About As You Like It
As You Like It was one of the first plays actually performed at the Globe. Different sources say it was written at different times; I have read 1598, 1599,and early 1600. It was definitely written before the summer of 1600 . The play was based on Rosalynde, a romance written in 1590 by Thomas Lodge. Rosalynde was in its fourth edition by 1598; it was a really popular book which the majority of the Globe's audiences were familiar with. He changed some of the names and added a few characters, but other than that, Mr. Shakespeare did use much of the original idea. Plays with the "forest outlaw" theme were very popular at the time, and this probably influenced Shakespeare's own ideas on this play. Movie versions include a 1936 version with Laurence Oliver as Orlando. This play has more songs in it than any other Shakespeare play, including "It was a Lover and a Lass", "Under the Greenwood Tree", and "Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind". As You Like It appeared in the first folio in 1623.
Thanks to The Complete Idiot's Guide to Shakespeare, Professor Joe Jeffreys, and the Penguin Popular Classics' edition of As You Like It.