This research paper aims to examine William Shakespeare’s pastoral comedy As You Like It through the lens of Aristotelian comic theory. While Aristotle’s Poetics is primarily celebrated for its analysis of Tragedy, his surviving remarks on Comedy—defining it as an "imitation of characters of a lower type" and the "Ridiculous"—provide a foundational framework for dramatic criticism. This study explores how Shakespeare employs the Aristotelian transition from "Complication" to "Unravelling" (Denouement) within the setting of the Forest of Arden. By analyzing the "ridiculous" mistakes of the lovers and the philosophical function of the Fool, the paper concludes that Shakespeare both adheres to classical constraints and transcends them by introducing "Romantic Comedy," a sub-genre that balances Aristotle's mirth with emotional depth.
Suryawanshi et al. (Fri,) studied this question.
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