorn him and calls her cold. When
Rosalind, dressed as Ganymede, intervenes and attacks Phebe with a slew of insults, Phebe falls
immediately in love with “him.”

Orlando comes late to meet Rosalind (as Ganymede), and she scolds him for his
tardiness. After Rosalind (as Ganymede) gives Orlando a lesson in love, he departs. Soon after,
Silvius arrives with a love letter that Phebe has written for Ganymede. Oliver enters shortly after
and gives Rosalind a bloody napkin, sent to her from Orlando, who recently fought off a lioness
in order to save Oliver’s life. Rosalind faints.

Oliver reveals to Orlando that he has fallen in love at first sight with Celia (who he thinks
is the shepherdess, as that is her disguise). Rosalind enters and tells Orlando that she is skilled in
the art of magic and can promise him that, if he truly loves Rosalind, he will be married to her
the next day. She articulates all of the unions that will happen the next day: Orlando, Silvius, and
herself will all be married; Orlando will marry Rosalind, Ganymede will marry Phebe if he ever
marries a woman, and if he doesn't then Phebe will marry Silvius.

The next day, Touchstone recounts to Duke Senior a humorous report of a quarrel he has
just had with a courtier. Then Hymen, the god of marriage, enters singing, and escorts Rosalind
to Orlando and her father. Rosalind's disguise as Ganymede is revealed, and she marries
Orlando, while Phebe agrees to marry Silvius. Just then, Jaques de Boys (Orlando and Oliver's
third brother) enters to inform everyone that Duke Frederick, while on his way to attack Duke
Senior in the forest, came across a religious man and was converted to a life of peace. Duke
Frederick has also decided to return his crown to his banished brother and restore all of his lands.
Duke Senior welcomes Jaques de Boys, and praises the fortune of the occasion; he suggests that
they continue on in their revelry and marriages. Jaques, meanwhile, announces that he will go
join Duke Frederick in his new monastic lifestyle.

The play finishes with an epilogue, spoken uncharacteristically by a woman, in which Rosalind
expresses her aim to “conjure” the audience.

Plot Overview
Summary Plot Overview

Sir Rowland de Bois has recently died, and, according to the custom of primogeniture, the vast
majority of his estate has passed into the possession of his eldest son, Oliver. Although Sir
Rowland has instructed Oliver to take good care of his brother, Orlando, Oliver refuses to do so.
Out of pure spite, he denies Orlando the education, training, and property befitting a gentleman.
Charles, a wrestler from the court of Duke Frederick, arrives to warn Oliver of a rumor that
Orlando will challenge Charles to a fight on the following day. Fearing censure if he should beat
a nobleman, Charles begs Oliver to intervene, but Oliver convinces the wrestler that Orlando is a
dishonorable sportsman who will take whatever dastardly means necessary to win. Charles vows
to pummel Orlando, which delights Oliver.

Duke Senior has been usurped of his throne by his brother, Duke Frederick, and has fled to the
Forest of Ardenne, where he lives like Robin Hood with a band of loyal followers. Duke
Frederick allows Senior’s daughter, Rosalind, to remain at court because of her inseparable
friendship with his own daughter, Celia. The day arrives when Orlando is scheduled to fight
Charles, and the women witness Orlando’s defeat of the court wrestler. Orlando and Rosalind
instantly fall in love with one another, though Rosalind keeps this fact a secret from everyone but
Celia. Orlando returns home from the wrestling match, only to have his faithful servant Adam
warn him about Oliver’s plot against Orlando’s life. Orlando decides to leave for the safety of
Ardenne. Without warning, Duke Frederick has a change of heart regarding Rosalind and
banishes her from court. She, too, decides to flee to the Forest of Ardenne and leaves with Celia,
who cannot bear to be without Rosalind, and Touchstone, the court jester. To ensure the safety of
their journey, Rosalind assumes the dress of a young man and takes the name Ganymede, while
Celia dresses as a common shepherdess and calls herself Aliena.

Duke Frederick is furious at his daughter’s disappearance. When he learns that the flight of his
daughter and niece coincides with the disappearance of Orlando, the duke orders Oliver to lead
the manhunt, threatening to confiscate Oliver’s lands and property should he fail. Frederick also
decides it is time to destroy his brother once and for all and begins to raise an army.

Duke Senior lives in the Forest of Ardenne with a band of lords who have gone into voluntary
exile. He praises the simple life among the trees, happy to be absent from the machinations of
court life. Orlando, exhausted by travel and desperate to find food for his starving companion,
Adam, barges in on the duke’s camp and rudely demands that they not eat until he is given food.
Duke Senior calms Orlando and, when he learns that the young man is the son of his dear former
friend, accepts him into his company. Meanwhile, Rosalind and Celia, disguised as Ganymede
and Aliena, arrive in the forest and meet a lovesick young shepherd named Silvius who pines
away for the disdainful Phoebe. The two women purchase a modest cottage, and soon enough
Rosalind runs into the equally lovesick Orlando. Taking her to be a young man, Orlando
confides in Rosalind that his affections are overpowering him. Rosalind, as Ganymede, claims to
be an expert in exorcising such emotions and promises to cure Orlando of lovesickness if he
agrees to pretend that Ganymede is Rosalind and promises to come woo her every day. Orlando
agrees, and the love lessons begin.

Meanwhile, Phoebe becomes increasingly cruel in her rejection of Silvius. When Rosalind
intervenes, disguised as Ganymede, Phoebe falls hopelessly in love with Ganymede. One day,
Orlando fails to show up for his tutorial with Ganymede. Rosalind, reacting to her infatuation
with Orlando, is distraught until Oliver appears. Oliver describes how Orlando stumbled upon
him in the forest and saved him from being devoured by a hungry lioness. Oliver and Celia, still
disguised as the shepherdess Aliena, fall instantly in love and agree to marry. As time passes,
Phoebe becomes increasingly insistent in her pursuit of Ganymede, and Orlando grows tired of
pretending that a boy is his dear Rosalind. Rosalind decides to end the charade. She promises
that Ganymede will wed Phoebe, if Ganymede will ever marry a woman, and she makes
everyone pledge to meet the next day at the wedding. They all agree.

The day of the wedding arrives, and Rosalind gathers the various couples: Phoebe and Silvius;
Celia and Oliver; Touchstone and Audrey, a goatherd he intends to marry; and Orlando. The
 group congregates before Duke Senior and his men. Rosalind, still disguised as Ganymede,
reminds the lovers of their various vows, then secures a promise from Phoebe that if for some
reason she refuses to marry Ganymede she will marry Silvius, and a promise from the duke that
he would allow his daughter to marry Orlando if she were available. Rosalind leaves with the
disguised Celia, and the two soon return as themselves, accompanied by Hymen, the god of
marriage. Hymen officiates at the ceremony and marries Rosalind and Orlando, Celia and Oliver,
Phoebe and Silvius, and Audrey and Touchstone. The festive wedding celebration is interrupted
by even more festive news: while marching with his army to attack Duke Senior, Duke Frederick
came upon a holy man who convinced him to put aside his worldly concerns and assume a
monastic life. -Frederick changes his ways and returns the throne to Duke Senior. The guests
continue dancing, happy in the knowledge that they will soon return to the royal court.


Celia
The daughter of Duke Frederick and Rosalind’s dearest friend. Celia’s devotion to
Rosalind is unmatched, as evidenced by her decision to follow her cousin into exile. To make the
trip, Celia assumes the disguise of a simple shepherdess and calls herself Aliena. As elucidated
by her extreme love of Rosalind and her immediate devotion to Oliver, whom she marries at the
end of the play, Celia possesses a loving heart, but is prone to deep, almost excessive emotions.

 Duke Frederick
The brother of Duke Senior and usurper of his throne. Duke Frederick’s cruel nature and
volatile temper are displayed when he banishes his niece, Rosalind, from court without reason.
That Celia, his own daughter, cannot mitigate his unfounded anger demonstrates the intensity of
the duke’s hatefulness. Frederick mounts an army against his exiled brother but aborts his
vengeful mission after he meets an old religious man on the road to the Forest of Ardenne. He
immediately changes his ways, dedicating himself to a monastic life and returning the crown to
his brother, thus testifying to the ease and elegance with which humans can sometimes change
for the better.

 Touchstone
A clown in Duke Frederick’s court who accompanies Rosalind and Celia in their flight to
Ardenne. Although Touchstone’s job, as fool, is to criticize the behavior and point out the folly
of those around him, Touchstone fails to do so with even a fraction of Rosalind’s grace. Next to
his mistress, the clown seems hopelessly vulgar and narrow-minded. Almost every line he speaks
echoes with bawdy innuendo.

 Oliver
 The oldest son of Sir Rowland de Bois and sole inheritor of the de Bois estate. Oliver is a
loveless young man who begrudges his brother, Orlando, a gentleman’s education. He admits
hating Orlando without cause or reason and goes to great lengths to ensure his brother’s
downfall. When Duke Frederick employs Oliver to find his missing brother, Oliver finds himself
living in despair in the Forest of Ardenne, where Orlando saves his life. This display of
undeserved generosity prompts Oliver to change himself into a better, more loving person. His
transformation is evidenced by his love for the disguised Celia, whom he takes to be a simple
shepherdess.

 Silvius
A young, suffering shepherd, who is desperately in love with the disdainful Phoebe. Conforming
to the model of Petrarchan love, Silvius prostrates himself before a woman who refuses to return
his affections. In the end, however, he wins the object of his desire.

 Phoebe
A young shepherdess, who disdains the affections of Silvius. She falls in love with Ganymede,
who is really Rosalind in disguise, but Rosalind tricks Phoebe into marrying Silvius.

 Lord Amiens
A faithful lord who accompanies Duke Senior into exile in the Forest of Ardenne. Lord Amiens
is rather jolly and loves to sing.

 Charles
A professional wrestler in Duke Frederick’s court. Charles demonstrates both his caring nature
and his political savvy when he asks Oliver to intercede in his upcoming fight with Orlando: he
does not want to injure the young man and thereby lose favor among the nobles who support
him. Charles’s concern for Orlando proves unwarranted when Orlando beats him senseless.

 Adam
The elderly former servant of Sir Rowland de Bois. Having witnessed Orlando’s hardships,
Adam offers not only to accompany his young master into exile but to fund their journey with
the whole of his modest life’s savings. He is a model of loyalty and devoted service.

 Sir Rowland de Bois

The father of Oliver and Orlando, friend of Duke Senior, and enemy of Duke Frederick. Upon
Sir Rowland’s death, the vast majority of his estate was handed over to Oliver according to the
custom of primogeniture.
 Corin
A shepherd. Corin attempts to counsel his friend Silvius in the ways of love, but Silvius refuses
to listen.

 Audrey
A simpleminded goatherd who agrees to marry Touchstone.

 William
A young country boy who is in love with Audrey.

Duke Senior
The father of Rosalind and the rightful ruler of the dukedom in which the play is set. Having
been banished by his usurping brother, Frederick, Duke Senior now lives in exile in the Forest of
Ardenne with a number of loyal men, including Lord Amiens and Jaques. We have the sense that
Senior did not put up much of a fight to keep his dukedom, for he seems to make the most of
whatever life gives him. Content in the forest, where he claims to learn as much from stones and
brooks as he would in a church or library, Duke Senior proves himself to be a kind and fair-
minded ruler.

Rosalind
Characters Rosalind

Rosalind dominates As You Like It. So fully realized is she in the complexity of her emotions, the
subtlety of her thought, and the fullness of her character that no one else in the play matches up
to her. Orlando is handsome, strong, and an affectionate, if unskilled, poet, yet still we feel that
Rosalind settles for someone slightly less magnificent when she chooses him as her mate.
Similarly, the observations of Touchstone and Jaques, who might shine more brightly in another
play, seem rather dull whenever Rosalind takes the stage.
The endless appeal of watching Rosalind has much to do with her success as a knowledgeable
and charming critic of herself and others. But unlike Jaques, who refuses to participate wholly in
life but has much to say about the foolishness of those who surround him, Rosalind gives herself
over fully to circumstance. She chastises Silvius for his irrational devotion to Phoebe, and she
challenges Orlando’s thoughtless equation of Rosalind with a Platonic ideal, but still she comes
undone by her lover’s inconsequential tardiness and faints at the sight of his blood. That
Rosalind can play both sides of any field makes her identifiable to nearly everyone, and so,
irresistible.

Rosalind is a particular favorite among feminist critics, who admire her ability to subvert the
limitations that society imposes on her as a woman. With boldness and imagination, she
disguises herself as a young man for the majority of the play in order to woo the man she loves
and instruct him in how to be a more accomplished, attentive lover—a tutorship that would not
be welcome from a woman. There is endless comic appeal in Rosalind’s lampooning of the
conventions of both male and female behavior, but an Elizabethan audience might have felt a
certain amount of anxiety regarding her behavior. After all, the structure of a male-dominated
society depends upon both men and women acting in their assigned roles. Thus, in the end,
Rosalind dispenses with the charade of her own character. Her emergence as an actor in the
Epilogue assures that theatergoers, like the Ardenne foresters, are about to exit a somewhat
enchanted realm and return to the familiar world they left behind. But because they leave having
learned the same lessons from Rosalind, they do so with the same potential to make that world a
less punishing place.

Orlando
Characters Orlando

According to his brother, Oliver, Orlando is of noble character, unschooled yet somehow
learned, full of noble purposes, and loved by people of all ranks as if he had enchanted them
(I.i.141–144). Although this description comes from the one character who hates Orlando and
wishes him harm, it is an apt and generous picture of the hero of As You Like It. Orlando has a
brave and generous spirit, though he does not possess Rosalind’s wit and insight. As his love
tutorial shows, he relies on commonplace clichés in matters of love, declaring that without the
fair Rosalind, he would die. He does have a decent wit, however, as he demonstrates when he
argues with Jaques, suggesting that Jaques should seek out a fool who wanders about the forest:
“He is drowned in the brook. Look but in, and you shall see him,” meaning that Jaques will see a
fool in his own reflection (III.ii.262–263). But next to Rosalind, Orlando’s imagination burns a
bit less bright. This upstaging is no fault of Orlando’s, given the fullness of Rosalind’s character;
Shakespeare clearly intends his audience to delight in the match. Time and again, Orlando
performs tasks that reveal his nobility and demonstrate why he is so well-loved: he travels with
the ancient Adam and makes a fool out of himself to secure the old man food; he risks his life to
save the brother who has plotted against him; he cannot help but violate the many trees of
Ardenne with testaments of his love for Rosalind. In the beginning of the play, he laments that
his brother has denied him the schooling deserved by a gentleman, but by the end, he has proven
himself a gentleman without the formality of that education.
Jaques
Characters Jaques

Jaques delights in being sad—a disparate role in a play that so delights in happiness. Jaques
believes that his melancholy makes him the perfect candidate to be Duke Senior’s fool. Such a
position, he claims, will “Give me leave / To speak my mind,” and the criticism that flows forth
will “Cleanse the foul body of th’infected world” (II.vii.58–60). Duke Senior is rightly cautious
about installing Jaques as the fool, fearing that Jaques would do little more than excoriate the
sins that Jaques himself has committed. Indeed, Jaques lacks the keenness of insight of
Shakespeare’s most accomplished jesters: he is not as penetrating as Twelfth Night’s Feste
or King Lear’s fool. In fact, he is more like an aspiring fool than a professional one. When
Jaques philosophizes on the seven stages of human life, for instance, his musings strike us as
banal. His “All the world’s a stage” speech is famous today, but the play itself casts doubt on the
ideas expressed in this speech (II.vii.138). No sooner does Jaques insist that man spends the final
stages of his life in “mere oblivion, / Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything” than
Orlando’s aged servant, Adam, enters, bearing with him his loyalty, his incomparable service,
and his undiminished integrity (II.vii.164–165).
Jaques’s own faculties as a critic of the goings-on around him are considerably diminished in
comparison to Rosalind, who understands so much more and conveys her understanding with
superior grace and charm. Rosalind criticizes in order to transform the world—to make Orlando
a more reasonable husband and Phoebe a less disdainful lover—whereas Jaques is content to
stew in his own melancholy. It is appropriate that Jaques decides not to return to court. While the
other characters merrily revel, Jaques determines that he will follow the reformed Duke
Frederick into the monastery, where he believes the converts have much to teach him. Jaques’s
refusal to resume life in the dukedom not only confirms our impression of his character, but also
resonates with larger issues in the play. Here, the play makes good on the promise of its title:
everyone gets just what he or she wants. It also betrays a small but inevitable crack in the
community that dances through the forest. In a world as complex and full of so many competing
forces as the one portrayed in As You Like It, the absolute best one can hope for is consensus, but
never complete unanimity.