CROSS-DRESSING AND BORDER CROSSING IN WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S AS YOU LIKE IT: THE PARADOX OF FEMALE IDENTITY , Mourad Romdhani , Zied Ben cross-dressing identity femininity resilience submissiveness metatheatre In William Shakespeare’s As You Like It (1623/1994), cross-dressing is used not only as a theatrical tool to fill in a gap resulting from female physical absence on the Elizabethan stage; it also serves as a symbolic act that opens new perspectives and raises questions about socio-cultural issues related to gender roles and gender performance. This research follows the development of the cross-dressed Rosalind, a female character played by a man and disguised as a man. The study equally considers the question of female agency and power through the female character’s act of disguise. It attempts to show whether Rosalind manages or fails to acquire a self-sufficient identity through her physical transvestism. The scrutiny of cross-dressing as a metatheatrical device enhances the problematization of the matter of gender performance in the play. Balkan University Press 2022-12-29 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Research Article https://ijep.ibupress.com/articles/cross-dressing-and-border-crossing-in-william-shakespeare-s-as-you-like-it-the-paradox-of-female-identity International Journal of Education and Philology; Vol. 3 No. 2 (2022); 6-18 2671-3535 2671-3543 en https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess