In the epilogue of As You Like It, Rosalind discusses the nature of real and interpreted gender identity with the end goal of resolving the gender confusion that exists throughout the play. The events leading up to the epilogue make such a resolution necessary, as they are fraught with the disguise of "natural" or off-stage sex and the on-stage confusion of male and female roles. Although such confusion has its origins in the theatrical practice of contemporary Shakespearean theater, the role of Rosalind was assumed by a man. Many other levels of gender transformation exist in the play. For example, the male actor playing Rosalind plays the role of the male Ganymede opposite Orlando; in the role of Ganymede, he “pretends” to be Rosalind to cure Orlando of his love. When these intra-play transformations occur, for example, when the character Rosalind dresses as a male Ganymede, they highlight the broader issues raised by gender transformation in the play. As actors frequently disguise their gender, gender seems arbitrary when performed, able to be changed at will. As Rosalind says to Orlando: “I would cure you if you would only call me Rosalind and come daily to my side and court me” (III, ii. 1603-4). By suggesting the "remedy" of letting Orlando express his love, Rosalind reaffirms her theatrically "real" role as Rosalind, even though she is dressed as a man. This simulation satisfies both Orlando's desire to court Rosalind, even though she appears absent, and Rosalind's desire to be courted, even though she appears in the guise of a man. Orlando is able to verbally express his desires while continuing to idealize and adore the "absent" Rosalind. Her desires are thus compartmentalized into love and friendship, and Rosalind, in her role as guardian and absent muse, is capable of fulfilling both roles. The play's epilogue acts as an explanation and synthesis of these roles, resolving the paradoxes through a meta-theatrical understanding of the actor's place in the theater as a whole. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"?Get the original essay Rosalind's suggestion to "cure" Orlando can perhaps be best understood as a wish to see Orlando's desires come true in front of her, even if she does not participate. . Because of her love for Orlando, Rosalind has good reason to "pretend" a love game between herself and her love interest. Such pretense allows her to reveal herself emotionally without compromising her distant status as “beloved.” She doesn't have to perform according to traditional gender stereotypes because, at least according to Orlando, she comes across as a male performer. She is able to safely express her most honest desires, for example "Yes, my faith, I will [love you], Fridays, Saturdays and all" (IV. i. 2026) while remaining in her role guardian of Orlando. In the epilogue, Rosalind returns to the issue of traditional gender roles, stating that “it is not the fashion to see the lady in the epilogue” (V. iv. 2776-7). This statement seems ironic, as Rosalind wore men's clothes and spoke openly about her desire to love "Fridays, Saturdays and all." However, because the "fashion" was for men to play the roles of women, "Rosalind" is a man offstage, and therefore is not "actually" committing any unfashionable acts by dressing like a man. The lady only receives the “epilogue” in the space of the play; under the theatrical representation, it is still the man who says the lines. However, Rosalind goes further bysuggesting that a female character should be allowed to speak. According to her, asking a woman to pronounce the epilogue “is no more unpleasant than seeing the lord pronounce the prologue” (V. iv. 2777-8). The prologue and the epilogue mark the two “bookends” of the play, introducing and concluding the action; it seems like each one is equally important to the piece as a whole. In both contexts, a woman or a man is equally capable of speaking: the selection, Rosalind implies, is arbitrary, a woman's place "no more disgraceful than that of the lord." Although a male character played by a man might be expected to give the epilogue, it is just as viable for a female character played by a man to be able to speak. Rosalind, through the use of the phrase “see,” not only suggests that the audience should embrace one gender or the other, but also reinforces the visual aspects of the performance itself. In "see...the epilogue", the word "see" means not only "to allow", but also "to watch", because the epilogue is performed by a male actor dressed in drag. Gender is represented here as a spectacle, with the male actor assuming and playing the role of the woman, who then takes on the clothing and disguise of a man. The status of “male” becomes unclear to the audience, as a male actor becomes Rosalind who becomes Ganymede. The audience must literally “see” the female character Rosalind giving the epilogue, knowing that outside the theater, the actor is a man. Such confusion, resulting in a series of visual transformations of male actor, female character, male attire, demonstrates the arbitrary nature of gender in this performative context. It didn't matter, for example, that the male actor playing Rosalind had a female line; in the same way, it should not be “unpleasant” for the female Rosalind to utter the traditionally masculine epilogue. When Rosalind notes that "it is not the fashion to see the lady as an epilogue," she speaks to the audience's likely preconceptions about "masculine" and "feminine" speech. However, because so many gender norms have been violated, the acceptable one of men playing female roles and the less acceptable one of Rosalind dressing as a man, the traditional or "fashionable" gender of the discourse becomes less clear. Rosalind suggests that she can deliver the epilogue as well as any man; indeed, the public has already seen her in a male disguise. The visual example of Rosalind dressed as a man suggests that genders can be put on or taken off at will; it should then be easier to allow Rosalind a traditionally masculine speech. Rosalind confirms the seductive, even magical, nature of the performative genre when she says in the epilogue that “begging won't do me.” My way is to conjure you” (V. iv. 2785). As she has already accomplished numerous transformations, Rosalind has established herself as a “conjurer” rather than a beggar. Through theatrical disguises, the male actor convinced the audience that he is a woman; moreover, this female character has, thanks to an additional disguise, convinced Orlando that she is a man. The act of conjuring became familiar to Rosalind and proved effective in the context of the play. There is no need to beg or argue rhetorically to effect change; on the contrary, she only has to play either a male role or a female role. Rosalind makes her strategy clear when she says she will "conjure you", implying her use of disguise and acting like almost magical techniques. Her reason for not begging is also theatrical: she notes that "I am not furnished like a beggar, so begging will not suit me" (V. iv. 2784-5). In.