Rosalind

Play

As You Like It

Summary

Rosalind is the witty, spirited daughter of the exiled Duke Senior and the play's brilliant heroine — widely regarded as one of Shakespeare's greatest female roles. Banished from court by her uncle Duke Frederick, she flees to the Forest of Arden disguised as the young man Ganymede, where she orchestrates an elaborate mock-courtship with Orlando while navigating love, identity, and self-knowledge with unmatched intelligence and charm.

Notable Quotations

"Do you not know I am a woman? When I think, I must speak." *(III.ii)*

"Love is merely a madness, and, I tell you, deserves as well a dark house and a whip as madmen do." *(III.ii)*

"O coz, coz, coz, my pretty little coz, that thou didst know how many fathom deep I am in love!" *(IV.i)*

"Men have died from time to time, and worms have eaten them, but not for love." *(IV.i)*

Cross-references