Duke Senior

Play

As You Like It

Summary

Duke Senior is Rosalind's father, the rightful ruler of his duchy who has been usurped and banished by his younger brother Duke Frederick. He presides over a harmonious woodland court in the Forest of Arden, where he transforms adversity into philosophical contentment, finding "sermons in stones, and good in everything." He represents the ideal of gracious, humane authority — a ruler who governs by wisdom and generosity rather than force.

Notable Quotations

"Sweet are the uses of adversity, / Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, / Wears yet a precious jewel in his head." *(II.i)*

"And this our life, exempt from public haunt, / Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, / Sermons in stones, and good in everything." *(II.i)*

Cross-references

• As You Like It — the play
• Comedies — genre
• character_rosalind — his daughter, whom he does not recognize in her disguise
• character_jaques — the melancholic philosopher in his exiled court
• character_orlando — the young man he welcomes into the forest fellowship