Quote 10
ROSALIND
Do you not know I am a woman? When I
think, I must speak. (3.2.253-254)
Ugh. Do things ever change? More fairly, is this statement a reasonable characterization of women?
Quote 11
ROSALIND
It is not the fashion to see the lady the
epilogue; but it is no more unhandsome than to see
the lord the prologue. (Epilogue 1-3)
When the actor playing Rosalind appears on stage at the play's end, he points out that most epilogues are spoken by male characters in Elizabethan drama. The statement also functions as a reminder of the gender politics of Elizabethan theater. Since women weren't allowed to perform in public plays, the role of Rosalind was definitely not played by a "lady." The part would have been given to a boy actor. Check out "Themes: Art and Culture" for more on this.
Quote 12
ROSALIND
I met the duke yesterday and had much
question with him: he asked me of what parentage
I was. I told him, of as good as he. So he laughed
and let me go. But what talk we of fathers, when
there is such a man as Orlando? (3.4.33-37)
Love-struck Rosalind shows that when a person falls in love, familial ties and loyalties can quickly fade into the background. Because Orlando is in the Forest of Arden, Rosalind is so not interested in talking about her encounter with her exiled father, whom she hasn't seen in a really long time. We also notice that, once Rosalind starts spending time with dreamy Orlando, her relationship with her BFF/cousin Celia fades into the background.