Shakespeare chose to write more songs – five in all, three sung by adults, two by boys – than he would in any other play. Thinking of As You Like It as an embryonic musical may help explain why critics have had such a hard time with its meagre, episodic plot, its rich vein of contemporary satire, its over-the-top climax where the god Hymen enters, and all its song and dance. The same ingredients, viewed from the perspective of musical comedy, make perfect sense.
J. Shapiro, 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare (2005), 251
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