The Sources

Shakespeare: As You Like It

In this course, Professor John Roe (University of York) explores Shakespeare's As You Like It – a play that was written in 1599, first performed in 1603, and first published in the First Folio, 1623. We begin by thinking about the sources of the play, focusing in particular on Thomas Lodge's 'Rosalynde, or Euphues' Golden Legacie' (1590), but also thinking about the genre of pastoral poetry more generally. After that, we summarise the plot of the play, before moving on to consider the extent to which the play engages with satire. In the final three modules, we focus on three characters in particular: Rosalind, Jaques, and Touchstone.

The Sources

In this section, we think about Shakespeare's sources for 'As You Like It', focusing in particular on Thomas Lodge's prose work 'Rosalynde, or Euphues' Golden Legacie' (1590), and thinking about the themes of romance, satire, and disguise, and its peculiar mannered style known as Euphuism.