Sunday, April 26, 2009

Shakespeare: As You Like It

As You Like It has the silliest plot yet.

Rosalind and Orlando have fallen in love at first sight*, and agree to meet in the forest to evade the cruel families that don't want to see them together. To avoid being attacked, Rosalind travels to the wood dressed as a man. When Orlando and Rosalind meet, Rosalind decides to use her disguise to convince Orlando that he doesn't love Rosalind. This is solely for the purposed of hijinks.

Now it gets confusing.

Rosalind convinces Orlando to court Rosalind as though she were Rosalind, while Rosalind (who is still dressed like a man) acts irritating so as to make Orlando think that love isn't worth the trouble of dealing with something as absurd as a woman. Naturally, Orlando decides that the best thing to do is convince a complete stranger that he can put up with anything to win Rosalind's love, so he agrees with the plan. Come to think of it, Orlando is either an idiot or a jerk. He doesn't know where his love is, lost in the forest, but he spends his time dealing with some random stranger's shenanigans instead of looking for her.

Naturally, it all works out in the end.

Also, there's the "All the world's a stage" speech, which is good, if not particularly relevant to the action.

*Shakespeare doesn't seem to be able to have people fall in love any other way. In Shakespeare's world, love is a binary condition, and it jumps from one person to another instantly.

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