As You Like It is a comedic play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio, 1623. The play follows Rosalind, a princess of an unnamed European country, as she flees persecution in her uncle's court. Accompanied by her cousin Celia, she finds safety, and eventually love, in the Forest of Arden. The play features numerous lines which have become pop cultural catchphrases, including "All the world's a stage" and "too much of a good thing". It is one of the more frequently performed Shakespeare plays.
As You Like It in Ruled Britannia[]
If You Like It, by William Shakespeare, was performed often at The Theatre during 1597-8. Shakespeare played the Duke and Richard Burbage played the Duke's evil brother. After one such performance, Lope de Vega went backstage to meet with Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe for the double purpose of scouting out evidence of treason, and recruiting an English playwright to write a eulogy for the dying King Philip.
One curiosity that Vega noted was that the play ends with the villain being allowed to escape punishment by entering a monastery. Vega wondered if Shakespeare would be allowed to write this same ending were England still Protestant.
Literary comment[]
The scattered references to If You Like It throughout the novel, suggest that it is essentially the same play as As You Like It. The villain has the same resolution in the OTL play.
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