SHAKESPEARE’S MASTERY OF ACCENTUATING THE SIGNIFICANCE OF TITLE "AS YOU LIKE IT" (Pages 01-08) by Shive Sharma in THE INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH SPECIALIST / ISSN: 2350-1499 (Online); 2350-0751 (Print)

All the titles of William Shakespeare’s comedies are interesting and inspiring with the specific effect but the title As You Like It is arresting as well because it focus is the playwright’s deliberate as well as intimate use of the pronoun ‘you’ along with its association with ‘like’, ‘as’ and ‘it’ that reverberates the positivity of liking for the reader/audience. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the dramatist’s potential in pointing out the significance of the title As You Like It and also in establishing the human values of love, peace and compassion through the remarkable presentation of theme, plot, characters, scenes, poetic diction, etc. It is also necessary to make the pertinent point clear through this paper that the comedy is not confined to love intrigues, relationships of characters, romance of between various couples rather it is only one of the various themes in the play As You Like It. Therefore, the audience ‘like’ in As You Like It marks the significance of love not only between couples only but the prominence of love --- innocent human sentiments, noble feelings, pure affinity, belongingness between sisters, father and daughter, brothers, friends, master and servant etc. in various characters. Thus the reader’s/audience’s involvement in the play through the special liking for nature, Forest of Arden and the notion of love, peace and compassions is justified emphatically with a great universal appeal. Key-words: pronoun ‘you’, dramatist’s potential, theme, plot, characters, scenes, poetic diction, human sentiments etc.