Colorado Shakespeare Gardens
self-guided tour
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As You Like It

In As You Like It, as in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, we spend most of the play in the forest. But here we have not a distant, magical, moonlight wood peopled by faeries. This forest is a daylight and familiar place, very like the real forest of Arden hard by my home, Stratford-upon-Avon.

As You Like It

 


In As You Like It, Shakespeare uses plants to enhance the themes of love and nature in his story. The rose symbolizes beauty and love, especially in the courtship between Rosalind and Orlando. The "foolish meadow" represents both innocence and the simplicity of rural life. And Touchstone’s talk of “hemlock” and “poison” underscores the contrast between the natural world and the darker aspects of human relationships. These plant references contribute to the celebration of nature, love, and the transformative power of the Forest of Arden.

 

Special thanks to longtime CSF supporter and thespian Chuck Wilcox for voicing the part of The Bard in our video series. Full production credits available here. All photos copyright Colorado Shakespeare Group except those in the public domain, published under Creative Commons (CC) licensing. For more information on (CC) artwork in this video, click here.

enjoy this slideshow of the plants we have in our As you like it garden: