# Duke Senior — As You Like It character guide

> Duke Senior in As You Like It by William Shakespeare.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Duke Senior Welcome, Duke Senior Come, Duke Senior That would I, Duke Senior Fie, Duke Senior Most mischievous, Duke Senior Sit, Duke Senior Go

**First appearance:** 0006-act-ii-scene-i

## Snapshot

The rightful duke, dispossessed and living cheerfully in the Forest of Arden, who welcomes exiles and takes the winter wind as a lesser evil than human ingratitude.

## Who they are

Duke Senior rules a makeshift court of loyal followers in the forest after his brother seized his dukedom. He greets hardship with philosophy and song, finding the woodland life sweeter than the false flattery of palaces, yet his contentment is shadowed by the memory of betrayal. When he recognizes Orlando as the son of an old friend, his warmth sets the play's central refuge in motion — Arden as the place where the dispossessed can begin again.

## Relationships

### [Rosalind](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_you_like_it_se/characters/rosalind)

_family_

Duke Senior is Rosalind's loving father, exiled to the Forest of Arden, and they are joyfully reunited there.

### [Jaques](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_you_like_it_se/characters/jaques)

_friendship_

Duke Senior tolerates Jaques's melancholy philosophizing, treating him as a thoughtful if eccentric companion.

### [Le Beau](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_you_like_it_se/characters/le_beau)

_professional_

Le Beau serves as a courtier to Duke Senior's court, delivering news and performing courtly duties.

## In the story

### [Scene I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_you_like_it_se/chapters/act-ii-scene-i)

Duke Senior leads his exiled companions in the Forest of Arden, praising the natural life and expressing a wish to converse with Jaques.

### [Scene VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_you_like_it_se/chapters/act-ii-scene-vii)

Presides over the forest table, welcomes Orlando and Adam, and reveals his connection to Sir Rowland.

### [Scene IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_you_like_it_se/chapters/act-v-scene-iv)

Recognizes Rosalind as his daughter and welcomes her, then leads the celebration of weddings and the return to court.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_you_like_it_se/characters/duke_senior
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_you_like_it_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_you_like_it_se/characters