Based on Joseph W. Meeker’s definition of “the comic mode” and Steve Mentz’s ecological approach to genre, this article reexamines the appropriateness of reading Shakespeare’s As You Like It as a pastoral comedy. Although most characters from the court transform—either physically or mentally—into happier figures by entering the Forest of Arden, all except Jaques and Duke Frederick leave the forest for the court after the multiple weddings are promised. If their return symbolizes the final triumph of these characters, the forest appears to have provided them with only a temporary idyllic sanctuary. A patriarchal system, distorted brotherhood, oppressed romantic relationships, and unbalanced humors are, in a sense, corrected by the milieu of the forest. However, with a prospective resumption of former ideas and statuses—exemplified by Rosalind’s restoration to her female self and her marriage and consequent submission to Orlando—the play foreshadows the reappearance of old problems and the rise of new challenges after a mostly joyful and anxiety-free life in Arden. Moreover, this human comedy is a tragedy for nature, with deer hunted, trees cut or barked, and woodlands enclosed. The forest would appear as an idealized place if time in Arden were frozen and its natural environment preserved. Hence, As You Like It contains elements that undermine the conventional definitions of the genre to which it ostensibly belongs.