Comme il vous plaira

A displaced duke and his followers take refuge in a pastoral forest, where exiled nobles, lovers, witty servants, and a practical fool probe love, identity, and the contrast between court life and rural simplicity. A young woman adopts a male disguise to observe her beloved, while rival suitors, shepherds, and a romantic shepherdess provide comic and sincere portrayals of desire. Philosophical reflections and clownish banter sit alongside plots of usurpation and reconciliation; the woodland becomes a space for disguise, testing, and social satire. The play concludes with revealed identities, multiple marriages, and a return from the idealized forest bringing renewed social bonds and self-knowledge.