As She Likes It

As She Likes It is the first attempt to tackle head on the enduring question of how to perform those unruly women at the centre of Shakespeare's comedies. Unique amongst both Shakespearian and feminist studies, As She Likes It asks how gender politics affects the production to the comedies, and how gender is represented, both in the text and on the stage. Penny Gay takes a fascinating look at the way Twelfth Night, The Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It and Measure for Measure have been staged over the last half a century, when perceptions of gender roles have undergone massive changes. She also interrogates, rigorously but thoughtfully, the relationship between a male theatrical establishment and a burgeoning feminist approach to performance. As illuminating for practitioners as it will be enjoyable and useful for students, As She Likes It will be critical reading for anyone interested in women's experience of theatre.

As She Likes It is the first attempt to tackle head on the enduring question of how to perform those unruly women at the centre of Shakespeare's comedies. Unique amongst both Shakespearian and feminist studies, As She Likes It asks how gender politics affects the production to the comedies, and how gender is represented, both in the text and on the stage. Penny Gay takes a fascinating look at the way Twelfth Night, The Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It and Measure for Measure have been staged over the last half a century, when perceptions of gender roles have undergone massive changes. She also interrogates, rigorously but thoughtfully, the relationship between a male theatrical establishment and a burgeoning feminist approach to performance. As illuminating for practitioners as it will be enjoyable and useful for students, As She Likes It will be critical reading for anyone interested in women's experience of theatre.

CEO-in-training, heiress and cosmetics company marvel Isabel Alfonso needs to hire an assistant. She needs to hire someone who is smart and competent to arrange a trip to Shanghai for her to meet with potential business partners. She needs to learn how to let go of her cosmetics company, her baby, in order to take on the CEO role which she’s been groomed for her entire life. What she does not need to hire is a young single dad, last seen with her in bed as a one night stand. Falling for Adam Sevilla is a complication that Isabel doesn’t need. And with so much on the line, she can’t afford to make any mistakes. Can she really leave everything behind, just to head the family business? Or will she hold on to what she has with zero guarantees?

CEO-in-training, heiress and cosmetics company marvel Isabel Alfonso needs to hire an assistant. She needs to hire someone who is smart and competent to arrange a trip to Shanghai for her to meet with potential business partners. She needs to learn how to let go of her cosmetics company, her baby, in order to take on the CEO role which she's been groomed for her entire life. What she does not need to hire is a young single dad, last seen with her in bed as a one night stand. Falling for Adam Sevilla is a complication that Isabel doesn't need. And with so much on the line, she can't afford to make any mistakes. Can she really leave everything behind, just to head the family business? Or will she hold on to what she has with zero guarantees?

Kristin DeMarco vows to protect her broken heart and swear off men until she finishes her degree and starts her career. Survival sex -- a vibrator and a sizzling-hot roommate -- eases urges that can't be ignored, until her craving for a man propels her from the arms of Mr. Wrong to the door of Mr. Right. Irishman Sean O'Neill forces her to consider what she really wants. And what she wants is him in her bed. Too bad he's not cooperating. Sean is only in America for six months to complete his degree at an archeology field school. He's as serious about his education as he is about keeping his sex life casual. When Kristin knocks on his door asking for condoms, the encounter forces him to rethink that single-minded focus. He wants Kristin for more than one night, but their secrets may end the relationship before it begins.

First published in 1987. This study removes some of the critical puzzles that Shakespeare's comedies of love have posed in the past. The author shows that what distinguishes the comedies is not their similarity but their variety - the way in which each play is a new combination of essentially similar ingredients, so that, for example, the boy/girl changes in The Merchant of Venice are seen to have a quite different significance from those in As You Like It.