Discuss the relationship between Orlando and Rosalind in As You Like It.

In the play As You Like It, Rosalind and Orlando are "star-crossed lovers"—to steal a quote from Romeo and Juliet. They have a very pure and devoted love that begins early in the story, but they must survive the challenges forced on them by the events of the play before they can be together. Fortunately, As You Like It is a comedy (unlike Romeo and Juliet), so the characters in this play are able to reunite in the end and live happily ever after.
Orlando meets Rosalind early in the story and falls deeply in love with her, but they are separated early on, as both of them have to flee Duke Frederick and travel through the forest. Throughout the play, they struggle to reunite and evade the Duke's wrath. In the end, they are successful.


Although Shakespeare expresses many different types of love in As You Like It, the relationship between Rosalind and Orlando represents the ideal of romantic love and is expressed through poetry, symbolic actions, and courtly manners. In true romantic fashion, the two, who meet early in the play, fall in love quite quickly. Before their journey can end in marriage, however, the two will have to face many obstacles: fleeing the evil Duke Ferdinand, overcoming self-doubt, and even encountering a would-be lover in disguise.
Other types of love explored by Shakespeare in his comedy are physical (sexual) love, such as that between Touchstone and Audrey; filial or family love, such as that seen between cousins Celia and Rosalind; and, lastly, the unrequited love of Silvius and Phoebe.

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