Good Essay On “As You Like It” Play

The play, As You Like It, has been penned by the stalwart playwright, William Shakespeare. The play goes on to portray the story of love among young characters. While Orlando is in love with Rosalind, as the narrative progresses, Oliver, Orlando’s elder brother, falls for Celia, the cousin of Rosalind. All of this happens while Rosalind and Celia have escaped to live in disguise in a humble cottage. The play goes on to portray how the ladies use their guise while being involved with Orlando and Oliver respectively. In the meantime, the animosity between Orlando and Oliver, the two brothers, end. By the end of the play in context, Rosalind and Orlando, Oliver and Celia, Phoebe and Silvius, and Audrey and Touchstone all get married. The play has a happy ending and this is one of the most celebrated comedies written by William Shakespeare.
It needs to be mentioned that the script was really well-written and it successfully engaged the audience with all the comedy and the intriguing actions. The great thing of the play is that the audience is very well aware of the real identities of the characters, while some of the characters in the play are unaware of the same. It was truly intriguing to find what would happen next in the course of the narrative. Apart from this, the characters of Rosalind, Orlando and Oliver came across to be the most intriguing ones in the play. This is because all of these characters have various shades. While Rosalind takes a disguise, Orlando and Oliver have this tension going on between them. All of this enhances the interest of the audience regarding these characters.
Beyond doubt, the direction of the play was quintessential in nature. The director made sure that the character’s use gesticulations so as to express their emotions to the audience. Moreover, the music of this play adds to the affective appeal so as to make the audience more engaged to the occurrences that are being portrayed. The music enhances the aesthetic charm of the presentation of the scenes as well. It needs to be mentioned that the actors playing Rosalind and Orlando hogged the attention of the audience owing to their excellent acting skills. Their expressions and actions were very appealing in nature. Apart from this, the actor playing the role of Duke Senior also leave a lasting impression on the minds of the audience owing to his perfect portrayal of the nuances of emotions of the character. The actor playing the role of Charles also comes across to be impressive in his portraiture of the character.
It has to be reckoned that the set designed went on to play a major role in establishing the play in front of the audience. The props, the scenery and the lighting went on to supplement the overall appeal of the play. The lighting was used to differentiate between the many locations as portrayed in the course of the narrative of this play. Apart from this, one could not miss out on the usage of costumes all through the play. The costumes accentuate the effect of the individual characters in the minds of the audience. The costumes represented the emotions and nature of every character in the various scenes of the play. Now, it needs to be noted that some of the characters in the ensemble play multiple roles and this is predominantly established by the costumes worn by these characters. The play goes on to utilize the costumes for this purpose with utmost perfection. As such, Rosalind becomes Ganymede, while Celia becomes Aliena in the course of this play. The stark contrast of the costumes between the two types of identities was conspicuous in the portrayal.
As such, it would be correct to conclude by saying that this play leaves a lasting mark in the innermost core of the hearts of the audience owing to the aesthetic quintessence and the affective appeal. The various aesthetic elements of drama like lighting, set designing, acting, music, costume come together to exude the holistic effect of the play.