Light and Darkness in As You Like It and Macbeth  

This year’s celebration of Shakespeare is a study of contrasts, looking at his lightest and most musical comedy, As You Like It, and his darkest of tragedies, Macbeth, both coming to the Stratford Festival this summer.  

As You Like It opens with an evil duke ruling at court and a good duke exiled to the Forest of Arden, a seeming pastoral paradise. Macbeth opens with a triumphant Macbeth, Thane of Glamis, about to be named Thane of Cawdor by the grateful, good King Duncan. By the end of the play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s ambition will lead them to usurp the throne, causing them to descend into a cycle of murder and violence, eventually leading to their own demise. At the end of As You Like It, the good duke will retake his dukedom, his no-longer-evil brother having restored him to power, and as is typical of Shakespeare’s comedies, couples will be joined in matrimony.  

How are we to understand the strange worlds these characters find themselves in and the transformations that take place in them? Is the Forest of Arden a pastoral paradise? Is it a space where the transformative power of love can be tested and can triumph? Does the old duke reign there or is it his newly arrived daughter, Rosalind, one of the most dominant of female characters in Shakespeare? Are the Macbeths victims of the powers of witchcraft and darkness? Or do they themselves conjure the dark world that seems to overtake them and all of Scotland? Why does Lady Macbeth, who begins the play fiercer and more resolute than her husband, succumb to madness, while Macbeth becomes consumed by his ambition, murdering anyone who stands in his way? What are we to make of the restoration of order at the end of both plays? Does the tragic vision of Macbeth compliment or contradict the comic vision of As You Like It? 

Required books: 

• (Required edition) Macbeth, The New Oxford Shakespeare edition, 2024
• (Suggested edition) As You Like It, The New Oxford Shakespeare edition, 2024

Note: While you may use whichever version of As You Like It that you have access to, you must purchase the 2024 New Oxford Shakespeare edition of Macbeth, because we will be reading the introductory essay by Emma Smith, as well as the play. Both books are available at Argo Books or on order from your favourite bookstore.  

Please note that this course has a maximum enrollment of 16 students and that TMI does not allow participants to audit courses for free.

Location: Atwater or Online

First Session: Tuesday, April 15th, 2025

Course Length: 6 weeks, Tuesdays, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.

Discussion Team: Rina Kampeas, Carol Fiedler

Degree Credit: 1.5 credits

Total Course Fee:

$110.00 (New Students)

$110.00 (Special Bring-A-Friend Promotion: For Returning Students who bring a New Student to TMI. Register by phone.)*

$155.00 (Returning Students)**

*Note on Bring-A-Friend Promotion for Returning Students: The special 140.00 price is applied immediately if the friend, the New Student, registers first. If the New Student has not yet registered, the regular 200.00 will be charged, and the discount will be refunded when the New Student registers. The discount can also be turned into a credit for a future course.

**Includes Standard Tuition + Admin Fee.

Course fees are refundable in full before the first session. After the first session, a fee of $50 for the withdrawal will be applied. Refunds will not be issued after the second session. Please note that non-attendance does not constitute a withdrawal.

Students pursuing studies for credit are encouraged to consult with their advisers as they register for courses.

Course leaders, and students wishing to use credit vouchers, should call (514) 935-9585 to pay by phone or to schedule an appointment to pay in person.