When Rosalind is banished by her uncle, who has usurped her father's throne, she flees to the forest of Arden where her exiled father holds court. There, dressed as a boy to avoid discovery, she encounters the man she loves - now a fellow exile - and resolves to remain in disguise to test his feelings for her.
Act and scene divisions are not indicated in the Quarto; those of the First Folio have been incorporated, with one exception: scene ii of Act V has been divided into two scenes, with the concluding scenes numbered accordingly. The Third Edition includes expanded annotations. "Contexts and Sources" includes dueling arguments on the play s completeness (one play or one half of a play?) and the naming of a central character (Falstaff or Oldcastle?). "Criticism" includes twenty-four essays from E. M. W. Tillyard s classic argument of an ordered Shakespearean universe to Graham Holderness s rebuttal to Gus Van Sant s interview regarding 1 Henry IV as the inspiration for his cult film, My Own Private Idaho nineteen of them new to the Third Edition. The Selected Bibliography has been thoroughly updated."