Radio - Research & Rehearsal Blog

The Infinite Monkey Cage

The Infinite Monkey Cage is an Award winning science/comedy chat with Brian Cox, Robin Ince and guests. The guests in each episode vary 

from comedians and fellow scientists. Every episode has a different topic in the world of 

science. Using different guests each week for each episode, it keeps the show fresh and 

exciting and individual from the previous or next episode. I feel that guest appearances from 

comedians is a great touch to the show as fans of a certain comedian may tune into to listen 

to them; if they like what they hear from the show they may become a regular listener creating

 a wider popularity of the show. This show is a great way to explore the science world more. 

This show is a great way for science lovers to listen as shows like this are quite unknown of. 

However, involving the comedian guests can be a negative also, as the show may not be factual

 enough for those who listen just for its scientific purposes.

The Unbelievable Truth

The Unbelievable Truth is a BBC radio 4 comedy panel game. The game is hosted by David Mitchell and is described in the programme's introduction as "the panel game built on truth and lies." The object of the game is to lie on a subject, whilst also trying to include the truth without being detected; for example, two lies and a truth. The panellists are given the opportunity to guess the truth, if correct they earn points. The whole premises of this game show are to detect the truths in each round within the lies. This show also features new guests each week; this keeps the format of the show fresh and unexplored to listeners. It will encourage them to listen each week to find out who will be making an appearance on this fun comedic game show this week. This show is something that anyone can enjoy listening to if you are at the age of understanding the topics they explore.

Our Performance

My radio group consists of five of us, Ellie, Jess, Jordan, Leah and myself. We chose to perform a radio adaptation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It was originally aired in 1945. It is a piece of work that everyone would enjoy listening to as it is Disney and reminds every one of their childhood. We chose the radio play because it is fun, light and the genre of radio we wanted to focus on. Fantasy based radio play, especially snow white and the seven dwarfs, allowed us to explore our vocal ranges as all the characters in this piece are extremely diverse. For example, the seven dwarfs all have their own characteristics and tones of vices and ways of being. The original structure of this piece consists of approximately 11-12 characters so we equally divided the characters between us. I played the role of Snow White. For our adaptation we wanted many sounds effects and musical sections as that is what was involved in the original working of it. However, we removed the singing of snow white and the prince charming as we felt it was not needed and it took up extra time in our limited timing we had for this project.

We started our rehearsing by reading through the script four or five times, alternating characters between us so that we could each experiment with the characters and see how we work with each of them. I wanted to experiment with Snow-white, The Wicked Queen and the Narrator. After trying each of my preferred characters out, I soon realised that I had never played the girly simple character before and wanted to see how I could adapt to such a simple character. After we completed the casting, I only had snow-white. I wish I was given a dwarf as well but after discussions, others felt it was only fair to divide the dwarfs between them. This I feel gave me a little less chance and booting my performance as I didn’t have the chance to show my development for more than one character. However, we also chose to our strengths, such as Leah has a powerful Old Hag voice which suits perfectly for The Wicked Queen. After a few weeks of rehearsing with our assigned characters, we felt it was time to make sure we knew which sound effects would be needed and which lines we could cut from the script so that our show did not run into overtime. We were lucky enough to have found the original script with all the original sounds effects in which we were so grateful to have! We then recorded our piece into professional equipment and had to wait for the outcome a few weeks later. Unfortunately, I had little rehearsal due to being absent therefore I feel my performance wasn’t its best but I gave it my best shot!

After listening to our radio play back, I feel that it sounded great and really enjoyed listening to it! If I were to change anything about it, I would. During the first few days of rehearsals I would have considered characters more; I would have made it clear that I wanted to participate as one of the minor dwarfs so that I could have more of an experiment with my vocal delivery. I also would have worked more on the meaning behind the lines as Snow-whit; I would’ve liked more rehearsal time to perfect the piece a lot more!

In conclusion, I really enjoyed having the opportunity to explore a different method of acting and having more of an understanding to radio acting.

As You Like It - Rehearsal Blog

We began this project by being assigned characters, a scene and a script. I was cast as Rosalind and i am working with India and Will on Act 1, scene three. This is the scene in which it is the high point of the events where we discover her uncle banishing her to the Forest of Arden and her cousin Celia making the plans and decisions to run away with her in disguises; Rosalind takes the name as Ganymede and becomes a male whereas Celia changes only her name to Aliana. From this character study, I hope it helps to expand and challenge myself with this role with creative and imaginative ways to transfer the role of Rosalind from the stage to the screen for this unit.

For the first week or two we read through the scene, working on our understanding and translations into modern day language so we find the meaning to each line. We approached each reading with different ways of playing our characters (Rosalind, Celia, The Duke). We attempted, an Essex more loose vocal and our natural clear well-spoken vocal. We found that putting on accents we take away from the scene and its meaning if we weren't all strong at the same accent.

The next stage of our rehearsal process was finding the right place to set this scene. We explored different era's and settings but we had to discuss locations that are local so that we could travel there to film. We ruled out setting it in a different era as it would be difficult finding a suitable place to film as well as costume, props etc. We made the decision to create a modern adaptation of this scene so we could focus more on whats happening in the scene rather that whats around us in the scene. Coming up with final decision took us quite  while as it was a struggle finding something that would intertwine with the words and the meaning behind the scene of being banished from somewhere. However, after many dead ends we came up with the idea of setting it in a house. This means that when the Duke exiles Rosalind, it seems he is commanding her to move out of there family home.Our friend kindly told us she would let the film crew into her house and use her kitchen for our scene! I feel that this was a great idea as we has all we needed, as the kitchen had appliances and other things so we do not need to worry about props when i comes to it.

For the final few weeks, we set ourselves deadline to learn lines and blocked the scene. It was a very simple scene to block and we had no difficulty blocking it.

Overall, the weeks of rehearsal went by smoothly and I thoroughly enjoyed having the freedom to adapt this scene in a small group!

As You Like It - Language

In this blog post, I will be discussing the language that William Shakespeare used in his works and the devices he involved in his writing. Shakespeare is, and will always be, one of the most influential and creative writers in  history. As his works became more and more popular, his style of writing developed dramatically as his confidence in his creations increased. He pushed the boundaries far a wide. W.S began exploring different devices and creating rhythmic  rules to either  specific character or certain scenes of just that play overall!

We are studying 'As You Like It' for classical project and, I feel, taking examples and quotations from this specific Shakespeare script  will help me develop my understanding and knowledge of each scene in the play.

Shakespeare's Devices

Rhyming: Rhyming is one of the most simple devices that you find is frequently used by Shakespeare in all of his plays. The whole concept of rhyming is that two or more words (different words) create the same sound. You will usually find he uses this device to express a feeling such as love or anger or distress etc. In 'As You Like It' for example, the character Rosalind uses an interesting sentence that uses a lot of rhyme.

"If she love me, I charge her to love thee..." (Act 4 Scene 3)

From this sentence, you can see and hear, the emotions in this sentence are heightened dramatically from the use of the rhythmic device. Rosalind is angry at Silvius at this very moment because he has fallen in love with a woman who seems unlovable and un-devoting to a husband. The girl he has fallen in love with is Phebe who is a feisty character, and she will not love Silvius back because of his naive and devoting attitude. Phebe has fallen in love with Ganymede (the disguise Rosalind has taken upon herself). This therefore leads to Rosalind giving Silvius a good discussion about the situation.

Repetition: Repetition is seen as one of the other more simple and frequently used devices in Shakespeare pieces. The overall description of this device is that repetition is using the same word twice or more than twice in the same sentence. It seems that Shakespeare may have always used this device to emphasis a point a character was making, or maybe to show a need for the word that was being repeated to show it has meaning behind it.In As You Like It, Celia uses repetition of the word brave.

"O, that's abrave man! He writes brave verses, speaks brave words, swears brave oaths, and breaks them bravely..." (Act 3, Scene 4)

From this quotation, you can see that Celia uses the word brave five times which really helps to audience or reader grasp her feelings and understand her meaning behind this repetition. Shakespeare wants us to see the sarcasm in this words Celia speaks about Orlando. 

Alliteration: Moving on the more detailed and complex devices, alliteration is one of them but is also very commonly used just like rhyming and repetition. Alliteration can be noticed when  a row of words start with the same letter. It seems, in my opinion, that Shakespeare would use it to emphasis a word or a phrase, to help make and keep the flow, "alliteration is a poetical form and naturally a word sounds better when accompanied by an adjective or adjectives that compliment the beginning letter". In "As You Like It", alliteration seems to be frequently used, such as the characters Jacques and Touchstone. An example of Touchstones alliteration is:

"...to be a bawd to a bellwether and to betray a she-lamb..." (Act 3 Scene 2)

This is taken from the scene in which Touchstone is seen talking to Corin and is talking down to him, using his high mighty court-like wit to outsmart Corin, similar to the way Corin tries to educate Silvius on the ways of love and how he tries to coach him in dealing with Phoebe.

Assonance:  Assonance is when the vowel sounds of two non-rhyming words rhyme. An example of this device, an assonance, being used in 'As You Like It' is yet another quote from Touchstone with his fast and clever way of talking: 

"by the copulation of cattle; to be bawd to a bellwether and to betray a she-lamb of a twelvemonth to a crooked-pated old cuckoldly ram, out of all reasonable match..." (Act 3 Scene 2)

This quote of touchstone is also taken from the same scene as the last one. To me, it seems that the use of this assonance from touchstone is very similar to the reasoning of using the previous device, alliteration.

Dissonance: The device of the Dissonance is when the sounds of two words clash violently on the ear of the opposing character or the audience so as to heighten both. Using the same scene as before Corin uses a dissonance creating a clash of the sounds 'i' and 'ah' making his expression jump out of the line.

"And would you have us kiss tar?" (Act 3 Scene 2)

In this scene, it's clever how Shakespeare uses assonance for Touchstone and dissonance for Corin, it represents that polar opposite between the two characters because Touchstone constantly bashes Corin for shallow thinking, giving him the higher status, and Corin tries to backfire every comment Touchstone makes but Touchstone only tries to emphasis his point further.The phrase "kiss tar" is such a rural expression, it emphasizes that Corin is the low status both in general and social classes in comparison to Touchstone.

Paradox: A paradox is one of the more complex and complicated idea for a device. A paradox is an idea that has sound (or an apparent sound) reasoning but leads to a conclusion that makes no sense or is self-contradictory. For example, to walk to the center of a room to the wall i would have to walk half of the distance, but i would still have half of the distance to travel. From that point, i would still have half the distance to travel again, and so on and so forth. I would always still have half a distance to travel to the wall, so theoretically i would never reach the wall (which is incorrect as i would reach the wall!). The overall idea of paradoxes is that they are often used to make an intellectual point, simply to just puzzle. It seems that Shakespeare enjoy this device a lot as there are aplenty in 'As You Like It'. For example, W.S uses paradoxes to either explain a complicated idea or a series of emotions that exist outside of reason, such as Rosalind:

"I will marry you, if ever I marry a woman, and I'll be married to-morrow..." (Act 5, Scene 2)

Rosalind seems to be stating Phebe that if Rosalind was to marry a woman she would of course marry Phebe BUT in this very same sentence she also states she is marrying tomorrow.She offers Phoebe this paradox to show Phoebe that the love she has for Rosalind is obsolete. It's useless and it can never happen anyway. This very line is a great use of a paradox!

Oxymoron: An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms. For example, a tall dwarf, a white raven, an honest politician, a modest footballer and so forth. Shakespeare can be seen using many oxymoron's in 'As You Like It' as well as many of his other plays. For example, in 'As You Like It' Rosalind has a line in which features an oxymoron:

"As many other mannish cowards have." (Act 1 Scene 3)

In this scene, Rosalind speaks to Celia of how she will disguise herself as a man to travel through the Forest of Arden safely because she has been banished from the courts by her uncle the Duke. By using the term mannish cowards, she means addressing herself with a brave face even if that the time she is not brave at all. She knows that she will have to face situations that are feared by women but will learn to overcome fear by expressing bravery and heroic manner just like any man would although she is feeling like a coward. I feel this oxymoron respresents exactly how she feels! It represents the truth that she is avoiding to reveal.

Lists: Lists are one of the most famous rhetorical devices. The three-part list, for example, is used in Julius Ceasars famous quotation 'Veni, Vidi, Vici' or 'I came, I saw, I conquered'. Lists are also frequently used by public speakers and is recognized in many famous speeches also which they have been known to entise the listeners and draw them in. An example of lists from 'As You Like It' is within Rosalinds line:

"Make the doors upon a woman's wit, and it will out at the casement. Shut that and 'twill out at the keyhole; Stop that, 'twill fly with the smoke out at the chimney." (Act 4 Scene 1)

I think that Rosalind uses this list to show that women are much much cleverer than they are seen to be. This seems because back when women were oppressed for being proud of who they are, it was hard to maintain any respect for a woman. Overall, she uses this list to empower women and raise the little status they had back in that day.

As you can see, these devices are all one we've heard of or seen before. But, Shakespeare uses them in a way no other has. Here are a few more devices that aren't as frequently used but have been heard of:

Verse: Verse is one of the important devices that is used in every William Shakespeare play. Verse is writing with lots of rhetorical and poetic devices; the form of speech commonly used by more higher status and upper class characters. This is because it reflects there higher standard of education. In 'As You Like It',  shakespeare uses verse in one of the biggest speeches - "All the worlds a stage..." by Jacques. In this speech, you will find many different devices that make it a verse speech:

• Single Syllables - Single syllable lines make you go quite slowly. Shakespeare often used them to make an important or complicated point. For example, the MOST famous example is "To be or not to be..." whereas, studying as you like it, we have "all the worlds a stage". This is effective because there is so much meaning behind this phrase. The world is one big stage and everyone is playing out there own story. Being a very big point, it is not overplayed with depth making it such a short, passionate and opinionated phrase.
• End Words - End words are basically what the device is called. Its the end word of the verse. You may think its just the end of the verse, but there is much more meaning behind it. Its important. Back in the Elizabethan times, actor would have stressed the end words in verse speeches. In a big speech a list of the end words of each line normally offers you a good conclusion of the speech. In 'As You Like It', the "all the worlds a stage..." speech, you'll notice that the titles of the individual'seven ages' are all placed at the line ends - infant, lover, soldier, justice and so on.
• Iambic Pentameter - Iambic Pentameter is a device used to create a natural flow to a sentence in verse, it is made up of five "de-dums", like a heartbeat. Shakespeare uses this device in his works in order to make the ground-lings listen. Iambic Pentameter gives the language a beat and a momentum which is pleasant on the ear, and when a line fits neatly into that rhythm, it sounds nice to say and the pace picks up. Often in an Iambic Pentameter line, there is a word that doesn't fit into the rhythm and these are often important words that have more meaning compared the other words. For example, in Act 1 Scene 3, "I'll put myself in pour and mean attire, and with a kind of umber smirch my face..." The line ends are stressed and give us the subject of the conversation.
• Eleven Beat Lines - This device means that if a line has more than ten beats then there's normally a reason for it. The famous Eleven Beat Line within Shakespeare's work is "to be or not to be, that is the question" from Hamlet.

In conclusion, these are many of the devices William Shakespeare used in his work in which are still used to this day!

As You Like It – Character Development

In ‘As You Like It’, I am playing the character Rosalind in act one – scene three. She is an upper class character, cousin to Celia, who lives in the court to begin with but is later banished to the Forest of Arden (where her father was banished to a while ago). In this scene given, it is the high point of the events where we discover her uncle banishing her to the Forest of Arden and her cousin Celia making the plans and decisions to run away with her in disguises; Rosalind takes the name as Ganymede and becomes a male whereas Celia changes only her name to Aliana. From this character study, I hope it helps to expand and challenge myself with this role with creative and imaginative ways to transfer the role of Rosalind from the stage to the screen for this unit.

Introduction

Rosalind is a character who lives in the court amongst her family and many other upper class peoples or workers. However, in our adaptation, we have transferred the setting to a large house in which Rosalind lives with her uncle the duke, her cousin Celia and DID live with her father until he was banished by her uncle the Forest of Arden (in our case, forced to move out of the mansion to somewhere distant and fare away). In our adaptation, Rosalind has been born and raised in an upper class area such as Emsworth and has never known any different, I believe she is aware that there are more rural areas in which she knows aren’t as secure as her home town. For example, in our adaptation, the Forest of Arden would be transferred into a rural area of Portsmouth. Rosalind is one of who dominates As You Like It. She can be known as a favourite amongst feminist critics as they admire her ability to prove and push at the limitations society impose on women of that day. With her boldness and imagination she transforms herself into a young man for the majority of the play in order to woo the man she loves and instruct him in how to be a more accomplished, attentive lover as she feels he is not quite what she wants and settles with him as a friend at first but wants more. It’s common situation in some ways as women find what they are looking for but not quite and work on improving little things about them.

Context of the Character

“Rosalind is a fictional character and the romantic female lead in the play As You Like It (1600) by William Shakespeare.

She is the beautiful daughter of the exiled Duke Senior and niece to his usurping brother Duke Frederick. Her father is banished from the kingdom which breaks her heart. She then meets Orlando and falls in love with him. After angering her uncle, she leaves his court for exile in the Forest of Arden. Disguised as a shepherd named Ganymede, Rosalind lives with her sweet and devoted cousin, Celia (who is disguised as Ganymede's sister, Aliena), and Duke Frederick's fool Touchstone. Eventually, Rosalind is reunited with her father and married to her faithful lover, Orlando.

Rosalind is one of Shakespeare's most recognized heroines. Admired for her intelligence, quick wit, and beauty, Rosalind is a vital character in "As You Like It." Most commonly seen next to her beloved cousin Celia, Rosalind is also a faithful friend, leader, and schemer. She stays true to her family and friends throughout the entire story, no matter how dangerous the consequences. Rosalind dominates the stage. Her true decision-making skills can be seen in the last scene of Act V (5) where she has to present herself as Rosalind to her father and to Orlando, but at the same time change Phebe's opinion to marry Silvius. She is the main character of the play who extracts the clarity of important traits in other characters.”

reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosalind_(As_You_Like_It)

Research

‘As You Like It’ was written by one of the most influential writers of all time, William Shakespeare (1564-1616). Shakespeare's works were collected and printed in various editions in the century following his death and by the early eighteenth century his reputation as "the greatest poet ever to write in English" was well established. William Shakespeare also wrote other plays such as Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet, and Much Ado about Nothing and many more. By the time Shakespeare wrote it in 1599, he already had seven other comedies under his belt, including A Love's Labour's Lost (1594) and Midsummer Night's Dream (1595). It is believed that As You Like It could have been amongst one of the first Shakespeare play’s to be performed at the globe theatre in 1599; also in this year other plays were performed at the globe theatre such as, Henry V and Julius Caesar. There are many themes in As You Like It, one of the many themes entwined in this play is city life versus country life. This theme has a lot to do with the Pastoral genre that was very popular around the time of William Shakespeare’s life and which this play belongs to that literary tradition. Typically, a pastoral story involves exiles from urban or court life who flees to the refuge of the countryside, where they often disguise themselves as shepherds in order to converse with other shepherds on a range of established topics, from the relative merits of life at court versus life in the country to the relationship between nature and art. 

(To see more on my research of the context, please look at my context blog)

Back Story

Past: Rosalind has always been the girl living in a small town along the south coast with the sea view just around the corner. In the play (present day) her father is mentioned to be in exile in the Forest of Arden, however I do not reconcile any mentioning of her mother. I feel with this little past story,  it can help to develop and explore my character in many more ways than others if so as I have structure to her past but not a lot giving me the chance to add to this and develop or characteristics. In her past, her father was exiled by the Duke, her uncle and father to cousin Celia, leaving her with no parent form but the support and as close a sister’s relationship with her cousin. She has grown up with a bold and strong spine personality without having the mother figure around. I feel this is why she transforms herself into such an excellent man and she has the courage and bravery already at heart.

Present: At this present moment, in act one – scene three, she is becoming weak and her status and bravery drops when she is being manipulated and sentenced to exile for the court. She discovers this news and has to make plans to support herself. However, with the great support from her cousin, Celia, they decided to run away together. Rosalind is falling for Orlando at this present moment too.

Future: Rosalind has an exciting and eventful future with all of the travelling to the forest of Arden and the events that will occur on their way there and when they arrive. She hopes to woo Orlando and make him a better man, when she finds him, but is undecided to show her true identity as a so called love triangle occurs between them and other characters. She finally reveals herself and all is well which concludes in marriages and they all live happily ever after!

Description of the Character

Costume: My costume in the present moment for this scene will be barefoot and dressed up attire. I am still undecided but anything that is party or restaurant appropriate will be suitable for this scene. This costume is suitable for the adaptation we have created as the entering of this scene is in the morning where me and Celia arrive at the mansion after a night out and we try to sneak in barefoot without or heels on to avoid creating any loud noises. Rosalind will be carrying shoes but not wearing them so I feel they are more under the prop section.

Vocal Aspects: I believe that Rosalind should have a clear and feminine voice but not pitch wise, I feel that the pitch should be very normal being not too high pitch but enough to create the feminine voice. My main inspiration for the vocal aspects is Emma Watson. The way she is spoken had always been a big influence on me with my own voice as she has extremely well-spoken English which is not too much to make her overly posh but enough to give a lovely clear and soothing. For our adaptation, I do not want to go overboard with the voice so I am going to keep it very similar to my own and with the inspiration of Emma Watson’s voice. Here is an example of the way she is spoken: 

Posture: Rosalind would have naturally good posture coming from such an upper class area, she is very confident and does not shy away and I feel this shines through in her posture.

Personality: Rosalind has a fun and outgoing personality; she is very bold and confident as herself but even more so when is in her Ganymede disguise.

Conclusion

Overall, this character study will help me to expand on my character and help develop my skills as an actor for the screen at performing Shakespeare in a naturalistic way this unit!

As You Like It - Researching Classical Plays

'As You Like It' was written by one of the most influential writers of all time, William Shakespeare (1564-1616). Shakespeare's works were collected and printed in various editions in the century following his death and by the early eighteenth century his reputation as "the greatest poet ever to write in English" was well established. William Shakespeare also wrote other plays such as Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet, and Much Ado about Nothing and many more.

Shakespeare’s original Globe Theatre was open to the sky; there was no scenery; one permanent structure called The Tiring House existed which “served as a background for all scenes”. The main acting area was one platform, a thrust stage that jutted out into the audience. This platform was approximately 24 feet across the front, 41 feet across the widest part at the back and 29 feet deep. The main stage entrances were large doors at either side of the stage or seen in the diagram. At the back was a curtained recess known as the study that might have been used for interior scenes. In the diagram you can see a balcony call the Tarras, known in our century as terrace, provided another acting area. This Tarras (terrace) may have been flanked by window-stages at which actors could also appear. The platform was covered which a large canopy which was supported by stage posts. Above the third level you would find the huts; this is where sounds effects such as thunder were produced. The Huts also housed a ‘pulley system’ for lowering apparitions or objects supposed to appear in mid-air. This diagram to the left is the original Globe Theatre layout. This was the theatre William Shakespeare was most known to and like many other theatres and entertainment venues; it was situated on the south side of the Thames River, slightly removed, on the outskirts of the city. This theatre was open to anyone who could scrap together a penny. However, those who could afford the singular (common public), used it as a gathering space and would rarely focus on the events taking place on the stage. Richer patrons also attended the theatre for an extra few pennies (two or three pennies) and received better seating and a view of the stage; they also used the theatre as a gathering space. “Two pennies granted a covered, elevated seat, and three purchased a cushioned seat in the galleries where spectators would be socially visible.”

‘As You Like It’ is one of many comedies written by William Shakespeare. By the time Shakespeare wrote it in 1599, he already had seven other comedies under his belt, including A Love's Labour's Lost (1594) and Midsummer Night's Dream (1595). It is believed that As You Like It could have been amongst one of the first Shakespeare play’s to be performed at the globe theatre in 1599; also in this year other plays were performed at the globe theatre such as, Henry V and Julius Caesar.

As you like it is about, the daughter of banished duke Ferdinand, Rosalind falls in love with Orlando, who is the disinherited son of duke’s friends. When Rosalind herself in banished from the court to the Forest of Arden by her usurping uncle, Duke Frederick; Rosalind, her cousin Celia and Touchstone (the Jester) make the vital decision of leaving the court together and she transforms herself into the appearance of a boy and will be known under the name of Ganymede. They travel together on the search through the Forest of Arden of which is where her father and his friends live in exile from the court. During this play, mixes of themes are discovered involving life and love, the natural world, death and many more. By the end of this play, families are reunited and new friends have been discovered. Ganymede also returns to being female (Rosalind) when she then marries Orlando when also many other marriages take place in the last scene; involving marriages between Oliver and Celia, Silvius and Phebe, Touchstone and Audrey. Oliver becomes and gentler, kinder young man which therefore leads to the Duke changing his ways and turns to religion (another theme). The final outcome leads to the exiled duke, father of Rosalind, taking the throne and ruling once again!

From this plot summary, you can tell that the play doesn’t have much of a driving plot to it. Well, that’s the whole point! Shakespeare created this play in which gives great pleasure to the audience because it just what the title says, ‘As You Like It’. Tis usual information found on the internet, summarises what Shakespeare wanted for this play:

“In fact, finding your own meaning is the whole point of As You Like It, a play that debates a giant laundry list of philosophical questions but never comes down on one side or the other:

• ·      What's the meaning of love?
• ·      Is the world really "like a stage"?
•  ·    Is life better in the country or the court?
• ·     Are gender roles fixed or fluid?
• ·     What is it that drives sexual attraction?

Because most of the characters spend their time running around the forest offering multiple (and incompatible) answers to said questions, As You Like It presents several points of view, but never actually takes any side.”

There are many themes in As You Like It, one of the many themes entwined in this play is city life versus country life. This theme has a lot to do with the Pastoral genre that was very popular around the time of William Shakespeare’s life and which this play belongs to that literary tradition. Typically, a pastoral story involves exiles from urban or court life who flees to the refuge of the countryside, where they often disguise themselves as shepherds in order to converse with other shepherds on a range of established topics, from the relative merits of life at court versus life in the country to the relationship between nature and art. The pastoral genre’s most fundamental concern was comparing the worth of the natural world, represented by relatively untouched countryside, to the world built by humans, which contains the joys of art and the city as well as the injustices of rigid social hierarchies. Linking the pastoral genre back to the theme in As You Like It, this theme, of city life versus country life, thrives on Pastoral.

In conclusion, there is so much meaning and context to this play through its themes, meanings and overall plot!