As You Like It As You Like It As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility. "As You Like It" follows its heroine Rosalind as she flees persecution in her uncle's court, accompanied by her cousin Celia to find safety and, eventually, love, in the Forest of Arden. In the forest, they encounter a variety of memorable characters, notably the melancholy traveller Jaques who speaks
Touchstone (As You Like It) of "As You Like It" (p. 145). The addition of Armin to the Chamberlain's Men in 1599 and the character of Touchstone marked the beginning of a series of court fool characters; these characters differed greatly from earlier Shakespearean fools, typically played by William Kempe, because their humour is mainly derived from the fool's wit and intellect. The earlier fools of this period were often nothing but stooges. Touchstone (As You Like It) Touchstone is a fictional character in Shakespeare's play "As You Like It". Touchstone is the court jester of Duke Frederick, the usurper's court. Throughout the play he