Rosalind’s Crossdressing in As You Like and Shakespeare’s Understanding of Gender Identity Essay Example

During the mid-to-late 15th century, European thinkers began shifting away from the restrictive ideals of the Middle Ages. Instead, the progressive beliefs  began incorporating the progressive thinking and beliefs that emerged from the Italian Renaissance, as its influence began to spread throughout Europe.  Born at the height of this movement, William Shakespeare would eventually become one of the premier thinkers during this era of early modern enlightenment. In particular, Shakespeare moved away from the two-dimensional writing conventions of the era that came before, and instead focused on crafting stories and characters that reflected the world around him. As a Humanist, Shakespeare wanted to display humanity in its truest forms -- regardless if his depictions were ugly or unorthodox. He created characters who were incredibly complex and flawed. In addition, his plays and writings brought attention to aspects of society that previously had never been closely scrutinized, such as gender identity and crossdressing. Throughout his many works, Shakespeare expresses very progressive views about gender issues, particularly a woman’s role in society. In his play, As You Like It, the young heroine Rosalind disguises herself as a man in order to escape to the nearby forest with her cousin. Rosalind remains disguised as a man throughout the majority of the play, and accepts her role wholeheartedly. This transformation brings to mind modern discussions of gender identity, and the freedom that a male body provides in the eyes of society. These beliefs seem progressive even to modern standards but were likely revolutionary during Shakespeare's time. In this essay, I will examine what Rosalind’s crossdressing in As You Like It can tell us about Shakespeare’s understanding of gender identity and how it is influenced by society.

At the start of As You Like It, Rosalind is regarded as a valued, esteemed member of the court. Her feminine beauty and relation to her Uncle Frederick make a desirable woman to potential suitors. After meeting a young man named Orlando, Rosalind becomes immediately infatuated, and her interest causes Duke Frederick to banish her because of the attention she draws to herself. Unable to live without her beloved cousin, Celia vows to follow Rosalind wherever she goes, and together they decide to venture to the nearby Forest of Arden. The two immediately recognize the dangers that come with traveling alone. Rosalind mentions that unless they disguise themselves from unsavory fellows,  their “beauty provoketh thieves sooner than gold” (1.1.106). Rosalind’s statement implies that she is well aware of the dangers that two women face traveling alone without a male chaperone. Rape and violence against women was unfortunately very common during the 15th century, just as it is today. However, without the assistance of modern media and personal testimony, it was less frequently talked about. 

This implies that Shakespeare is well aware of the danger that women face and used this knowledge to influence his depiction of the scene. In order to protect themselves from the dangers of travel, Celia proposes that she “put [herself] in poor and mean attire…so shall we pass along” (1.1107). Meanwhile, because she is taller than the average woman, Rosalind decides that she dress in “all points like a man” with “a gallant curtal ax upon [her] thigh” and “a boar-spear in [her] hand” (1.1.112-114). Rosalind goes a step further than Celia and requests that when she is in disguise that her cousin “call [her] Ganymede” (1.1.121).

Although both women disguise themself both in name and dress, Celia chooses a name and gender presentation that is close to her own. She is “no longer Celia, but Aliena” a name that is only a slight variation from her own. (1.1.124) 

Cognitive scripts are structures of general knowledge that serve as “blueprints for behavior and thus guide both our actions and our understandings of events and be- haviors”.8 They “provide us with a general idea of how we are supposed to behave and what is supposed to happen”.9 “A script incorpo- rates both procedural and declarative knowledge and suggests what events are to happen in the environment, how the person should be- have in response to these events, and what the likely outcome of those behaviors would be.”10

 also induces the formation of inferential scripts for recog- nizing dominant, heroic masculinity as a cover, façade, or masquerade disguising an impotent, “unmasculine” core. This script is developed most centrally through the audience’s multiple and extended experi- ences of Ganymede in full cognizance that “he” is really Rosalind (and the further awareness in Shakespeare’s original audiences that Rosalind was really a boy actor). The audience is instructed early on that Ganymede’s swagger and bluster, rather than being a manifesta- tion of an underlying masculine self, are efforts to disguise and thus protect the vulnerable feminine self that is enacting them. And at the same time, Shakespeare tells his audience explicitly, through Rosalind’s continued musings, that this is precisely the case with many hypermasculine men:

his point is made when Rosalind says to the fatigued and flag- ging Celia: “I could find it in my heart to disgrace my man’s apparel and to cry like a woman, but I must comfort the weaker vessel, as doublet and hose ought to show itself courageous to petticoat. There- fore courage, good Aliena” (II.iv.4-8).

Shakespeare’s Rosalind is by no means the innocently pure, modest, deferential, tender rather than intellectual, self-sacrificing Victorian ideal. Rather, she more closely approximates the more complex view of Victorian women Elizabeth Langland puts forth. Langland revises modern critics’ depictions of Victorian middle-class women as “victims passively suffering under patriarchal social structures” (291), wisely pointing out that the reality was much more complicated. (VICTORIAN REFASHIONING)

Sharon Yang (2002) Victorian refashioning: Rosalind as a paragon of victorian womanhood, Text and Performance Quarterly, 22:1, 24-46, DOI: 10.1080/10462930216602