Theme Of Gender Roles In As You Like It

As You Like it, set in France in the sixteenth century, is a comedy written by William Shakespeare that deals with many philosophical questions, such as the discussion of gender roles. The play’s heroin, Roselyn, flees persecution in the court of her uncle, Duke Fredrick. After exiled from the court, Roselyn runs to the Forest of Arden in search for love. Simultaneously, a man name Orlando, the son of the recently deceased Sir Rowland de Boys, flees to the Forest of Arden seeking refuge from his brother who threatened to burn his house down. Trying to protect herself, Roselyn disguises herself as a man named Ganymede as she seeks a relationship with Orlando. At points throughout the play, Roselyn and Orlando epitomize the stereotypical character roles of their respective genders in 16th century France. However, the characters also defy these stereotypes at points throughout the play as well. In his most famous comedy, Shakespeare seems to argue both for traditional and unorthodox gender roles. In As You Like It, Roselyn and Orlando both epitomize and defy tradition gender roles, leaving the final say up to the audience’s interpretation. Early on in the play, both Roselyn and Orlando seem to challenge their respective traditional gender roles. …show more content…
The fact that Rosalind is a male actor acting as a woman who is in disguise as a man perfectly sums up the play’s confusing and contradictory views toward gender roles, and Shakespeare’s noncommittal feeling toward the matter. The play’s title, “As You Like It,” seems to indicate the author’s intention with the apparent contradictory gender roles throughout the play. Contrary to many other works, Shakespeare was not trying to persuade his audience one way or another regarding gender roles. Rather, he left his work open to interpretation, making As You Like It a unique and fascinating work of