is a seductive title. Shakespeare’s pastoral comedy appears to offer spectators and readers a utopian freedom of choice and satisfaction of desires. At the end of the play however, the Epilogue acknowledges the impossibility of fulfilling that promise. Rosalind invites female spectators to “like as much of this play as please you” according to how much love they bear men. Likewise, she hopes that male spectators who love women will find pleasure in it along with their female counterparts (ll. 9-13). Desires and satisfactions have been marshalled within limits: possibilities have inevitably been closed down within the course of the play, and the reader’s or audience’s desires may remain unfulfilled. In
As You Like ItShakespeare undertakes a detailed examination of…
2959 words
Citation: Findlay, Alison. "As You Like It". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 October 2006; last revised 20 August 2019. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6527, accessed 24 November 2024.]
