Shakespeare's As You Like It: A Comedy You Can Fall In Love With

This month’s Shakespeare is As You Like It—and after my less-than-enthusiastic experience with A Midsummer Night’s Dream, I’m relieved to discover that Shakespearean comedy really can be funny. The plot is completely ridiculous: banished dukes, feuding brothers, improbable disguises, love at first sight, a lion, a religious conversion, and four marriages. Somehow, it works.But because this is Shakespeare, the comedy also sneaks in bigger ideas: primogeniture and sibling rivalry, country life versus court life, the costs of travel, and, most memorably, the famous “All the world’s a stage” speech. I also share why I don’t recommend Kenneth Branagh’s movie adaptation and give As You Like It a B+. Plus, a preview of our fall Shakespeare lineup and the upcoming Iliad/Odyssey/Aeneid reading project.BOOKS IN THIS EPISODEAs You Like ItCONNECTThe complete list of Crack the Book Episodes (Amazon affiliate links): https://cheryldrury.substack.com/p/crack-the-book-start-here?r=u3t2rTo read more of my writing, visit my Substack - https://www.cheryldrury.substack.com.Kenneth Branagh's As You Like It TrailerSt. Philip's Academy 2026 Convocation (Not available yet but I'll link when it is!)Follow me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cldrury/Like what you heard? Buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/crackthebookLISTENSpotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpySInw1e8IqNQvXow7Lv?si=9ebd5508daa245bdApple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crack-the-book/id1749793321Captivate - https://crackthebook.captivate.fm