Five questions | As You Like It

As You Like It is one of Shakespeare’s festive comedies, a sparkling story of love, hidden identity, and an escape to a world (in this case, the Forest of Arden) beyond society’s strictures. But there are also heavier themes and dangers lurking in that magical land. We asked Folger Director Dr. Farah Karim-Cooper for her take on Shakespeare’s beloved comedy. Read on for more and watch Farah discuss Shakespeare on the Folger’s Instagram and YouTube channels. She will also be speaking about the play and the Folger Theatre production at a Director’s talk on March 20. 

Where does As You Like It take place?

Dr. Farah Karim-Cooper:  As You Like It takes place mostly in the forest of Arden, but because it’s one of Shakespeare’s festive comedies it has a dual setting—the urban world and what’s sometimes called the green world or the country world. Most of the action of the play takes place in the forest, and that is significant.

What is it with Shakespeare and forests?

Karim-Cooper: Forests were mysterious and intriguing place back in the Elizabethan age. Imagine a time where there’s no electricity, no street lamps—the darkest places were forests. And England was an entire country of forests. You imagine London is a big city today, but back then, it was a lot smaller, surrounded by forests, as were most villages and towns. They held a lot of mystery and intrigue, but they were also considered terrifying places, because they were really dark. It’s easy to think of the nightmares and imaginings that people might have had about what happens in the forest. Some believed you’d encounter fairies, and all sorts of scary creatures, or goblins. But forests were also seen as places for release. It was beyond the reach of the urban world, where patriarchal and class hierarchy existed, and instead, it was where you’d be free from those constraints. Shakespeare tends to explore these dual worlds in his comedies, and he really does this in As You Like It.

Why is there always a fool in Shakespeare’s stories?

Karim-Cooper: There isn’t a fool in every Shakespeare play, but there are actually two kinds of fools or jesters in Shakespeare. In the plays that were written before 1600, like As You Like It, we meet a sort of clown figure which is subtly different from a fool, and that’s because Shakespeare was really writing to the strengths of his actors. They had a clown figure in the company named Will Kemp, who was famous in his own right as a comedian. Touchstone’s character was perhaps written with Will Kemp in mind, and so it’s much more clown-like. The comedy would have appealed to a broader audience, and it was very physical kind of comedy. After 1600, Robert Armin joins the company of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men. And he may not have been as much of a physical comedian. His comedy really rested in wit and word play. This is what we see in Feste in Twelfth Night, and the Fool in King Lear.

Is As You Like It a happy play? What’s the tone?

Karim-Cooper: Depending on if it’s performed well, it would be considered a very funny play. But it’s also showcasing Shakespeare’s ability to weave together comedy and melancholy, which is what he does in all his plays. This is a play that has usurpation and banishment as launching themes. We have women entering the forest and having to disguise themselves because of fears of what could happen to them in the forest. Because, as I said before, they were seen as sometimes scary spaces. But Shakespeare really balances this beautifully with the comedic elements.

Why do women frequently disguise themselves as men in Shakespeare’s plays?

Karim-Cooper: This happens because in the commercial theaters of Shakespeare’s time, it wasn’t customary for women to play on stage, and you have boy actors around the ages of 14 to 21 who are playing the parts of women. In some ways, you could say, oh, well, it’s much easier for a boy actor to play a boy throughout the performance. But often it becomes a useful plot line. It’s more so that Shakespeare is exploring and having a lot of fun with the complications and the dynamics that come with gender mixing in the plays. He creates a kind of mental gymnastics for the audience, because like with Rosalind, you have a boy actor playing the part of a woman, and then the woman disguises herself as a boy, so you’ve got three layers of identity that you have to hold in your mind all at the same time. That’s a really interesting cognitive exercise, and in the meantime, Shakespeare is able to say something about the performativity and precarity of gender identities.