Read Acts 1-2 of As You Like It and consider some of the following questions below. Also, I want to work on close reading skills in class over the next few weeks, so expect to really dig into some difficult or confusing passages in class!
* Why does this play use almost as much prose as verse? Which characters predominantly speak in prose and why? When do they revert to verse?
* Why do brothers in this play hate and betray one another, whereas 'sisters' (even though Rosalind and Celia aren't blood sisters) are willing to die for one another? What might this reveal about Shakespeare's view of male and female relationships?
* Touchstone is the classic Shakespearean fool much like Speed rather than Bottom or Puck. What is his role in the play? Consider, too, that a "touchstone" is a "stone used to test the quality of precious metals."
* Why does Rosalind take the name Ganymede? Who was Ganymede and what meta-associations might this have for the audience? Consider Bart van Es' point in Chapter 3 that Shakespeare likes to test the possibilities of relationships in his comedies though they are always restored to 'normal' by the end of the play.
* How does the play contrast the world with the court with the Forest of Arden? Why does Duke Senior prefer it? Do others?
* Is Jacques a knowing or an unwitting fool? Is he also a kind of "touchstone" for others around him, to prove their wit/worth? Or is his wit more nonsensical/humorous?
* Read Jacques' speeches in Act 2, scene 7 (page 77-78 in the Folger edition) carefully: according to him, what is the license of a Fool and what is the benefit of satire? Why does he desire to be seen as a "motley fool" so desperately? Does Duke Senior think he's qualified for the job?
* Consider the many allusions to the stage in Act 2, particularly Jacques' famous speech, "all the world's a stage." Why call the audience's attention to this in the forest scenes?
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