This paper discusses Shakespeare’s use of disguise in As You Like It, Measure for Measure and King Lear.
While a major character in As You Like It parades as a member of the opposite sex, the motif of disguise in the play exists mainly on less apparent, thematic levels. Simply speaking, the world of As You Like It/*until Jaques de Boys appears in the last act, announcing Duke Senior’s recovery of his dominions is a world in disguise, a world confused by those motivated by jealousy and outright malevolence to usurp the natural order. The action of the play–ending in a quadruple marriage, a festival of union and order–moves to restore proper order to a topsy-turvy world. This is the direction of comedy, and As You Like It perfectly illustrates the comic mode by intruding itself into a rejuvenating pastoral world (the Forest of Arden) in order to remake an unwholesome everyday (court) world.