Character List # Rosalind - The daughter of Duke Senior, she remains at court even though her father has been banished because of her loyalty to her cousin Celia. Eventually Duke Frederick banishes her too and Celia in loyalty leaves with her indicating they belong to each other. Rosalind is intelligent, reflective and articulate and makes some of the most observant comments in the play. Duke Frederick* - The younger brother of Duke Senior and usurper of his throne.

Character List # Rosalind - The daughter of Duke Senior, she remains at court even though her father has been banished because of her loyalty to her cousin Celia. Eventually Duke Frederick banishes her too and Celia in loyalty leaves with her indicating they belong to each other. Rosalind is intelligent, reflective and articulate and makes some of the most observant comments in the play. “can one desire too much of a good thing”?

Belonging in As You Like It # Our most fundamental unit of belonging is the family, then the wide community followed by the state and the global community. In primitive societies, the most extreme form of punishment was exclusion, ostracism, banishment, exiling or excommunication from the mainstream group as it generally meant death from starvation or attack. In more pluralistic societies we survive by finding other support groups. The use of the second person “You” in the title demonstrates the inclusive respect the composer gives us as we can choose whether we wish to make “It” belong to us just as some characters choose exile to living in a repressive scare mongering court.

Stages through Life # Many writers have s about the journey through life. dividing life Into various stages. In Shakespeare’s play, As You Like It (II. vi. 139) a cynical droll philosopher, Jaques, divides life into seven ages, likening life’s journey to a play with seven acts. All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts,