As You Like It

William Shakespeare / Xu YuanchongThe Commercial Press · ChinaOct 2021

Rating 4.7
Word count
43K words
Chapters
30
ISBN
9787100194075

Tags

Foreign Literature Shakespearean ComedyCross-DressingCourt FeudsLovers ReunitedForest ExileRomantic LoveSeparation and ReunionTolerance and ReconciliationXu Yuanchong TranslationPoetry Translation

Summary

As You Like It (also translated as All's Well That Ends Well) is one of the "Xu Yuanchong Chinese Translation Classics Complete Collection" and one of Shakespeare's famous comedies. The plot tells of Rosalind, daughter of a duke who is usurped and exiled, who disguises herself as a man and goes into the Forest of Arden to find her father, and encounters her beloved Orlando, who is abused by his elder brother... In the end, all the persecuted good people are rewarded, the wicked are reformed, and the lovers are happily united.

Editor's review

As You Like It is an important comedy from Shakespeare's late period, also translated as All's Well That Ends Well. This work is famous for its pastoral background, intricate character relationships, and profound exploration of love, power, nature, and civilization. Compared with Shakespeare's early comedies, As You Like It has a calmer, more reflective tone, full of philosophical speculation on human nature and fate. The story takes place in the Forest of Arden, a utopian space far from the intrigues of the court, and mainly revolves around Rosalind, daughter of the exiled duke, the persecuted Orlando, and a series of characters trapped by love or power. The book's exploration of the theme of "as you like" goes beyond the simple union of lovers and touches on core propositions such as identity, gender disguise (Rosalind disguising herself as a man), forgiveness, and reconciliation. Through exquisite language, vivid characters, and symbolically rich scenes, Shakespeare constructs a world that is both romantic and realistic. Reading this book not only allows one to appreciate Shakespeare's unparalleled dramatic talent and linguistic art, but also to experience his eternal insight into human nature—true "as you like" often stems from self-awareness, a return to nature, and the practice of forgiveness. The Commercial Press edition usually has rigorous translation and detailed annotations, providing reliable support for Chinese readers to deeply understand this classic.

Who it's for

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Reading tips

  1. You may first read the preface or introduction to understand the play's creative background, main themes, and artistic features, which helps grasp the overall context.
  2. Pay attention to the character of Rosalind; her wisdom, courage, and gender performance are key to understanding the play's comic spirit and thematic depth.
  3. Savor the symbolic meaning of the Forest of Arden as an ideal space, and consider how the characters achieve spiritual "as you like" through "exile" and "return."

About the publisher

The Commercial Press China · Founded in 1897

The Commercial Press is a publisher known for classic works and academic publishing, with titles spanning Eastern philosophy, foreign literature, world history, social culture, and applied psychology. Its list includes classical commentaries such as Zhu Xi's Collected Commentaries on the Analects and Wang Bi's Commentary on the Zhouyi, as well as modern annotated translations like Zhuangzi with Modern Notes and Translation. In foreign literature it offers War and Peace and Crime and Punishment, while in world history it carries Braudel's The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II. Applied psychology is represented by Irvin D. Yalom's Existential Psychotherapy, and ethical texts include a Greek-Chinese-English edition of the Nicomachean Ethics. Its authors and translators include Zhu Xi, Wang Bi, Yalom, Braudel, and translators such as Huang Zheng, Zhang Yiling, Shen Dongyu, and Tang Jialong, balancing the editing of original texts with academic translation.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 剧中人物
  3. 第一幕
  4. 第一场 奥利维家园中
  5. 第二场 公爵府前草地
  6. 第三场 公爵府中
  7. 第二幕
  8. 第一场 亚登森林老公爵住所外
  9. 第二场 公爵府中
  10. 第三场 奥利维家门前
  11. 第四场 亚登森林
  12. 第五场 亚登森林老公爵住所外
  13. 第六场 亚登森林
  14. 第七场 亚登森林老公爵住所外
  15. 第三幕
  16. 第一场 公爵府
  17. 第二场 亚登森林
  18. 第三场 亚登森林牧场附近
  19. 第四场 亚登森林牧场附近
  20. 第五场 亚登森林另一部分
  21. 第四幕
  22. 第一场 亚登森林牧场附近
  23. 第二场 亚登森林老公爵住所前
  24. 第三场 亚登森林牧场附近
  25. 第五幕
  26. 第一场 亚登森林
  27. 第二场 亚登森林牧场附近
  28. 第三场 亚登森林牧场附近
  29. 第四场 亚登森林老公爵住所外
  30. 译后记

FAQ

Are As You Like It and All's Well That Ends Well the same book? Yes, these are different Chinese translations of Shakespeare's play As You Like It. As You Like It is a more literal translation, while All's Well That Ends Well focuses more on the comedic nature of the story's ending. Different translations may use different titles.
Is this book in script form? Will it be difficult to read? Yes, this is a dramatic script containing dialogue, stage directions, and a character list. First-time readers may find the format unfamiliar, but excellent translations help readers understand the plot and the wit of the language through fluent dialogue and necessary annotations. It is recommended to read it as a literary work and imagine the stage scenes.
What is special about this comedy by Shakespeare? Unlike the fantasy of A Midsummer Night's Dream or the farcical tone of Twelfth Night, As You Like It focuses more on social and human reflection in a pastoral setting. It is less boisterous and more poetic and philosophical, especially through famous soliloquies such as "All the world's a stage," showing Shakespeare's deeper contemplation of life in his late period.

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About the author

William Shakespeare Author · British · 1564–1616

William Shakespeare was an English playwright and poet of the Renaissance, born and also buried in Stratford. His works span tragedy, comedy and history plays, with representative works including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet, as well as 154 sonnets. His plays are notable for portraying character psychology and fate through the development of plot, and his language combines poetic quality with a strong sense of the stage, while his comedies and history plays each have a distinct character. This library holds 77 of his works, covering categories such as folk literature, foreign literature and classic works, including individual plays, full-color illustrated editions and multi-volume history plays. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the history of Western literature, and his works are still read, performed and studied worldwide.

Xu Yuanchong Author · China · 1921–2021

Xu Yuanchong (1921–2021) was a native of Nanchang, Jiangxi, a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication of Peking University, and a renowned translator. He devoted more than eighty years to literary translation, with translations spanning Chinese, English, and French. He was especially known for translating classical Chinese poetry into English and developed a method and theory of rendering poetry in rhyme, earning him the reputation of being the only person to translate poetry among English, French, and Chinese. Among the 72 works in our collection, his translations include foreign literary works such as Hamlet, Macbeth, The Tempest, Antony and Cleopatra, The Importance of Being Earnest, A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It, and The Taming of the Shrew, mostly classified under foreign literature. In 2014, he received the Aurora Borealis Prize for Outstanding Translation of Literature from the international translation community.