The daughter of Duke Frederick, Celia cares inordinately for her cousin, Rosalind, and consistently proves her selfless generosity. After insisting that her father allow Rosalind to stay in court with her, she promises that Rosalind can inherit her father’s throne when Duke Frederick dies. Celia then risks her own safety and family loyalty by accompanying Rosalind into the Forest of Arden after Rosalind is banished. Her capacity for romantic love, too, is proven at the end, by her engagement with Oliver.
Celia Quotes in As You Like It
The As You Like It quotes below are all either spoken by Celia or refer to Celia. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Act 1, Scene 3
Quotes
Come, come, wrestle with thy affections.
Let’s away and get our jewels and our wealth together, devise the fittest time and safest way to hide us from pursuit that will be made after my flight. Now we go in content to liberty, and not to banishment.
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Act 3, Scene 2
Quotes
O wonderful, wonderful, and most wonderful, and yet again wonderful, and after that, out of all whooping!
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Celia (speaker)
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Orlando’s Poems
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Act 5, Scene 2
Quotes
Your brother and my sister no sooner met but they looked; no sooner looked but they loved; no sooner loved but they sighed; no sooner sighed but they asked one another the reason; no sooner knew the reason but they sought the remedy; and in these degrees have they made a pair of stairs to marriage.
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Celia Character Timeline in As You Like It
The timeline below shows where the character Celia appears in As You Like It. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1, Scene 1
...adds that Rosalind, the banished duke’s daughter, has remained in court with her beloved cousin Celia (Duke Frederick's daughter), and that the old duke has retreated to the Forest of Arden,...
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Act 1, Scene 2
Celia coaxes Rosalind to be “merry.” Rosalind asks how she is supposed to feel merry given...
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Rosalind, with renewed gratitude and merriment, goes on to ask Celia what she thinks of falling in love. Celia answers that she thinks of it as...
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Touchstone reports to Celia that her father desires to see her and makes various jesting side-comments. He remarks, for...
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Monsieur Le Beau, who is one of Duke Frederick's courtiers, enters, and Celia, Rosalind, and Touchstone continue jesting with him in the same vein. Le Beau tells of...
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The upcoming opponent, Orlando, enters with Duke Frederick, Charles, and various attendants, and Celia remarks on how young Orlando looks. Duke Frederick confirms that he should not fight on...
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...more insistent that he not fight: her own father dearly loved Sir Rowland de Boys. Celia and Rosalind congratulate and thank Orlando, and Rosalind gives him a chain as a token...
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Act 1, Scene 3
Celia begs Rosalind to break her silence. She jests, “Cupid have mercy, not a word?” Rosalind...
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Celia declares that if Rosalind is banished, she will go with her, maintaining her refusal to...
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...that she’ll disguise herself instead like a man, given her height, and call herself Ganymede. Celia will call herself Aliena. They decide to bring along Touchstone, and Celia concludes their scheming...
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Act 2, Scene 2
...Frederick asking if anyone has seen his daughter and niece. The First Lord reports that Celia’s chambermaids put Celia to bed the night before but that her bed was found empty...
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Act 2, Scene 4
On Celia’s request, Rosalind approaches Corin and asks if he has any food for Celia, who’s become...
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Act 3, Scene 2
Celia enters, reading another of Orlando’s tree poems, which describes Rosalind as the synthesis of all...
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Celia recounts having found Orlando under a tree, dressed like a hunter. Rosalind comments that Orlando...
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Act 3, Scene 4
Rosalind confides to Celia that she feels like weeping. She is upset that Orlando did not come to meet...
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Rosalind then tells Celia of having met with Duke Senior the day before and of him laughing at her...
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Corin then enters and invites Celia and Rosalind to come witness the "pageant" of Silvius, whose helpless love Rosalind had been...
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Act 3, Scene 5
...mistress, Phebe, not to scorn him and compares her to a hardhearted executioner. Rosalind and Celia enter, in their disguises as Ganymede and Aliena, along with Corin, just as Phebe cruelly...
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After Rosalind and Celia leave, Phebe decides to keep Silvius around so she can talk to him about love....
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Act 4, Scene 1
...died from love, and then she finally announces that she will love Orlando. She gets Celia to play the role of a priest in a play-acted marriage between the two of...
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Celia criticizes Rosalind for portraying women so badly. Rosalind responds by gushing to Celia how much...
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Act 4, Scene 3
Rosalind (still disguised as Ganymede) is impatiently awaiting Orlando, who is now late. Celia suggests that he has gone to sleep.
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...the napkin to Ganymede so that he would excuse Orlando’s “broken promise.” Rosalind faints, and Celia tries to excuse it as an effect of the sight of blood. When Rosalind comes...
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Act 5, Scene 2
...fallen so instantly in love with her (we later learn “her” to be Aliena aka Celia). Oliver assures him that it is, and, in light of his engagement with Aliena (who...
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Act 5, Scene 4
Duke Senior, Amiens, Jaques, Orlando, Oliver, and Celia (as Aliena) enter. In response to Duke Senior’s questions about Ganymede’s promise, Orlando says that...
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Hymen, the god of marriage, enters, with Celia and Rosalind at his side, dressed now as themselves. Rosalind presents herself to Duke Senior...
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