This month’s Shakespeare is As You Like It—and after my less-than-enthusiastic experience with A Midsummer Night’s Dream, I’m relieved to discover that Shakespearean comedy really can be funny. The plot is completely ridiculous: banished dukes, feuding brothers, improbable disguises, love at first sight, a lion, a religious conversion, and four marriages. Somehow, it works.
But because this is Shakespeare, the comedy also sneaks in bigger ideas: primogeniture and sibling rivalry, country life versus court life, the costs of travel, and, most memorably, the famous “All the world’s a stage” speech. I also share why I don’t recommend Kenneth Branagh’s movie adaptation and give As You Like It a B+. Plus, a preview of our fall Shakespeare lineup and the upcoming Iliad/Odyssey/Aeneid reading project.
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