THE LORD CHAMBERLAIN’S MAN 187
Jaques is perhaps missing the
point just as much as Orlando with
his poems on trees. At the very
instant Jaques finishes his speech
with his bleak summary of old age
as “second childishness and mere
oblivion,” on comes old Adam,
carried on Orlando’s back, decrepit
old age personified. It’s a funny
moment, and a clear sign we
shouldn’t take Jaques too seriously.
In some ways, neither does Jaques
himself, for he relishes the bite of
his own sardonic wit too much
to be truly gloomy. For all his
cynicism, he seems to positively
enjoy being miserable. This is his
life choice—as valid, perhaps, as
any other. When the couples wed,
and all is forgiven, the glut of
happiness and “dancing measures”
are too much for Jaques. Instead,
despite entreaties, he chooses to
go into exile once more, joining
Duke Frederick in a hermit’s cave.
It is Rosalind who has the final
word, stepping forward to erase the
boundary between character and
actor, stage and audience, offering
an invitation to leave this theatrical
diversion, “as you like it”: “I am
sure, as many as have good beards,
or good faces, or sweet breaths
will for my kind offer, when I make
curtsy, bid me farewell” (Epilogue). ■Playing Rosalind
After its initial success at the
Globe in 1599, As You Like It
fell almost entirely out of
fashion in the 17th century,
and it was not until 1740
that the play was properly
performed again by Charles
Macklin at Drury Lane
in London. In Macklin’s
production, Hannah Pritchard
was unaffectedly lively as
Rosalind and the role has
been a favorite ever since.
Actors who have played
Rosalind include Edith Evans,
Katherine Hepburn, Vanessa
Redgrave (pictured), Maggie
Smith, and Fiona Shaw.
Theater company Cheek by
Jowl’s 1991 production had
an all-male cast, with Adrian
Lester as Rosalind.
There have been three
major films of the play, each
very different. Paul Czinner’s
whimsical 1936 version, with
German Elisabeth Bergner as
Rosalind, was the first sound
film of any Shakespeare play.
Christine Edzard’s edgy 1992
version dressed Rosalind in
jeans and a hooded sweatshirt
in London’s “cardboard city”
for down and outs. Kenneth
Branagh’s lush 2007 film was
set in 19th-century Japan and
starred Romola Garai.James Thomas Watts, a Victorian
landscape artist, captured a forest idyll
in his painting of Celia, Rosalind, and
Touchstone in the forest. Country idylls
were popular subjects in Victorian art.I will weary you then no longer
with idle talking.
Rosalind
Act 5, Scene 2