As You Like It, did you like it?

How great to see some fellow Admirers of Shakespeare on here.
I was just wondering if any of you have read As You Like It and what you thought of it. I found it the most enjoyable of the plays ive read, but this could be because with every page I appreciate the beauty of his work more, on the other hand it could be the curious plot.


As I remember, Adam, it was upon this fashion
bequeathed me by will but poor a thousand crowns,
and, as thou sayest, charged my brother, on his
blessing, to breed me well: and there begins my
sadness. My brother Jaques he keeps at school, and
report speaks goldenly of his profit: for my part,
he keeps me rustically at home, or, to speak more
properly, stays me here at home unkept; for call you
that keeping for a gentleman of my birth, that
differs not from the stalling of an ox? His horses
are bred better; for, besides that they are fair
with their feeding, they are taught their manage,
and to that end riders dearly hired: but I, his
brother, gain nothing under him but growth; for the
which his animals on his dunghills are as much
bound to him as I. Besides this nothing that he so
plentifully gives me, the something that nature gave
me his countenance seems to take from me: he lets
me feed with his hinds, bars me the place of a
brother, and, as much as in him lies, mines my
gentility with my education. This is it, Adam, that
grieves me; and the spirit of my father, which I
think is within me, begins to mutiny against this
servitude: I will no longer endure it, though yet I
know no wise remedy how to avoid it.

I once played the bad brother, Oliver I guess his name is, and it was a pleasant experience. But, not a lot on action except for the great wrestling match early on. There's a lot of talk in this play. It's a great woman's role for Rosalind, who is a very smart cookie. Also, the philosophical theme of "city life" vs. "country life" is a good one.

If not familiar, you might like "The Winter's Tale" or "Cymbeline," both also involving city vs. country.

As You Like It is one of Shakespeare's work that i did not like much. All the scenes are basically just conversations at random. I also do not like the way everything just gets solved conveniently without disturbing the plot. The begining act is just a means of propelling the action forward without any reasons for them to take place, like for example, Oliver hates Orlando for no possible reason mentioned, the younger Duke suddenly feels the whim to banish Rosalind from court. The language of course is beautiful just as in all the other works by Shakespeare.

I did it 5 years ago but remember none of it, absolutely none, except that there was a character called Rosalind and one called Orlando, and you get the 'All the world's a stage...' quote.