Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

Celia’s. Rosalind’s father has been banished and this clothing choice denotes that she possesses less wealth
than she had before her father’s expulsion from the court. After devising and following through with their
plan to escape, Rosalind, accompanied by Celia and Touchstone, enters the forest with her costume quite
changed. Rosalind now sports a man’s attire, donning a shirt and vest, long pants, trench coat, hat, and tie.
Her hair is also cut low. While her demeanor is still effeminate upon arrival in Arden, it is noticeable that
she is becoming more confident. The male clothing affords her more freedom that she had seen in the
court, and she is thus able to do whatever she feels like rather than worry about suffering the consequences
of her actions at the hands of her uncle. Rosalind acts outside of herself; because she has no serious rules to
observe as a man in the forest, she pushes boundaries that one would not expect of a woman.
Another method that McAnuff employs to demonstrate the change Rosalind goes through is stage
business. This change can be noted concurrently with her first meeting with Orlando de Boys and it is
thought that this meeting is what prompts Rosalind’s shift in character. Before she meets Orlando,
Rosalind is portrayed as a quiet, submissive woman as opposed to her cousin. However, when Rosalind
meets Orlando, everything about her seems to come alive. In the beginning of the play, Rosalind does not
yet have a very distinctive personality; she is a regular girl who is not very talkative and does not express
great interest in anything. For example, when Le Beau tells the girls about the upcoming wrestling match,
Rosalind does not meet the idea with interest. She looks quite disgusted when the topic of rib breaking
comes up. “But is there any else longs to see this broken / music in his sides? Is there yet another dotes
upon / rib-breaking?” (Shakespeare 1.2.141-3). The next emotion that she takes on is that of fear when her
uncle, Duke Frederick, comes in. This fear is clearly noted in the way that she flees to her cousin and clings
to her side. It is not until she meets Orlando that Rosalind begins her transformation from a timid young
girl to a more confident person. As Rosalind and Celia congratulate Orlando for defeating Charles the
wrestler, Orlando and Rosalind share a look of love. Rosalind presents Orlando with a necklace to
congratulate him on the win, and in this moment, they stare into each other’s eyes. McAnuff dramatizes
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