Play
duologue
Comedy
2 Characters

Love is a Madness

from As You Like It

Written by William Shakespeare

As You Like It

Rosalind, disguised as the youth Ganymede, attempts to convince Orlando that love is a treatable mental illness. She proposes a complex game where Orlando must woo 'him' as if he were his beloved Rosalind, claiming this role-play will eventually cure his heartache.

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ROSALIND: Love is merely a madness, and, I tell you, deserves as well a dark house and a whip as madmen do; and the reason why they are not so punished and cured is that the lunacy is so ordinary that the whippers are in love too. Yet I profess curing it by counsel.

ORLANDO: Did you ever cure any so

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CharactersRosalind, Orlando
Duration00:01:30
Age RangeYoung Adult
GenderFemale
GenreComedy
PeriodClassical
Formatduologue
SourceAs You Like It
ToneWitty, playful, cynical yet hopeful
AccentReceived Pronunciation
Suitable Fordrama school audition, agent showcase, general practice, competition
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Act II, Scene 7 — All the world's a stage

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