A five-act comedy, originally written and performed around 1599-1600 and first published in the First Folio of 1623. Shakespeare based the play on Rosalynde (1590), a prose romance by Thomas Lodge.

One of Shakespeare's early plays, As You Like It (1598-1599) is a stock romantic comedy that was familiar to Elizabethan audiences as an exemplar of "Christian" comedy. Although the play does include two off-stage spiritual conversions, the "Christian" designation does not refer to religion itself. Instead, it denotes the restoration and regeneration of society through the affirmation of certain Christian values such as brotherly love, marital union, tolerance for different viewpoints, and optimism about life at large.

As the play opens, Duke Frederick has usurped the title and throne of his elder brother, Duke Senior. The elder Duke has taken up residence in the Forest of Arden with his band of loyal followers, Senior's daughter, Rosalind, is allowed to remain at court because of her friendship with Duke Frederick's own daughter, Celia. The two young women are as described by all to be as loving to each other as is possible.

Meanwhile, nearby, Sir Rowland De Bois has recently died and, according to the scriptures of primogeniture, left his entire estate to his oldest son Oliver. Sir Rowland also left instructions that Oliver should take good care of Rowland's youngest son, Orlando, but Oliver, out of hatred for his brother, ignores this advice and does not allow Orlando to receive the education due a man of noble blood.

Orlando enters a wrestling match sponsored by Duke Frederick, Oliver tells his opponent, Charles-a champion wrestler-to break Orlando's neck if need be. To the surprise of all, Orlando wins the match. In doing so, he attracts both the attention of Rosalind and the ire of Oliver

One day at court, Rosalind happens to meet Orlando and the two fall instantly in love, though Rosalind keeps this fact a secret from all but Celia. Later the enmity of his brother forces Orlando to flee into the Forest of Ardenne; it appears these two lovers are destined never to meet again. But soon Duke Frederick concludes that Rosalind cannot be allowed to remain at court when her father is such a dedicated enemy. Rosalind decides to journey into the Forest of Ardenne, and Celia insists on going along. To make their time on the road more safe than it could possibly be for two noblewomen, the two assume disguises; Rosalind dresses up as a young man and takes the name Ganymede, and Celia takes the role of Ganymede's younger sister, Aliena. Just before leaving, the two girls ask Touchstone, the court jester, to accompany them, and he accepts.

Duke Frederick is furious at his daughter's disappearance. It does not escape Frederick that the disappearance of Rosalind and his daughter coincides with that of Orlando. Frederick orders Oliver to find Orlando, thinking if he does so he will also find Rosalind and Celia. Frederick in his rage also decides it is time to destroy his brother once and for all and begins to raise an army.

In the Forest of Ardenne, Orlando soon comes upon Duke Senior who accepts Ardenne into his company. Rosalind, meanwhile, purchases a flock of sheep and a pasture, and sets out to lead a pastoral life. Rosalind and Celia, disguised as Ganymede and Aliena, meet a lovesick young shepherd named Silvius and the disdainful object of his affections, Phoebe. Upon meeting what she thinks is the young man Ganymede, Phoebe promptly falls in love. Before long, however, Orlando's habit of carving Rosalind's name in the trees and leaving love poems to her about the forest tip her off to Orlando's presence and whereabouts.

Still disguised, Rosalind and Celia run into the lovesick Orlando. Rosalind promises to cure Orlando's heartache by letting him pour his feelings out to Ganymede as if "he" were Rosalind. Also as Ganymede, Rosalind attempts a match between Silvius and Phebe that goes awry; Phebe falls for Rosalind's Ganymede alter ego. Touchstone also courts a country girl named Audrey, adding to the multiple romances.

One day, instead of Orlando showing up for his lesson with Ganymede, Oliver appears. Oliver then describes how Orlando saved his life saved him from an attack by a lion, despite all the cruelty Oliver had put Orland through, and the two brothers have reconciled. Rosalind falls even further in love with Orlando.

Upon meeting, Oliver and Celia (disguised as Aliena) fall instantly in love and agree to wed. Duke Senior promises to join them in wedlock the next day. Phoebe becomes increasingly insistent in her pursuit of Ganymede, and Rosalind decides to end the charade. Rosalind promises to marry Phoebe, but in return forces Phoebe to agree to marry Silvius if Phoebe should refuse to marry Ganymede, then tells Orlando that Rosalind will marry him that day as well. Phoebe accepts. At the same time as all this is going on, Touchstone falls in love with Audrey, a goatherdess.

When all have gathered for the wedding. Rosalind gathers Orlando, Phoebe, and Silvius in front of Duke Senior and his men. She then discards her disguise as Ganymede. Phoebe sees she has been bested and agrees to marry Silvius. Rosalind agrees to marry Orlando.

Rosalind and Orlando, Celia and Oliver, Phoebe and Silvius, and Audrey and Touchstone are married. The festive wedding is then interrupted with even more festive news: while marching with his army to attack Duke Senior in the Forest of Ardenne, Duke Frederick came upon a holy man and fell into conversation. Revelations struck, and Frederick retired to a religious life, abdicating the throne to Duke Senior. The guests continue with the wedding festivities, with the happy knowledge that soon they will all return to the royal court.

Like The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Love's Labour's Lost, and A Midsummer Night's Dream, it contains a journey to a natural environment, where the constraints of everyday life are released and the characters are free to remake themselves.

The plot is very simple: the resolution of the dramatic problem in the warped attitudes of two evil brothers toward good brothers and related obstacles to marriage for several couples in the play (most notably Rosalind and Orlando), are easily overcome and a happy ending is never in doubt. On one level, the play was clearly intended by Shakespeare as a simple, diverting amusement; several scenes in As You Like It are essentially skits made up of songs and joking banter. But on a somewhat deeper level, the play provides opportunities for its main characters to discuss a host of subjects (love, aging, the natural world, and death) from their particular points of view.

At its centre, As You Like It presents us with the respective worldviews of Jaques, a chronically melancholy pessimist pre-occupied with the negative aspects of life, and Rosalind, the play's Christian heroine who recognizes life's difficulties but holds fast to a positive attitude that is kind, playful, and, above all, wise. In the end, the enjoyment that we receive from the play's comedy is reinforced and validated by a humanistic Christian philosophy gently woven into the text by a benevolent Shakespeare.