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- AS YOU LIKE IT
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- Leading characters in the play
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- Duke Senior The rightful duke, who has been deposed by his
- younger brother. He lives in the Forest of Arden, with a
- number of lords who have rejected court life.
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- Duke Frederick The younger brother of Duke Senior. Having
- deposed his brother, and usurped the title ôdukeö, he
- now rules over the court. He is moody and suspicious,
- and feared rather than loved by those who serve him.
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- Rosalind Daughter of Duke Senior. She is the most attractive and
- important character in the play. Although for much of
- the time she dresses as a boy (calling herself
- Ganymede), she is very feminine, especially when she
- is in love with Orlando. She is very quick-witted.
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- Celia Daughter of Duke Frederick, and RosalindÆs cousin.
- She is not so dominant as Rosalind, but is still clever
- and attractive. She is also loyal to her cousin, and when
- Rosalind is banished by Duke Frederick, Celia
- accompanies her cousin to the Forest. When she is
- disguised as a country girl, she takes the name Aliena.
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- Oliver and Orlando de Bois These two brothers, sons of Sir
- Rowland de Bois, are totally unlike each other. Oliver,
- the elder, is envious of his younger brother and tries to
- kill him. Orlando has all the qualities a gentleman
- should have, despite the fact that his brother has
- prevented him from being properly educated. Orlando
- falls in love with Rosalind, but when he meets her in
- the Forest he does not recognize her in her disguise as
- Ganymede. There is another brother, Jaques de Bois,
- but he is not important and does not appear until the
- end of the play when he brings a message from the
- court to Duke Senior.
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- Touchstone A professional comedian, who accompanies Rosalind
- and Celia into the Forest. There he offers many comic,
- and also sensible, comments on the other characters and
- their doings.
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- Jaques A courtier, living in the Forest with Duke Senior. He
- represents the ômelancholyö man, a type of person
- common at the end of the sixteenth century, when it
- was fashionable to appear sensitive and even neurotic.
- The melancholy man took a cynical view of the world
- and society. Jaques is a very complex character:
- Shakespeare makes him criticize society, but also
- makes the other characters criticize Jaques.
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- Adam An old servant of Sir Rowland de Bois. He represents
- the honesty and loyalty which the modern world
- (represented by Oliver de Bois) does not value.
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- Corin A wise old shepherd; although he is simple, he is by no
- means foolish.
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- Silvius A silly young shepherd, whose only desire in life is to
- win the love of Phoebe.
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- Phoebe A young shepherdess. She is cruel to Silvius and mocks
- his poems, until she falls passionately in love with
- Ganymede (who of course is Rosalind in disguise).
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