As You Like It facts for kids

Quick facts for kids As You Like It
The first page of As You Like It, from the First Folio
Written by	William Shakespeare
Characters	Rosalind Orlando Jacques Touchstone
Place of premiere	London, England
Original language	English
Genre	Comedy
Setting	Forest of Arden

As You Like It is a fun play written by William Shakespeare. It is a comedy, which means it has a happy ending! This play was written around 1599 or 1600. Shakespeare often got ideas for his plays from other stories. For As You Like It, he used a story called Rosalynde, Euphues Golden Legacy by Thomas Lodge.

About As You Like It

As You Like It is one of William Shakespeare's most loved comedies. It was likely first performed around 1603, but we are not completely sure. The play was officially published in 1623. It appeared in a special book called the First Folio. This book was the first collection of all of Shakespeare's plays.

When Was It Written?

Shakespeare wrote As You Like It in 1599 or early 1600. He often took older stories and made them into his own plays. For this play, he used a popular story from 1590. It was called Rosalynde, Euphues Golden Legacy by Thomas Lodge.

What's the Story About?

The play tells the exciting story of a young woman named Rosalind. Her uncle has sent her away from his court. He doesn't like her because she is kind, pretty, clever, and smart.

Rosalind decides to go live in the Forest of Arden. Her cousin Celia and the funny court jester Touchstone go with her. For safety, Rosalind dresses up like a boy. Many scenes show Rosalind meeting different people who live in the forest. In the end, she finds her true love, Orlando, and they are reunited.

Why Is This Play Special?

Some people think As You Like It is not as good as Shakespeare's other plays. But many others believe it is a wonderful play. It includes one of Shakespeare's most famous speeches. This speech starts with the line, "All the world's a stage".

The play is very popular with people who love going to the theatre. Rosalind, Touchstone, and a grumpy old man named Jacques are some of Shakespeare's best characters. As You Like It has been made into many different things. It has been a radio play, a television show, and even a musical. There was also a movie version made in 1936. A famous actor named Laurence Olivier starred in it.

• Text of As You Like It, fully edited by David Bevington, as well as original-spelling texts, facsimiles of the 1623 Folio text, and other resources, at the Internet Shakespeare Editions

Images for kids

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  First page of As You Like It from the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays, published in 1623

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  Rosalind and Celia, James Archer (c.1854–1858)

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  Touchstone and Audrey, John Collier (1890)

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  Watercolor illustration: Orlando pins love poems on the trees of the forest of Arden.

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  Rosalind by Robert Walker Macbeth

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  Rosalind and Celia by Hugh Thomson

See also

In Spanish: Como gustéis para niños