Rosalind and Celia's plan

Act 1 Scene 3 – Key Scene

Duke Frederick has just banished Rosalind and told her that she must leave the court. Once he has gone, Celia promises Rosalind that she will go with her and they create a plan to turn their ‘banishment’ into ‘liberty’.

Take a look at an extract from this scene and watch it in rehearsal and performance. Using the following steps, remember to look at it line by line and if you’re looking at the scene for the first time, don’t worry if you don’t understand everything at once.

• Look

  Take a look at the scene. Who has the most lines? Are they using prose or verse? Actors at the RSC often put the language into their own words to help them understand what they are saying. We’ve added some definitions (in green), questions (in red) and paraphrased some sections (in blue) to help with this. You can click on the text that is highlighted for extra guidance.

  Close

  Celia

  O my poor Rosalind, whither wilt thou go?
  Wilt thou change fathers? I will give thee mine.
  I charge thee be not thou more grieved than I am.

  Rosalind

  I have more cause.

  Celia

  Thou hast not, cousin.
  Prithee be cheerful; know’st thou not the duke
  Hath banished me, his daughter?

  Rosalind

  That he hath not.

  Celia

  No, hath not? Rosalind lacks then the love
  Which teacheth thee that thou and I am one.
  Shall we be sundered ? Shall we part, sweet girl?
  No, let my father seek another heir:
  Therefore devise with me how we may fly,
  Whither to go and what to bear with us.
  And do not seek to take your change upon you,
  To bear your griefs yourself and leave me out,
  For, by this heaven, now at our sorrows pale,
  Say what thou canst, I’ll go along with thee.

  Close

  Celia is telling Rosalind that she will be banished with her, even though her father hasn't sent her away, because she could not bear to be separated from her cousin.

  Close

  Separated.

  Rosalind

  Why, whither shall we go?

  Celia

  To seek your father in the forest of Arden.

  Rosalind

  Alas, what danger will it be to us,
  Maids as we are, to travel forth so far!
  Beauty provoketh thieves sooner than gold.

  Close

  Rosalind thinks their looks as women will be more attractive than their money and so will put them in more danger.

  Celia

  I’ll put myself in poor and mean attire
  And with a kind of umber smirch my face.
  The like do you. So shall we pass along
  And never stir assailants.

  Close

  I'll dress in lowly clothing and make my face dirty.

  Rosalind

  Were it not better,
  Because that I am more than common tall,
  That I did suit me all points like a man?
  A gallant curtle-axe upon my thigh,
  A boar-spear in my hand, and — in my heart
  Lie there what hidden woman’s fear there will.

  Close

  Rosalind describes the weapons she will carry when she is disguised as a man, and how they will help her to hide the fear in her heart.

  Celia

  What shall I call thee when thou art a man?

  Rosalind

  I’ll have no worse a name than Jove’s own page,
  And therefore look you call me Ganymede.
  But what will you be called?

  Close

  The servant of the god Jove (or Jupiter).

  Celia

  Something that hath a reference to my state:
  No longer Celia, but Aliena.
• Listen

  Read the scene aloud, then watch the actors trying it in different ways. Which way feels right? What in the language makes you think that? In the clip, actor Lucy Phelps describes Rosalind as “almost paralysed by fear” and “very alone” in this scene. Does Shakespeare use any particular words or lines to support this?

  

  Play Scene in rehearsal
• Watch

  Take a look at the actors performing this scene. How do the characters come across in this version?

  

  Play Scene in performance
• Imagine

  Explore some images from past versions of As You Like It at the RSC. Which sets and staging choices for the scene feel right to you?