Barron’s popular Shakespeare Made Easy series “translates” Shakespeare’s plays into lively modern English that today’s readers can understand, while also retaining the Bard’s original and immortal lines. The newest addition to this enduring series is Shakespeare’s pastoral romance, As You Like It, a comedy of disguises and multiple mistaken identities. Rosalind, a young maiden, is banished from her kingdom by her cruel uncle, Duke Frederick. She disguises herself as a boy, Ganymede, and flees to the Forest of Arden. There she joins her exiled father, Duke Senior, and an assortment of other colorful characters, including the bawdy jester Touchstone and the melancholy nobleman Jacques, who famously soliloquizes on the seven ages of man. Meanwhile Rosalind, safe in her forest home, encounters the handsome Orlando, and they fall in love. Theirs is only one of several love stories that grace this witty play. All ends happily, as Duke Frederick and Duke Senior are reconciled, and Rosalind and Orlando are blissfully married.
These special features make Shakespeare’s plays
truly easy to understand and enjoy
The original text of Shakespeare’s play printed on left-hand pages A line-for-line, easy-to-follow modern English updating of Shakespeare’s language on facing right-hand pages Background information that places the drama in historical perspective Quizzes and questions teachers can use for short tests and classroom discussions