Introduction:
Before delving into the play itself, it might be helpful to briefly consider William Shakespeare’s background. Born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564, William Shakespeare is accepted as one of the most popular and productive playwrights throughout the world. Although not much is known about his private life, there are thousands of articles and books regarding his literary career and works. He went to Stratford Grammar School. While he was 18, he married Anne Hathaway; and had three children. Around 1587, Shakespeare went to London to act and write for the London stage (Bloom 11-2; Urgan 225). Shakespeare died in 1616 at the age of 52.
Seven years after Shakespeare died, in 1623, The First Folio, containing his 36 plays, was published in London. William Shakespeare’s plays are categorized as histories, comedies, and tragedies. Among his tragedies areHamlet(1600 or 1602), Othello (1603), Macbeth(1606), Antony and Cleopatra (1606) and many others. The Comedy of Errors (1590), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1596), All’s Well That Ends Well (1598), As You Like It (1599) are some of his comedies. Richard II, Richard III, Henry IV, King John are his “chronicle history plays, a popular kind of drama based upon history books like Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicle and presenting dramatically the events in the reigns of various English kings” (Smith 796). Shakespeare also wrote 154 sonnets.
It is supposed that Shakespeare wrote As You Like It at the beginning of 1600s. “Shakespeare