As You Like It · Chapters
Chapters explained
Chapter companions for As You Like It by William Shakespeare.
Chapter 1
Act I
As You Like It — Stage Lens: dramatic beats, line helps that follow your scroll, and stage picture. Read to understand, not to collect a closed thesis.
Chapter 2
Scene I
Orlando complains to Adam about his mistreatment by his elder brother Oliver, who denies him education and inheritance. Oliver confronts Orlando, and after a heated exchange, Oliver plots with the wrestler Charles to harm Orlando in the upcoming wrestling match.
Chapter 3
Scene II
Rosalind and Celia discuss Rosalind's sadness over her banished father, then jest with Touchstone about fortune and nature. They witness Orlando wrestle Charles, and Rosalind falls in love with Orlando, giving him a chain. Duke Frederick is displeased to learn Orlando is Sir Rowland's son. Le Beau warns Orlando of the duke's malice and reveals Rosalind's true identity.
Chapter 4
Scene III
Duke Frederick banishes Rosalind from court, and Celia vows to go with her. They devise a plan to flee to the Forest of Arden, with Rosalind disguising herself as a man named Ganymede and Celia as Aliena. They decide to take Touchstone along for comfort.
Chapter 5
Act II
As You Like It — Stage Lens: dramatic beats, line helps that follow your scroll, and stage picture. Read to understand, not to collect a closed thesis.
Chapter 6
Scene I
Duke Senior, exiled in the Forest of Arden, reflects on the sweetness of a life free from courtly pomp and flattery, finding value in adversity. He and his followers discuss the melancholy Jaques, who moralizes over a wounded stag, criticizing the usurpation of nature by humans. Duke Senior expresses a desire to engage with Jaques in his contemplative mood.
Chapter 7
Scene II
Duke Frederick discovers that Rosalind and Celia have fled the court, along with Touchstone. He suspects the wrestler Orlando is with them and orders his brother Oliver to be brought before him to locate the runaways.
Chapter 8
Scene III
Orlando meets Adam outside Oliver's house, and Adam warns him that Oliver plans to kill him by burning his lodging. Adam offers Orlando his life savings of five hundred crowns and pledges to serve him faithfully. Orlando accepts, and they decide to flee together into the Forest of Arden.
Chapter 9
Scene IV
Rosalind, Celia, and Touchstone arrive in the Forest of Arden, weary and hungry. They encounter the shepherd Corin and the lovelorn Silvius, whose passionate lament for Phebe mirrors Rosalind's own feelings for Orlando. Touchstone also recalls his own past follies in love. Corin explains that his master's land is for sale, and Rosalind proposes to buy it, offering to pay for the cottage and pasture so they can settle in the forest.
Chapter 10
Scene V
In the Forest of Arden, Amiens sings a song inviting a life of simplicity under the greenwood tree, free from enemies except winter and rough weather. Jaques, the melancholy lord, requests more songs, claiming he can 'suck melancholy' from music. He recites a verse he composed, mocking those who abandon wealth and ease for stubborn will, and then departs to sleep or rail against the world. Amiens goes to prepare the duke's banquet.
Chapter 11
Scene VI
Orlando and Adam, exhausted and starving in the Forest of Arden, stop to rest. Adam collapses, believing he will die, but Orlando encourages him to hold on while he searches for food, promising to carry him to shelter.
Chapter 12
Scene VII
In the Forest of Arden, Duke Senior and his followers encounter Jaques, who recounts meeting a motley fool and muses on the world's folly. Orlando bursts in, demanding food for himself and his aged servant Adam. Duke Senior welcomes them, revealing he knew Orlando's father, Sir Rowland de Boys. Amiens sings a song about winter and ingratitude.
Chapter 13
Act III
As You Like It — Stage Lens: dramatic beats, line helps that follow your scroll, and stage picture. Read to understand, not to collect a closed thesis.
Chapter 14
Scene I
Duke Frederick confronts Oliver about Orlando's whereabouts, threatening to seize Oliver's lands unless he produces Orlando within a year. Oliver admits he never loved his brother, and the Duke orders him expelled and his property confiscated.
Chapter 15
Scene II
Orlando hangs love poems on trees, then meets Rosalind disguised as Ganymede. She playfully offers to cure him of love, and they agree to a wooing game. Touchstone and Corin debate court versus country life. Jaques and Orlando exchange witty insults.
Chapter 16
Scene III
Touchstone and Audrey prepare to marry in the forest, with Jaques observing and eventually intervening to counsel Touchstone against a hasty, informal wedding.
Chapter 17
Scene IV
Rosalind, frustrated by Orlando's broken promise to meet her, expresses her sorrow to Celia, who teases her about Orlando's fidelity. Their conversation is interrupted by Corin, who invites them to witness a pageant of unrequited love between Silvius and Phebe.
Chapter 18
Scene V
In the forest, Silvius pleads with Phebe not to scorn him, but she rebuffs him harshly. Rosalind, Celia, and Corin observe from behind. Rosalind intervenes, scolding Phebe for her pride and lack of beauty, and urges her to accept Silvius's love. Phebe becomes infatuated with Rosalind (disguised as Ganymede) instead. After Rosalind leaves, Phebe quotes Marlowe's line about love at first sight and decides to write a taunting letter to the youth, asking Silvius to deliver it.
Chapter 19
Act IV
As You Like It — Stage Lens: dramatic beats, line helps that follow your scroll, and stage picture. Read to understand, not to collect a closed thesis.
Chapter 20
Scene I
In the Forest of Arden, Rosalind, Celia, and Jaques engage in a witty exchange about melancholy and travel. Orlando arrives late for his meeting with Rosalind, who playfully scolds him and tests his love through a mock courtship. They engage in a spirited debate about love, fidelity, and marriage, culminating in a playful wedding ceremony conducted by Celia. Orlando leaves to attend the duke, promising to return by two o'clock, and Rosalind confesses the depth of her love to Celia.
Chapter 21
Scene II
In the Forest of Arden, Jaques and the foresters celebrate the killing of a deer with a mock Roman triumph and a song that playfully defends the wearing of horns as a natural and honorable crest.
Chapter 22
Scene III
Rosalind and Celia are in the forest when Silvius delivers a letter from Phebe, which Rosalind reads aloud and interprets as a love letter despite Phebe's harsh words. Silvius is sent back with a message. Oliver then arrives, seeking the shepherds' cote, and delivers a bloody napkin from Orlando, recounting how Orlando saved Oliver from a lioness and was wounded. Rosalind faints upon hearing the news, but recovers, insisting it was counterfeit.
Chapter 23
Act V
As You Like It — Stage Lens: dramatic beats, line helps that follow your scroll, and stage picture. Read to understand, not to collect a closed thesis.
Chapter 24
Scene I
Touchstone and Audrey discuss the priest Sir Oliver Martext. Touchstone confronts William, a young man who claims Audrey, and threatens him into leaving. Corin then arrives to summon them away.
Chapter 25
Scene II
Orlando consents to Oliver's sudden marriage to Aliena (Celia). Rosalind, still disguised as Ganymede, promises Orlando that she will produce Rosalind for him to marry the next day, claiming magical powers. Silvius and Phebe arrive, and Rosalind orchestrates a plan for all couples to meet the following day for weddings.
Chapter 26
Scene III
Touchstone and Audrey prepare for their wedding the next day. Two pages sing a springtime love song, but Touchstone dismisses it as foolish.
Chapter 27
Epilogue
Rosalind delivers the epilogue, playfully addressing the audience to win their approval of the play, acknowledging the convention of a male actor playing a female role, and charming both men and women with wit and flirtation.
Chapter 28
Epilogue
Rosalind delivers the epilogue, playfully addressing the audience to win their approval of the play, acknowledging the convention of a male actor playing a female role, and charming both men and women with wit and flirtation.
