Act
I Scene I
Characters (in order of
appearance)
Orlando de Boys, son of Sir
Rowland de Boys
Adam, his faithful old servant
Oliver de Boys, Orlando’s
older brother
Dennis, Oliver’s servant
Charles, Duke Frederick’s
wrestler
Vocabulary
to breed me well- to make sure I
was raised well
mines my gentility- ruins my
good birth
be naught- get lost
you are too young in this- you
don’t know anything about (fighting)
physic your rankness- cure your
insolence
shall acquit him well- will do
well
Act
I Scene II
Characters
Celia, the daughter of Duke
Frederick
Rosalind, the daughter of Duke
Senior
Touchstone, a fool in Duke
Frederick’s court
Le Beau, one of Sir Frederick’s
courtiers (an attendant)
Duke Frederick
Orlando
Charles
Vocabulary
righteously tempered- pure or
true
lineaments- features
Nature’s natural- a fool
forsworn- lying
taxation- slander
of what color? what kind?
quintain- a post or object
mounted on a post and used as a target in tilting
humorous- temperamental
Act
I Scene III
Characters
Celia
Rosalind
Duke Frederick
Vocabulary
working-day: wearisome
hem: cough
curtal-axe: sword
Jove: Roman king of the gods
(counterpart of the Greek Zeus)
Act
II Scene I
Characters
Duke Senior, the older brother
of Duke Frederick (and rightful Duke)
Amiens, a lord one of Duke
Senior’s attendants
First Lord
Second Lord
Vocabulary
old custom: experience
forked heads: arrows
cope: argue
Act
II Scene II
Characters
Duke Frederick
First Lord
Second Lord
Vocabulary
roynish: troublesome
Act
II Scene III
Characters
Orlando
Adam
Vocabulary
priser: champion
Act
II Scene IV
Characters
Rosalind
Touchstone
Celia
Corin, an old shepherd
Silvius, a young shepherd
Vocabulary
batler: washing stick
dugs: udder
peascod: peapod
thou shalt have to pay for it of us:
we will pay for it
mend your wages: raise your
wages
Act
II Scene V
Characters
Amien
Jaques, a lord, one of Duke
Senior’s attendants
Vocabulary
I’ll end the song—sirs cover the
while: I’ll finish the song while you set the table
in despite of my invention: although
it isn’t imaginative
an if he will come to me: if he
will only come to me
Characters
and Vocabulary
Act
II Scene VI
Characters
Orlando
Adam
Vocabulary
conceit: vanity, pride
desert: wild, uncultivated area
Act
II Scene VII
Characters
Duke Senior
First Lord
Jaques
Orlando
Amiens
Vocabulary
discord in the spheres: disorder
in the universe
dial: watch
wags: moves
chanticleer: a rooster from
Aesop’s Fables
sans intermission: without
stopping
my only suit: my only request
bob: joke
pard: panther
wise saws and modern instances:
both old and new rulings (legal precedents)
effigy likeness or image of a
person
limned: outlined in clear,
sharp detail
Act
III Scene I
Characters
Duke Frederick
Lords
Oliver
Vocabulary
I should not seek an absent
argument… you present: I wouldn’t look for him with you
present
Till thou canst quit thee: till
you clear yourself (of charges)
Act
III Scene II (Part A)
Characters
Orlando
Corin, the old shepherd
Touchstone
Rosalind (as Ganymede)
Celia (as Aliena)
Vocabulary
parlous: perilous
instance: example
fells: fleece
civet: a type of wild cat
perpend: understand
content with my harm: satisfied
with my ill-fortune
the right butter-woman’s rank to
market: they plod like dairymaids on their way to market
medlar: a type of fruit that
was eaten rotten
half-ripe: partially wise
scrip: a small bag
more feet than verses would bear:
in poetry, a foot is a certain number of syllables contained in
part of a verse (For example, the word “upon” is two syllables.
Its rhythm is short-LONG. It is an iambic foot.)
atomies: specks
holla! Whoa!
Act
III Scene II (Part B)
Characters
Celia (as Aliena)
Rosalind (as Ganymede)
Orlando
Jaques
Vocabulary
cipher: one having no influence
or value
penury: extreme poverty
cony: rabbit
quotidian: commonplace
(Begin at: “’Tis he; slink
by, and note him.”)
Act
III Scene III
Characters
Touchstone
Audrey, a goatherd
Jaques
Sir Oliver Martext, a country
vicar
Vocabulary
Aside: a stage direction that
indicates speaking privately (to oneself or the audience)
feign: pretend
a foul slut: a dirty, sloppy
woman
I thank the Lord I am foul: Audrey
is thanking the Lord she is unattractive?
wainscot: wooden paneling
horns: represent strength and
honor; also sometimes indicate a husband’s loss of honor due to the
unvirtuous behavior of his wife
bawdry: sin
Act
III Scene IV
Characters
Rosalind
Celia
Corin
Vocabulary
dissembling: pretending
Judas: the apostle that
betrayed Jesus with a kiss
verity: honesty, truth
concave: empty
tapster: tavern-keeper
puisny tilter: young, unskilled
knight
Act
III Scene V
Characters
Phebe
Silvius
Celia (as Aliena)
Rosalind (as Ganymede)
Corin
Vocabulary
cicatrice/impressure: a scar
left by a leaf or seed on a plant
Thou hast my love: you have my
friendship
earst: earlier
carlot: peasant
Act
IV Scene I
Characters
Rosalind (as Ganymede, and
eventually as Ganymede playing Rosalind!)
Celia (as Aliena)
Jaques
Orlando
Vocabulary
censure: ridicule
emulation: rivalry
politic: crafty
nice: fussy
rumination: thought
humorous: moody
blank verse:
non-rhyming poetry in iambic pentameter (most
of this play is written in blank verse)
I’ll warrant him
heart-whole: I guarantee he is not in love
jointure: offer
leer: face
graveled:
suit: courtship
die by attorney: die
by proxy
videlicet: namely
I might ask you for
your commission: I might ask what right you
have
casement: window
Act
IV Scene II
Characters
Jaques
Lords
Act
IV Scene III
Characters
Rosalind
Celia
Silvius
Oliver
Vocabulary
this is a letter of your own device:
you wrote (devised) this letter
eyne: eyes
perlieus: outskirts
sheepcote: shepherd’s cottage
bottom: valley
osiers: willows
Act
V Scene I
Characters
Touchstone
Audrey
William, a country boy in love
with Audrey
Corin
Vocabulary
flouting: jeering, mocking
cover thy head: William has
taken off his cap to salute Touchstone and Audrey; Touchstone bids
him put it on again.
ipse: (Latin) he
trip: hurry
Act
V Scene II
Characters
Orlando
Oliver
Rosalind (as Ganymede as Rosalind)
Phebe
Silvius
Vocabulary
thrasonical: boastful
incontinent: without control
I can live no longer by thinking: I
cannot pretend anymore
Act
V Scene III
Characters
Touchstone
Audrey
Two Pages
Vocabulary
woman of the world: married
woman
Act
V Scene IV
Characters
Duke Senior
Amiens
Jaques
Orlando
Oliver
Celia
Rosalind
Silvius
Phebe
Touchstone
Audrey
Hymen, the mythological god of
marriage
Jaques de Boys, brother to
Oliver and Orlando (the other Jaques)
Vocabulary
purgation: being cleansed of an
accusation, esp. by a trial of fire, water or combat (ie., if you
survived the trial, you were declared innocent)
copulative: that which unites
or couples
sententious: abounding with
sentences
bear your body more seeming: watch
your posture
addressed a mighty power: gathered
a great army
good wine needs no bush: in
Shakespeare’s time, it was customary to drape branches of ivy in
tavern windows as an advertisement for wine.
