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Shakspeare, As you like it, Act I, Scene II

1803, Engraving
Shakspeare, As you like it, Act I, Scene II
Shakspeare, As you like it, Act I, Scene II
Shakspeare, As you like it, Act I, Scene II
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Category
Library Item
Item no
40233
Title
Shakspeare [Shakespeare]. As you like it, Act I, Scene II
Description
ROSALIND: Gentleman,/ (Giving him a chain from her neck.)/ Wear this for me, one out of suits with fortune,/ That could give more, but that her hand lacks means./ Shall we go, coz?

Attempting to depict everything that is going on in the scene, Downman chose to put his main figures and events in the foreground, while illustrating two other plotlines in the background. The characters are dressed in period dress. We see Celia trying to hurry her cousin away and Rosalind giving her necklace to Orlando who wears his winner’s wreath after a fight. Rosalind’s necklace is the object that instantly differentiates As You Like It from the other Shakespearean love comedies, and therefore is the most well-known part of its iconography. Between the new lovers, in the background we see Charles, the wrestler knocked out by Orlando and carried off. This is a very comedic depiction, and reflects the light, humorous nature of the play. However, behind Celia, on the right, Duke Frederick is seen in deep thought. This signals his actions in the next scene, in which he decides to banish Rosalind, whose father he usurped. Downman’s picture shows all sides to the comedy: the comical, the lovesick, and the malevolent.
Engraver
William Leney
Date
1803
Size
63.5 x 50 cm
Type
Location
Art and Design Library
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