As You Like It geographical details are irrelevant. The Arden edition of Shakespeare makes the suggestion that the name "Arden" comes from a combination of the classical region of Arcadia and the biblical garden of Eden, as there is a strong interplay of classical and Christian belief systems and philosophies within the play. Arden was also the maiden name of Shakespeare's mother and her family home is located within the Forest of Arden. Love is the central theme of "As You Like It", like other romantic comedies of Shakespeare. Following the tradition of a romantic comedy, "As You Like It" is a tale of
As You Like It suffering an epidemic of bubonic plague. The King's Men were paid £30 to come to Wilton House and perform for the King and Court on 2 December 1603. A Herbert family tradition holds that the play acted that night was "As You Like It." During the English Restoration, the King's Company was assigned the play by royal warrant in 1669. It is known to have been acted at Drury Lane in 1723, in an adapted form called "Love in a Forest;" Colley Cibber played Jaques. Another Drury Lane production seventeen years later returned to the Shakespearean text (1740). Notable recent