osprey_archer | Book Review: As You Like It

I have a problem with Shakespeare's comedies.

I really like Shakespeare's history plays: I think we've already covered How Much I Love Julius Caesar, and I'm reading Richard III and enjoying it a great deal. And although his tragedies usually leave me cold, I don't dislike them. (Except Romeo and Juliet. All-consuming love is silly whether it's Shakespeare writing it or Stephanie Meyer.)

But I don't like his comedies, and in particular I don't like As You Like It. I do not think Rosalind and Orlando make a cute couple. I don't think they make an interesting couple even when Rosalind is pretending to be a boy called Ganymede and Orlando is pretending that Ganymede is Rosalind and fake-courting him/her, which by all rights ought to be entertaining - but no. It's mostly an excuse for Rosalind disguised as Ganymede to have interminable discussions with Orlando about how awful women are.

I'm sure Elizabethans found this hilarious, and as a historical artifact I'm sure the play is fascinating. But I hate it. I hate Rosalind (no one else in the play develops enough individuality to be worth hating). I hate the LOL!misogyny. And I hate the play.