As Rosalind Likes It: Preparing Orlando for Marriage

Shakespearean men have misogynistic trends; Shakespeare takes great care in expressing the great capabilities of the female intellect, but nevertheless proves women fated to be oppressed by males. In Othello, for example, although Desdemona and Othello are very deeply in love, he refuses to listen to her when she swears her chastity. Consequently, Othello murders her under the eye of the evil Iago, who placed the question of Desdemona’s chastity in Othello’s mind. In As You Like It, however, we meet a woman who uses the power of her will to refuse to stand beside her man until he conforms to her wishes. She recognizes the difficulties of woman in society and realizes that the only way to make her life sweeter is to make men listen to her. Rosalind champions feminism by cleverly subverting gender roles in order to be heard. She possesses the intellect to transform Orlando into the sentimental female stereotype, full of silly ideals about love, while she becomes the dominant fo...