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As You Like It

Plot Sequencer

The order of events in Shakespeare's plays is very carefully structured. The plot sequence is crucial to building up the story and the action, before the eventual resolution.

Drag and drop the play's events to put them in order (or disrupt them!).

Use the activities on the right to further explore the intricacies of the plot.

As You Like It– the plot

As the Duke and his men are about to eat, Orlando arrives to try take food by force but is invited to join them and to bring old Adam so that he can eat as well.
Rosalind has fallen in love with Orlando and, when the Duke arrives to order Rosalind to leave the court, Celia decides to go with her cousin rather than stay with her father.
In the presence of the Duke, Rosalind fulfils her promise of marriage for Orlando by discarding her disguise and the four pairs of lovers are married as news reaches them that the new Duke has relinquished the crown and the old Duke is restored to his kingdom.
Rosalind and Celia have arrived in the Forest of Arden dressed as a man called Ganymede and a shepherdess called Aliena and they meet two shepherds who help them find a place to live.
Corin tells Rosalind and Celia to see a performance of ‘true love' and ‘proud disdain' as Silvius tries to talk to Phoebe.
Two of the Duke's pages sing a song for Touchstone and Audrey about lovers in the spring-time.
Amiens entertains the Duke's men with a song and Jacques sings a song of his own as well.
Orlando discovers that Oliver and Aliena have fallen in love at first sight and Ganymede promises that when they are married he shall also be married to Rosalind and furthermore that Silvius and Phoebe will also marry their true loves.
Orlando insists that he is in love with Rosalind and he and ‘Ganymede' are married in a mock ceremony conducted by Celia.
Touchstone and Audrey are still trying to find a clergyman to marry them and Touchstone frightens away another of Audrey's suitors called William.
In a witty speech, Rosalind asks the audience for their approval and their applause in a witty speech which, spoken by a male actor, furthers the gender confusion of the main plot.
Orlando's brother arrives to tell Rosalind and Celia how Orlando saved his life from a lion and was injured in the process.
The Duke's men have just killed a deer and Jaques and the forester sing a hunting song.
In yet another part of Arden Forest, Orlando leaves old Adam in a sheltered place and goes to find some food.
The angry Duke Frederick has not been able to find Orlando and instead arrests Oliver and tells him to bring Orlando to him within a year.
Celia tries to comfort her cousin Rosalind, who is upset about the fate of her banished father, and they watch the fight between Charles and Orlando, where Orlando wins but is banished by the Duke.
Silvius begs Phoebe to return his love, but Phoebe scorns him and instead falls in love with Ganymede.
Touchstone has fallen in love with a goatherd called Audrey and asks her to marry him.
Orlando returns to Oliver's house and old Adam warns him that Oliver intends to kill him, so they both escape with the money Adam has saved.
Orlando, the younger son of the deceased Sir Rowland De Bois, confronts his brother Oliver and demands some of his inheritance before challenging the wrestler Charles to a fight before the new Duke.
Orlando has written love poems to Rosalind, and Ganymede suggests that he can cure his lovesickness if Orlando treats ‘him' as the woman he loves.
Duke Frederick learns that Celia and Rosalind have run away and he thinks Orlando has helped them escape.
The exiled Duke and his men have made a home for themselves in the Forest of Arden, away from the intrigue and dangers of life at court.

Making Sense of the Play

Teacher Resources

There are teacher resources available for each of the activities.

You can access them from the Teacher Resource Hub here.

BUY THE PLAY

As You Like It cover

The latest Cambridge School Shakespeare play editions are now available to buy directly from Cambridge University Press.

With extended glossaries, a running synopsis of the action for every page of script, and boxed features focusing on core areas, these plays are the ideal text with which to study Shakespeare's work.

To purchase your copy, click here.