Synopsis:

As You Like It is Shakespeare's most light-hearted comedy, and its witty heroine Rosalind has his longest female role. In this edition, Alan Brissenden reassesses both its textual and performance history, showing how interpretations have changed since the first recorded production in 1740. He examines Shakespeare's sources and elucidates the central themes of love, pastoral and doubleness. Detailed annotations investigate the allusive and often bawdy language, enabling student, actor and director to savour the humour and the seriousness of the play to the full.