In `As You Like It' Shakespeare creates an imaginary utopia called `The Forest of Arden', in which characters can escape from the harsh lifestyle of the court and become their `true selves'. `As You Like It' isn't the first play in which this fantasy world is created as Shakespeare often tends to create fantasy worlds in his plays. In `Twelfth Night' there was `Illyria', there was `Belmont' in `The Merchant of Venice' and `The Island' in `The Tempest' to name just a few.

The Elizabethan audience would already be familiar with the popular stereotypical images of the forest and the court but throughout `As You Like It' Shakespeare tries to break down these unrealistic preconceived ideas. He does this primarily through the characters maturing and learning to appreciate both the court and the forest as very different, but equally important locations. In the beginning of the play, many...