The Character of Rosalind in As You Like It by William Shakespeare The title of William Shakespeare's romantic comedy As You Like It is indicative of the maladjusted perceptions of the characters in the play. Each character, in one way or another, holds to off-base views regarding love-related relationships that spark conflicts and struggles between the characters. This disharmony that afflicts the work is ultimately resolved only thanks to the initiative of the character Rosalind. Rosalind is the only balanced character in the play regarding the fact that she is not blinded by the emotions of lust and hatred which are the main agents in darkening the perceptions of the other characters. Rosalind's actions, along with the difficult situation imposed by her exile, directly and indirectly determine the balance of the other characters' previously conflicted perceptions. The main concern and trial that Rosalind faces in the play is her genuine love for Orlando and her subsequent fear that he is just a lovesick young man who is in a state of mere infatuation with her. In their first meeting, Orlando is unable to even speak to Rosalind due to his acute feelings of longing and embarrassment: "What passion weighs these burdens on my tongue? I cannot speak to her, yet she insisted. O poor Orlando, though art reversed” (I.II.249-251). Rosalind is also in love with Orlando but is cautious because she barely knows him. This feeling is illuminated by her cousin Celia: “It is possible, so suddenly, to fall in love so strongly of old Sir Rowland's youngest son" (I.III.26-28). This is where Rosalind's main predicament in the play arises. She is quite balanced t...... middle of paper ......d first? It can only be deduced that the common feelings among the inhabitants of the 16th century, just like those of our time, despised the breaking of family ties and unrequited love that resonates in As You Like It corrects such unattractive anomalies and gives to the audience a nice, warm, fuzzy feeling within yourself that there is good in the world and that things will get better. Work cited Bloom, Harold, ed. Modern Critical Interpretations: As You Like It by William Shakespeare. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.Harris, Laurie Lamzen, ed. Shakespearean Criticism: Volume 5. Detroit: Gale Research Company Book Tower, 1994. Shakespeare, William. As You Like It, in The Complete Works of Shakespeare, ed. David Bevington, 4th ed. New York: Longman, Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers, 1997.