cross-dressing-and-border-crossing-in-william-shakespeare-s-as-you-like-it-the-paradox-of-female-identity 2022 3 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.

]]> cross-dressing, identity, femininity, resilience, submissiveness, metatheatre 2022-12-29 https://ijep.ibupress.com/articles/cross-dressing-and-border-crossing-in-william-shakespeare-s-as-you-like-it-the-paradox-of-female-identity 2 6-18 en CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Mourad Romdhani University of Sousse true Zied Ben University of Sousse 2671-3535 2671-3543 Balkan University Press https://ijep.ibupress.com