Act I

haaalo evrybuddy!! i wz searchin fer stuff on As You Like It bcz i gotta ryt an essay on it nd i ended up here .. diz iz my frst post n im xpectin an instant reply :blush: Anyway the essay is on Act I n how itz important n evrythin in the play! u kno .. the way it sets the scene and all that ... can ne1 jz giv me the significance of this Act?? *plzzzzzz*

Hello.hushh.

Im hoping to teach this play next year to my students-whats it like???

Hushh,
First off, have you actually read the first act? This play is really quite self-explanatory, so just take a look at it. Yeah, it sets up the scene, with the banished duke and the abused Orlando, and then send everyone off to Arden. It's mostly plot device--once they're in Arden, we don't care a whole lot about how they got there. Also, it provides the characterization for most of the main characters. Check out especially Rosalind and Cecilia's conversation with each other and with Touchstone about Nature, Fortune, and honor in Scene II, and Orlando's discussion with Adam and Oliver in Scene I.

Anthony,
Most of all, it's a fun play. It's fluffy, easy to understand, and all the problems seem to magically dissapear in the ridiculous closing sequence. However, it has some really nice language, including, as you probably know, a couple of Shakespeare's most famous speeches ("All the world's a stage..."). Some of the main themes are about romance and sex, and how different people approach them. It's a romantic comedy, but it sometimes gets pretty bitingly cynical or satirical, so that could be fun to teach.