As You Like It Characters

Literary critic Anne Barton says that "Rosalind is extraordinarily important in As You Like It, as central and dominating a figure in her fashion as Hamlet in his own, very different play." That's...

Orlando is the youngest son of the late Sir Rowland de Boys. He's also the younger brother of the nasty tyrant Oliver and lover of Rosalind. If we think about Orlando's trajectory in the play, he...

Celia is the daughter of Duke Frederick, cousin to Rosalind, and a general balance to Rosalind's foolish love. Celia and Rosalind, Together ForeverCelia values her relationship with Rosalind so mu...

Jaques is one of Duke Senior's attendants and he's got a well-deserved reputation for being "melancholy." We might even say that Jaques enjoys being sad and mopey because he purposefully seeks out...

Touchstone starts off as Duke Frederick's court fool and ends up being Rosalind and Celia's partner-in-crime for their runaway adventure. As a "licensed fool," he literally has a license to say wh...

Oliver de Boys is the oldest son of Sir Rowland de Boys, which makes him the older brother of Orlando and Jaques de Boys (not to be confused with Jaques the melancholy clown). Because he's the old...

If the melancholy Jaques is a glass-half-empty kind of guy, then Duke Senior is the play's glass-half-full character. The first time we meet him in the Forest of Arden, he's living in exile becaus...

The de Boys brothers (Orlando and Oliver) aren't the only dysfunctional siblings in As You Like It. The first thing we find about Duke Frederick is that he's banished his older brother from court...

Kicking It Old-SchoolThere are two things to know about the guy who's spent his entire life serving the de Boys family: He's crazy old and he's crazy loyal. When Adam learns that Oliver wants to...

Silvius is a young shepherd who is madly love with Phoebe, a snobby shepherdess who thinks she's way too good for Silvius. Like Romeo at the beginning of Romeo and Juliet, Silvius is a cliché and...

Corin is an old shepherd and a native of Arden. He's also a really nice guy who spends his time trying to help his young friend Silvius come to terms with his dramatic love life (2.4). In many wa...

If you think Hulk Hogan or even Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson are the ultimate meathead wrestlers, you haven't met Charles. He's the neck-snapping, rib-cracking, limb-shattering court wrestler who's o...

Like Dorcas and Mopsa in The Winter's Tale, Audrey is a country bumpkin-ette looking for love. When she's not busy herding goats, she's getting cozy with Touchstone. Audrey's not particularly bri...

William is the country bumpkin who is in love with Touchstone's girl, Audrey. When William comes to visit Audrey in Act 5, Scene 1, Touchstone makes fun of him for being simple and tells him to g...