History Theatre / AsYouLikeIt

''And one man in his time plays many parts...''

* CanonForeigner: Jaques (who actually ''is'' a foreigner in the story), Touchstone and the characters in his subplot (Audrey, Oliver Mar-Text and William), and Amiens.

* TriangRelations: Orlando and Rosalind are in love, but Rosalind is [[WholesomeCrossdresser pretending to be a boy]], and Phoebe [[SweetOnPollyOliver has a crush on said boy]], and Silvius is in love with ''her''... [[spoiler: Resolved when Rosalind reveals herself to be a girl.]]

The majority of the plot is spent on the romances. Orlando, still in love with Rosalind, hangs love notes for her on the trees in the woods. Rosalind, equally in love with Orlando but still disguised as a man, encourages him to pursue her. Phebe, a shepherdess, falls in love with Ganymede, and she in turn is loved by Silvius, a shepherd. Even Touchstone the Clown has a woman he's pursuing.

-->'''Phebe''': Sweet youth, I pray you, chide a year together;\\

** Subverted with Phebe. She originally spurns Silvius and falls for "Ganymede" right away, but when it becomes obvious that isn't going to work, it's Silvius' unswerving devotion that wins the day.

* PersonAsVerb: "She Phebes me."

* SweetOnPollyOliver: Orlando and Phobe have no idea that "Ganymede" is a girl.

* OneHeadTaller: Rosalind is said to "stand as high as [Orlando's] heart."

* MisplacedWildlife: Whether you think that Arden is meant to be the British Forest of Arden or the Ardennes, neither have wild lions.

* GenreSavvy: Rosalind is unimpressed when Orlando trots out Petrarchan cliches.

The play has been adapted on film Sir Laurence Olivier's in 1936 (it was his first Shakespeare film adaptation) and another Film was made by KennethBranagh, which reset the play in Meiji Japan.

* GetTheeToANunnery: The meaning of touchstone's speech punning on "hour" takes on a quite different meaning once you realize that in Elizabethan English, ''hour'' and ''whore'' were homophones.

* {{Arcadia}}: The Forest of ''Arden''. [[Literature/TheBible Ringing any bells?]]
** Well, it's a real place in France. Known as the Ardennes nowadays.
** There is also a Forest of Arden in England that was just outside Shakespeare's hometown of Stratford-on-Avon. In fact, Shakespeare's mother was born Mary Arden. Her family had taken their name from the forest. No doubt Shakespeare combined elements of all these for the play.

* DeadpanSnarker: The melancholy Jacques gets a lot of lines befitting one of these, but the delivery (of course) depends on the actor.
** Touchstone, too.

* DeusExMachina: Oliver repents his ways and reunites with Orlando because Orlando saves him from a conveniently placed ''lion''. Riiight.
** Also, Fredrick just ''suddenly'' has a change of heart, goes religious, and gives the duchy back to the Duke? All offstage? Due to a previously unmentioned[[note]]aside from one often-cut line in the first scene[[/note]] THIRD brother? (Note: some productions cut out the third brother and give his lines to Le Beau, the main courtier instead)

** HeelFaithTurn: Frederick (off-stage) decides to give up the duchy after talking to an old cleric and finding religion.

** Subverted with Phebe. She originally spurns Silvius and falls for "Ganymede" right away, but when it becomes obvious [[MistakenIdentity that]] [[GenderBender isn't]] [[HoYay going]] [[IncompatibleOrientation to work]], it's Silvius' unswerving devotion that wins the day.

-->''All the world's a stage,''
-->''And all the men and women merely players.''
-->''They have their exits and their entrances;''
-->''And one man in his time plays many parts...''
-->--'''Jaques''', 2.7

* AfraidOfBlood: Rosalind passes out seeing a handkerchief with the wounded Orlando's blood on it.
** Subverted in that she's not upset about the blood itself so much as the fact that it's her beloved Orlando's blood. This is {{lampshade|Hanging}}d by Celia, who can't really explain the situation to Oliver because he still thinks Rosalind's a boy.
--> '''Oliver:''' Many will swoon when they do look on blood.
--> '''Celia:''' There is more in it.

--> '''Phebe:''' Sweet youth, I pray you, chide a year together;
--> I had rather hear you chide than this man woo.

* CardCarryingVillain: Oliver de Boys, before his HeelFaceTurn, says of his brother Orlando:
--> ''I hope I shall see an end of him; for my soul, yet I know not why, hates nothing more than he. Yet he's gentle, never schooled and yet learned, full of noble device, of all sorts enchantingly beloved, and indeed so much in the heart of the world, and especially of my own people, who best know him, that I am altogether misprised.''
** In other words, "Orlando is truly a good guy, and I want him dead for no good reason." (The subtext may suggest [[GreenEyedMonster jealousy]] as a possible motive.)

-->'''Touchstone:''' Nay, if I keep not my rank-
-->'''Rosalind:''' Thou losest thy old smell.

--> "...abandon the society of this female, or, clown, thou perishest; or, to thy better understanding, diest; or, to wit I kill thee, make thee away, translate thy life into death, thy liberty into bondage: I will deal in poison with thee, or in bastinado, or in steel; I will bandy with thee in faction; I will o'errun thee with policy; I will kill thee [[UpToEleven a hundred and fifty ways]]: therefore tremble and depart!"

--> Why, if thou never wast at court, thou never sawest good manners; if thou never sawest good manners, then thy manners must be wicked; and wickedness is sin, and sin is damnation. Thou art in a parlous state, shepherd.

--> 'Thus we may see,' quoth he, 'how the world wags:
--> 'Tis but an hour ago since it was nine,
--> And after one hour more 'twill be eleven;
--> And so, from hour to hour, we ripe and ripe [[note]]''ripe'' and ''rape'' was also pronounced the same back then[[/note]],
--> And then, from hour to hour, we rot and rot;
-->And thereby hangs a tale.'

--> '''Le Beau''' ''(to Orlando):'' Sir! Fare thee well. Hereafter, in a better world than this, [[HoYay I shall desire much love and knowledge of you]].

--> When from the first to last betwixt us two
--> Tears our recountments had most kindly bathed...

--> 'Tis no matter. Ne'er a fantastical knave of them all shall flout me out of my calling.

** Also, Fredrick just ''suddenly'' has a change of heart, goes religious, and gives the duchy back to the Duke? All offstage? Due to a previously unmentioned THIRD brother? (Note: some productions cut out the third brother and give his lines to Le Beau, the main courtier instead)

-->'''Touchstone:''' Well, if I don't keep up my rank-
-->'''Rosalind:''' ...you'll lose your smell.

* CrystalDragonJesus: The story is set in a time and place where Greek or Roman Religion is dominant, but the religion seems very like Christianity in 16th Century England.

--> Thus we may see,' quoth he, 'how the world wags:

--> '''Le Beau''' ''(to Orlando):'' Sir! Fare thee well. Hereafter, in a better world than this, [[HoYay I shall desire much love and knowledge of you.]]

* OldRetainer: Adam (to Orlando)

* DeathByAdaptation: Any production that implies Adam's death (such as the 1996 {{R|oyalShakespeareCompany}}SC production).

** Also, Fredrick just ''suddenly'' has a change of heart, goes religious, and gives the duchy back to the Duke? All offstage? Due to a previously unmentioned THIRD brother?

* ActorAllusion: A touchstone is a tool used in jewellery to assess the quality of precious metals. Robert Armin, who created the role of Touchstone (probably his first major role), had trained as a goldsmith before deciding to become an actor.

* MeaningfulName: Celia deliberately uses one of these as her alias ("Aliena" means "the estranged one"), as she wants her name to be "something that hath a reference to [her] state".

* GetTheeToANunnery: Touchstone's speech punning on "hour," which was pronounced a bit differently back in Shakespeare's day...

* TriangRelations: Oooooh boy. Orlando and Rosalind are in love, but Rosalind is [[WholesomeCrossdresser pretending to be a boy]], and Phoebe [[SweetOnPollyOliver has a crush on said boy]], and Silvius is in love with ''her''... [[spoiler: Resolved when Rosalind reveals herself to be a girl.]]