Polytech english preparation

unit 1 shakespeare the King of Navarre and his three lords, Berowne,
Longaville, and Dumaine, swear an oath to scholarship, which includes fasting and
avoiding contact with women for three years. They receive a letter from Don Armado, a
Spaniard visiting the King's court, telling them that he has caught Costard, a fool, and
Jaquenetta, a country wench, consorting in the park. The King announces Costard's
sentence, and he and the lords go off to begin their oath.
Don Armado confesses to Moth, his page, that he has fallen in love with Jaquenetta. He
writes her a letter that he asks Costard to deliver.
Meanwhile, the Princess of France has arrived to visit the King. Because of his oath,
however, the King cannot receive the Princess and her party at his court; he and his
lords must visit them at their camp outside the castle. The three lords fall in love with
the three ladies, as does the King with the Princess. Berowne gives Costard a letter to
deliver to Rosaline, but Costard accidentally switches it with the letter from Don
Armado to Jaquenetta. When he gives Berowne's letter to Jaquenetta, she brings it to the
learned Holofernes and Sir Nathaniel to read for her. They tell her that the letter was
meant for someone else and to deliver it to the King.
Berowne watches the King from a hiding spot as he reads about his love for the
Princess. Longaville enters, and the King hides as well; he and Berowne observe
Longaville reading of his love for Maria. Dumaine enters, Longaville hides, and
all three see Dumaine reading an ode he has written to Katherine. Longaville advances
and tells Dumaine that he is not alone in love. The King then advances and scolds the
two men for breaking their oath. Berowne advances and reveals that the King is in love
as well. Jaquenetta arrives and gives Berowne the letter, which he rips up. However,
Dumaine picks up a piece of the letter with Berowne's name on it, and Berowne
confesses that he is in love as well. The four men decide to court their women.
The King and his lords arrive at the Princess's pavilion dressed as Muscovites. The
women heed Boyet's prior warnings and decide to switch favors, so that the men will
mistake them for each other. After the men leave and reappear as themselves, the

women reveal their prank. They all watch a show of the Nine Worthies, performed by
Don Armado, Sir Nathaniel, and Holofernes. A messenger arrives to tell the Princess that
her father has died, and she prepares to return to France. The women tell their suitors
to seek them again in a year, and the play ends with their departure.
Next sectionAct I, Scenes i and iiAct I, Scenes i and ii


SUMMARY ACT I, SCENES I AND II
Summary
As the play begins, the King of Navarre and his three lords, Berowne, Longaville, and
Dumaine, discuss the founding of their academe, or academy. The King reflects on the
goal of their scholarship, primarily fame. He then asks the three lords to sign their
names to the oath, swearing their commitment to the academe for three years.
Longaville and Dumaine agree, but Berowne has issues with the strictness of the oath.
He questions the necessity of the oath's requirements for fasting, little sleep, and the
avoidance of women, calling them "barren tasks, too hard to keep,/ Not to see ladies,
study, fast, not sleep" (I.i.47-8). He argues this point with the King, but finally agrees to
sign the oath.
Berowne then begins to read the text of the decrees. He begins, "[I]f any man be seen to
talk with a woman within the term of three years, he shall endure such public shame as
the reset of the court can possible devise" (I.i.129-32). He points out that the King is
going to break this article himself, since the daughter of the French king is about to pay
a visit to their court. The King says that this decree must be forsworn "on mere
necessity" (I.i.148). Berowne says that he has no problem subscribing to a decree that
can be forsworn on mere necessity, and he signs the document.
The constable Dull enters with a letter and the fool, Costard. He tells them that he has a
letter from Don Armado, and Costard tells them that the letter concerns him and
Jaquenetta. The King reads the letter, in which Armado informs him that he has caught
Costard consorting with Jaquenetta and has thereby sent him to the King for

punishment. Costard tries to escape with clever wordplay, but he fails and is sentenced
to a week of only bran and water.
Don Armado confesses to his page, Moth, that he has fallen in love with Jaquenetta. He
asks Moth to comfort him by telling him of other great men that have been in love, and
Moth mentions Hercules and Samson. Dull returns with Costard and Jaquenetta and tells
Armado that the King has sent Costard to serve his sentence. Armado tells Jaquenetta
that he loves her, but she departs with Dull. Armado sends Costard with Moth to be
imprisoned and, when alone, laments that his oath will be forsworn through his love for
Jaquenetta. He then begins to write.
Commentary
The King's opening lines illustrate the primary goals for establishing his academe: "Let
fame, that all hunt after in their lives,/ Live regist'red upon our brazen tombs" (I.i.1-2).
He says, "Navarre shall be the wonder of the world" (I.i.12), suggesting that he seeks
knowledge not for its own sake but to further the fame of his court.
Berowne's attempts to convince the King that the oath is too strict and severe show how
language functions as a tool in the play. Berowne tries to talk his way out of the parts of
the oath he does not like, but this time the King is not convinced. The King and the other
two lords note the paradoxical nature of Berowne's reasoning:
KING: How well he's read, to reason against reading!
DUMAINE: Proceeded well, to stop all good proceeding!
LONGAVILLE: He weeds the corn, and still lets grow the weeding
(I.i.94-6)
Berowne will use rhetoric later to justify other contradictory conclusions--for example,
when he reasons that the courtship of the Princess and her ladies does not violate their
oath (see IV.iii.286-362).
When Costard, the fool, is caught courting Jaquenetta by Don Armado, he tries to reason
his way out of the punishment by arguing that Jaquenetta is not a wench but a damsel,
not a damsel but a virgin, and finally not a virgin but a maid. The King, however, informs
him that these classifications all fall under the same decree and punishes him anyway.

The defeat of Costard's reasoning and his punishment for courting Jaquenetta warn the
King and lords to avoid duplicitous rhetoric and scheming women. Unfortunately, they
choose not to heed this warning, and so become entangled in similar situations again.
Act II, Scene i

 SUM M ARYACTI I,SCENEI
Summary
The Princess of France arrives with her entourage. She sends Boyet, one of her
attendants, to the King to announce their arrival, since she has heard the King's vow
that "no woman may approach his silent court" (II.i.24). With Boyet gone, she asks her
attendants about the other men with whom the King shares his oath. Maria describes
Lord Longaville, Katherine mentions Dumaine, and Rosaline identifies Berowne.
Boyet returns and informs the Princess that the King intends to "lodge you in the field"
(II.i.85) rather than break his oath and allow women in his house. The King enters with
his lords and tells the Princess that he cannot bring her to the court because of his oath.
She hands him a paper, and they discuss the payment of a hundred thousand crowns
and the control of Aquitaine. (This particular matter seems confusing, but is completely
insignificant to the plot.) The King says that he will return to visit the ladies again the
next day, and he departs. Before they leave, Dumaine, Longaville, and Berowne each ask
Boyet for the name of the woman they fancy.
When they have gone, Boyet tells the Princess that he believes the King is "infected"
(II.i.230) with love for her and describes the behaviors he believes to be indicative of
this condition.
Commentary
The Princess's reaction to her ladies' description of the three lords--"God bless my
ladies! are they all in love,/ That every one her own hath garnished/ With such
bedecking ornaments of praise?" (II.i.77-9)--foreshadows the love that will eventually
develop between the ladies and lords. The Princess also foreshadows the King's

love for her when she says, "[Y]ou'll prove perjured, if you make me stay" (II.i.113),
suggesting that her continued presence will lead the King to break his oath.
With her response to the King's greeting, the Princess shows how she and her ladies
will take the words of their soon-to-be suitors literally. When he welcomes her to the
court of Navarre, she responds, "'Welcome' I have not yet: the roof of this court is too
high to be yours. . ." (II.i.91-3). This line sets up the obstinate, combative position
these women will take on the King's men and their words.
Boyet acts like a true member of the Princess's party, as illustrated through his
response to the three lords' inquiries about the names of the ladies. He gives
Longaville precise, literal answers to each of his questions, much to the lord's
chagrin:
LONGAVILLE: I beseech you, a word: what is she in the white?
BOYET: A woman sometimes, an' you saw her in the light.
LONGAVILLE: Perchance light in the light. I desire her name.
BOYET: She hath but one for herself; to desire that were a shame.
LONGAVILLE: Pray you, sir, whose daughter?
BOYET: Her mother's, I have heard.
After the King's party leaves, the Princess tells Boyet that "it was well done of you to
take him at his word" (II.i.217), suggesting her approval of this method of taking
statements literally.

When Boyet and Maria jest with each other, the Princess tells them to save their wits for
doing battle with the King's party: "Good wits will be jangling; but, gentles, agree:/ This
civil war of wits were much better used/ On Navarre and his book-men; for here 'tis
abused" (II.i.225- 7). Clearly the Princess plans to engage in a battle of wits with the
King.
Previous sectionAct I, Scenes i and iiNext sectionAct III, Scene i
Act III, Scene i

 SUM M ARYACTI II ,SCENEI
Summary
Armado asks Moth to bring Costard to him to deliver a letter. Moth returns with
Costard, who has broken his shin, and the three have a discussion of riddles, morals,
and l'envoy. Armado tells Costard that he is going to set him free, on the condition that
he will deliver a letter to Jaquenetta. Costard agrees, Armado gives him money, and he
and Moth depart.
Berowne enters and asks Costard to deliver a letter to Rosaline for him. Costard agrees,
is given more money, and exits. After Costard leaves, Berowne laments his love.
Commentary
Moth illustrates the precise wordplay present throughout the play here when he, like
Berowne, justifies a seemingly contradictory claim: "As swift as lead, sir. . .Is that lead
slow which is fired from a gun?" (III.i.57,62).
Costard exhibits the tendency to take language literally in this scene when he receives
payments from Armado and Berowne. When Armado gives him remuneration, he
decides that "that's the Latin word for three farthings" and says that "I will never buy
and sell out of this word" (III.i.136,141). When Berowne gives him a reward, which he
calls guerdon, he says "Gardon, O sweet gardon! Better than remuneration; eleven-
pence farthing better: most sweet gardon!" (III.i.166-8).

He assumes that these two men speak literally when they say they are giving him
remuneration and guerdon--he interprets these words as actual names for the amounts
of money he is given. Costard's ignorance draws attention to the way that the men tend
to speak metaphorically.
In this scene, Costard appears to make an allusion to The Merchant of Venice, another
Shakespeare play, when he says, "My sweet ounce of man's flesh! my incony Jew!"
(III.i.134). However, The Merchant of Venice is commonly believed to have been written
around 1596-7, after Love's Labour's Lost. Therefore, it is possible that Shakespeare
revised Love's Labour's Lost to include this line after he wrote The Merchant of Venice.
Previous sectionAct II, Scene iNext sectionAct IV, Scenes i and ii
Act IV, Scenes i and ii

 SUM M ARYACTI V,SCENESIANDI I
Summary
The Princess and her party go into the woods on a hunt. Costard finds them and gives
the Princess a letter, telling her it is for Rosaline from Berowne. The letter he gives her,
however, is actually for Jaquenetta. Boyet reads the letter, which is signed "Don
Armado," and the Princess tells Costard that he has delivered the letter mistakenly.
Holofernes, Sir Nathaniel, and Dull discuss the hunt they have just witnessed. They
argue about whether the deer the Princess has killed was a pricket (a two-year-old
deer), and Holofernes presents "an extemporal epitaph on the death of the deer"
(IV.ii.50-1).
Jaquenetta and Costard arrive, and Jaquenetta asks Holofernes and Nathaniel to read
the letter that Costard has delivered to her. She believes this to be the letter written to
her by Don Armado, but as Holofernes reads, it turns out to be the letter from Berowne
to Rosaline. Nathaniel reads the letter aloud, and he and Holofernes critique the poetry.
They then inform Jaquenetta and Costard that the letter was actually written by
Berowne--one of the King's lords--and ask them to bring the letter to the King.

Commentary
When the Princess discusses her hunt, she reveals that she is seeking praise: "As I for
praise alone now seek to spill/ The poor deer's blood, that my heart means no ill"
(IV.i.34-5). Here she reveals her similarity to the King, who also desired praise and fame
for his academe. The Princess also believes, "praise we may afford/ To any lady that
subdues a lord" (IV.i.39-40). Since we have just learned that the Princess is seeking
praise, we can infer that she also seeks to subdue a lord, thus foreshadowing the power
she will exercise over the King later in the play.
Shakespeare presents the learned men as a farcical critique of scholarship and
intellectuals. Dull is presented as a simple contrast to their learned ways; Holofernes
and Nathaniel emphasize his lower level of intellect. After Dull makes a comment about
the deer, Holofernes cries, "Twice-sod simplicity, bis coctus!/ O thou monster Ignorance,
how deformed dost thou look!" (IV.ii.22- 3). Nathaniel tells Holofernes to remember
that Dull "hath never fed of the dainties that are bred in a book;/ he hath not eat paper,
as it were; he hath not drunk ink:/ his intellect is not replenisht; he is only an animal,/
only sensible in the duller parts" (IV.ii.24-7). Their emphasis on Dull's simplicity and
ignorance and the pun on his name in the last line reinforce the contrast between Dull's
inferior intellect and Holofernes and Nathaniel's affected scholarship.
Dull also demonstrates his lack of book-learning when he tries to repeat Holofernes'
statement that "th'allusion holds in the exchange" (IV.ii.43), saying first "collusion" and
then "pollusion" in his attempt to echo Holofernes' learned speech.
Previous sectionAct III, Scene iNext sectionAct IV, Scene i
Act IV, Scene iii


SUMMARY ACT IV, SCENE III
Summary
Berowne enters, carrying a paper that contains a poem to Rosaline. He hears someone
else coming and hides. The King enters in a love-induced swoon and reads from a poem
he has written. Berowne is surprised to learn that the King is also in love. The King
hears Longaville approaching, also reading, and hides. Longaville enters, speaks of his

love for Maria, and begins to read from a poem he has written. He hides when he hears
another approaching, and Dumaine enters, moaning longingly for Kate. He reads an ode
that he has written, and laments that his friends do not share his suffering.
Longaville advances to chide Dumaine, and, at this, the King advances and reveals that
he has heard of Longaville's love for Maria. He scolds the two lords for breaking their
oath and asks, "[W]hat will Berowne say when that he shall hear/ A faith infringed,
which such zeal did swear?" (IV.iii.143-4). Berowne advances and asks the King, "what
grace hast thou, thus to reprove/ These worms for loving, that art most in love?"
(IV.iii.151-2). He reprimands the three men for breaking their oath and says, "I, that am
honest; I, that hold it sin/ To break the vow I am engaged in;/ I am betray'd, by keeping
company/ With men like you, men of inconstancy" (IV.iii.175-8).
Jaquenetta and Costard enter with the letter, telling the King that it amounts to treason.
He gives Berowne the letter to read, and Berowne tears it up upon recognizing it as his
verses to Rosaline. Dumaine finds a piece of the letter with Berowne's name on it, and
Berowne confesses that he, too, is in love. The four men begin to argue about which of
their loves is the most beautiful.
The King realizes that they are all in love "and thereby all forsworn" (Berowne,
IV.iii.280). He asks Berowne to "prove/ Our loving lawful, and our faith not torn"
(IV.iii.281-2). Berowne makes a long speech in which he argues that to look at a woman
is the best way to learn beauty. He decides, therefore, that their scholarship oath led
them further away from true study. The King seems to accept this argument, and they
resolve to woo the women.
Commentary
This scene illustrates the use of the aside, a common technique in Shakespearean
drama. An aside occurs when one of the characters is supposedly hidden and speaks to
the audience without being heard by the other characters. It is indicated by placing the

word aside in parentheses after the character's name and before their speech; an aside
allows the audience to observe the characters observing each other. This technique is
used to a comedic extent in this scene when three characters, in turn, are hidden and
revealed.
Berowne comments on his role as the first to hide: "All hid, all hid, an old infant play./
Like a demigod here sit I in the sky,/ And wretched fools' secrets heedfully o'er-eye"
(IV.iii.76-8). Here he specifically mentions overhearing and witnessing the secrets of his
friends, fulfilling the primary function of the aside as a plot device. Berowne refers to his
friends as "wretched fools," even though he finds himself in exactly the same situation.
Each of the lords, in turn, tries to hide his own love and to scold his companions for
breaking the oath. This might seem somewhat surprising, however, given how eager
they are to have company in their misery. The King rejoices when he sees Longaville,
celebrating "sweet fellowship in shame!" (IV.iii.47), and Berowne notes that "[o]ne
drunkard loves another of the name" (IV.iii.48). Dumaine later wishes that the King,
Berowne, and Longaville were lovers too, "[f]or none offend where all alike do dote"
(IV.iii.124).
Berowne's argument for accommodating love into the scholarship oath is the best
example in Love's Labour's Lost of taking wit, rhetoric, and reasoning to ridiculous
extremes. Shakespeare shows how reasoning and rhetoric can justify almost any
desired conclusion. The King and his lords reveal the shallowness of wordplay and the
dubiousness of scholarship”and the intellectual life.
Previous sectionAct IV, Scenes i and iiNext sectionAct V, Scene i
Act V, Scene i

 SUM M ARYACTV,SCENEI
Summary
Holofernes and Nathaniel discuss Don Armado, with whom Nathaniel has been
conversing. They mock his inferior intellect, criticizing his pronunciation and saying
that they abhor "such rackers of orthography" (V.i.20).

Armado, Moth, and Costard enter; Armado tells the learned men that the King has asked
him to prepare "some delightful ostentation, or show, or pageant, or antick or firework"
(V.i.105-7) to entertain the Princess and her party. He asks Holofernes and Nathaniel for
their help in planning this entertainment, and Holofernes suggests that they present a
show of the Nine Worthies.
The men discuss who will play the roles of the Worthies, with Holofernes saying that he will
play three of the roles himself. They then go off to plan their show.
Commentary
The play-within-the-play that the learned men begin planning in this scene is a common
facet of Shakespeare's plays. Many of his most famous plays, such as Hamlet and A
Midsummer Night's Dream, include scenes of plays. These scenes allow the playwright to
present a view of the theater experience (for players, playwright, and audience) on the
stage itself. We will see when the play of the Nine Worthies takes place that the
audience behaves in a way that may be surprising.
Next, Moth makes fun of the learned men by saying to Costard, "They have been at a
great feast of languages, and stolen the scraps" (V.i.37-8). This may be part of
Shakespeare's critique of scholarship and rhetoric.
Holofernes and Nathaniel are very critical of Don Armado, and Holofernes also notes
Costard's unsuccessful attempt to appear scholarly. Costard says, "thou hast it ad
dunghill, at the fingers' ends, as they say," and Holofernes replies, "O, I smell false Latin;
dunghill for unguem" (V.i.72-4). Holofernes also makes some mistakes in his Latin,
however, as in the first line of this scene. Clearly, Shakespeare mocks the use and
misuse of language by almost every character in this play.
In this scene, we see once again the contrast between Dull and his learned friends. Dull
is present from the beginning of this scene, but does not speak until the very end.
Holofernes notices this and says, "Via, goodman Dull! thou hast spoken no word all this
while," and Dull replies "[n]or understood none neither, sir" (V.i.141-2). Shakespeare
implies that Dull's inability to follow the conversation of Holofernes, Nathaniel, and
Armado stems from his notably inferior intellect.

Previous sectionAct IV, Scene iiiNext sectionAct V, Scene ii
Act V, Scene ii


SUMMARY ACT V, SCENE II
Summary
The Princess shows her ladies a jewel that the King has sent her, and the four women
discuss love. Katherine mentions her sister, who died of love. Rosaline tells them that
she has received a letter from Berowne with verses and a picture of her. Katherine has
received a letter and a pair of gloves from Dumaine, and Maria has received a letter and
some pearls from Longaville.
Boyet arrives and tells the ladies that the King and his companions are on their way,
dressed as Muscovites, to court their respective loves. The Princess tells her ladies to
mask themselves and to switch favors, so that the men will "[W]oo contrary, deceived
by these removes" (V.ii.135).
The men enter, and Moth makes a speech, during which Boyet interrupts him and
Berowne corrects him. Rosaline, speaking as the Princess, asks what the strangers want,
and the King tells her they want to converse with them. Each man takes turns appealing
to the woman he thinks is his lady, and each pair converses apart. Rosaline tells them it
is time to go, and the men leave. Each woman reveals that her respective man has
pledged his love to her, and they note happily how gullible the men have turned out to
be. They realize that the men will soon return, and thus they switch their favors back.
The men arrive, dressed as themselves again, and the King offers to bring the women to
his court. However, the Princess tells him that she does not want him to break his oath,
for "[n]or God, nor I, delights in perjured men" (V.ii.346). She then tells him that a group
of Russians has recently visited, and Rosaline complains that the Russians were fools.

The women reveal that the costumes did not fool them, and the King fears the men will
endure mockery.
The King confesses that he was just there, in costume, and the Princess asks him what
he told his lady. She warns him that he has to keep his oath, and he ensures her that he
will. She then asks Rosaline what the Russian told her, and she repeats the words of the
King. He says that he knew the Princess by the jewel on her sleeve, and the men realize
the trick that the women played on them. Berowne realizes that "to our perjury to add
more terror,/ We are again forsworn, in will and error" (V.ii.470-1).
Costard enters and asks the King if he would like the Worthies to begin their show.
Berowne tells them to prepare, but the King worries that they will be shamed. Berowne
tells him that "'tis some policy/ To have one show worse than the king's and his
company" (V.ii.509-10). The Princess also expresses her desire to see the show, and so
it begins.
Costard enters as Pompey, and Boyet mocks him during his speech. Berowne admires
Boyet's mocking: "Well said, old mocker: I must needs be friends with thee" (V.ii.544).
The Princess thanks him, and Nathaniel enters as Alexander. Boyet and Berowne mock
him, but the Princess encourages him to continue. Berowne tells Pompey to take
Alexander away, and Nathaniel exits. Holofernes and Moth enter as Judas Maccabeus
and Hercules, respectively. Holofernes delivers a speech about Hercules, and Moth exits.
Boyet, Berowne, Longaville, and Dumaine all mock Holofernes, and he complains that
"[t]his is not generous, not gentle, not humble" (V.ii.623) and leaves. Armado enters as
Hector and begins his speech, after being encouraged to do so by the Princess. While he
is speaking, Costard enters and tells Armado that Jaquenetta is pregnant. Armado
threatens to kill Costard, and he responds, "Then shall Hector be whipped for
Jaquenetta that is/ quick by him and hang'd for Pompey that is dead by/ him" (V.ii.692-
4). Armado challenges Costard, and the rivals prepare to fight.

A messenger named Mercadé enters and tells the Princess that he has news of her
father. Even before he tells her, she realizes that he is dead, and Berowne commands the
Worthies away. The Princess thanks the King and his lords for their entertainment and
tells him that they will leave that night. He entreats her to stay, and the men once again
appeal to their ladies for love. The Princess tells the King that he should become a
hermit for twelve months and then seek her again, and Katharine and Maria tell
Dumaine and Longaville that they will receive them again in one year under similar
conditions. Rosaline tells Berowne that he must spend one year using his wit to make
the sick smile. He tells her, "it is impossible:/ Mirth cannot move a soul in agony"
(V.ii.849-50). She insists, however, and he agrees.
As the women are about to depart, Armado enters and asks the King if they can perform
the song that would have been sung at the conclusion of their play. He gives permission,
and the cast of the play re-enters to perform a song of winter and spring.
Commentary
Katherine's mention of her sister, who has died of love, starts the audience thinking
about death and subtly foreshadows the news of the King's death.
Rosaline, acting as the Princess, once again illustrates the women's literal interpretation
of language when the King says they have measured many miles in their journey. She
tells Boyet to "[a]sk them how many inches/ Is in one mile: if they have measured
many,/ The measure then of one is easily told" (V.ii.188-90). The Princess, acting as
Rosaline, responds to Berowne's request for "one sweet word with thee" with "Honey,
and milk, and sugar, there is three" (V.ii.230-1).
Berowne's frustration with the women's literal treatment of language finally comes to a
climax, and he swears off all poetical techniques for wooing: "Taffeta phrases, silken
terms precise,/ Three-piled hyperboles, spruce affectation,/ Figures pedantical; these
summer-flies/ Have blown me full of maggot ostentation:/ I do forswear them; and I
here protest,/ By this white glove--how white the hand, God knows!--/ Henceforth my
wooing mind shall be exprest/ In russet yeas and honest kersey noes." (V.ii.406-13)

Berowne has not sworn off wit altogether, however, as he happily admires and then
joins Boyet's mocking of the actors in the play of the Nine Worthies.
The behavior of Boyet and the King's lords during the show of the Nine Worthies might
help to reveal the behavior of typical Elizabethan theater audiences. It was common
practice for audiences to talk during plays, and Shakespeare might use the characters
in Love's Labour's Lost to illustrate his audiences' rudeness. Regardless, this marks
another difference between men and women in the play, since only the men act rudely
to the actors. The Princess is very polite, only speaking to thank and encourage the
actors, and the rest of her ladies do not speak at all during the play.
Note that during the lords' commentary on the play, they frequently interchange the
names of the men with the characters they portray. This is especially evident during the
argument between Costard and Armado, when the men encourage Pompey and Hector
to fight.
At the end of the play, Berowne notes that the play does not end like a typical comedy:
"Our wooing doth not end like an old play;/ Jack hath not Jill. . ." (V.ii.867-8). The King
reassures him that "it wants a twelvemonth and a day,/ And then 'twill end;" however,
Berowne adds, "[t]hat's too long for a play" (V.ii.870-1). With this statement, he refers to
Aristotle's archetypal dramatic conventions, which dictated that a play observe
the Three Unities: unity of time, place, and action. Berowne rightly points out that a
time span of a year is too long for a play to observe all three unities.
Previous sectionAct V, Scene i
Characters
Characters


CHARACTERS
Ferdinand, King Of Navarre - While the play's dramatis personae lists the King as
Ferdinand, throughout the play he is referred to only as "King." He is a scholar and has
sworn an oath to uphold his scholarship at the expense of earthly pleasures, the most
important of which will turn out to be receiving women at his court.

Berowne, Longaville, Dumaine - Three lords who have joined the King in his oath of
scholarship. They fall in love with Rosaline, Maria, and Katherine, respectively.
Princess Of France - This character never has a name other than "Princess." She pays
a visit to the King of Navarre and, along with some of her attendants, plays a game of
wits with the King and his lords.
Rosaline, Maria, Katherine - Three ladies attending the Princess who catch the fancy
of the King's lords.
Boyet - A lord attending on the Princess, he serves as a messenger to the King's court
and exchanges jokes with the lords.
Don Armado - Described in the list of characters as "a fantastical Spaniard." He catches
Costard and Jaquenetta in the forest and falls in love with Jaquenetta. Shakespeare uses
Don Armado to mock the fallen glory of the Spanish Armada.
Mote - Don Armado's page.
Costard - He is described as "a clown," and therefore fills the role of the fool, a common
character in many of Shakespeare's plays. Both Don Armado and Berowne ask him to
deliver letters to their respective ladies, but Costard accidentally switches the letters.
Jaquenetta - A country wench caught with Costard by Don Armado.
Sir Nathaniel, Holofernes - A curate and schoolmaster, respectively. They serve the
role of providing learned commentary on the letters of the other characters. They are
also responsible for the masque of the Nine Worthies near the end of the play.
Dull - A constable, usually appearing with Sir Nathaniel and Holofernes. He provides a
dull contrast to their scholarship.
Mercadé - Another lord attending on the Princess. His only appearance in the play
comes when he arrives to tell the Princess that her father has died.
wikipedia source
Love's Labour's Lost
From Wikipedia,the free encyclopedia
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For other uses, see Love's Labour's Lost (disambiguation).

Title page of the first quarto (1598)
Love's Labour's Lost is one of William Shakespeare's early comedies, believed to have been
written in the mid-1590s for a performance at the Inns of Court before Queen Elizabeth I. It
follows the King of Navarre and his three companions as they attempt to swear off the company
of women for three years in order to focus on study and fasting. Their subsequent infatuation with
the Princess of France and her ladies makes them forsworn. In an untraditional ending for a
comedy, the play closes with the death of the Princess's father, and all weddings are delayed for
a year. The play draws on themes of masculine love and desire, reckoning and rationalisation,
and reality versus fantasy.
Though first published in quarto in 1598, the play's title page suggests a revision of an earlier
version of the play. While there are no obvious sources for the play's plot, the four main
characters are loosely based on historical figures. The use of apostrophes in the play's title
varies in early editions, though it is most commonly given as Love's Labour's Lost.
Shakespeare's audiences were familiar with the historical personages portrayed and the political
situation in Europe relating to the setting and action of the play. Scholars suggest the play lost
popularity as these historical and political portrayals of Navarre's court became dated and less
accessible to theatergoers of later generations. The play's sophisticated wordplay, pedantic
humour and dated literary allusions may also be cause for its relative obscurity, as compared
with Shakespeare's more popular works. Love's Labour's Lost was rarely staged in the 19th
century, but it has been seen more often in the 20th and 21st centuries, with productions by both
the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre, among others. It has also been
adapted as a musical, an opera, for radio and television and as a musical film.
Love's Labour's Lost features the longest scene (5.2), the longest single word
'honorificabilitudinitatibus' (5.1.39–40), and (depending on editorial choices) the longest speech
(4.3.284–361) in all of Shakespeare's plays (see "Date and Text" below).
Contents
 1Characters
 2Synopsis
 3Sources

 4Date and text
 5Analysis and criticism
o 5.1Title
o 5.2Reputation
o 5.3Themes
 5.3.1Masculine desire
 5.3.2Reckoning and rationalization
 5.3.3Reality versus fantasy
o 5.4Music
 6Performance history
 7Adaptations
o 7.1Literature
o 7.2Musical theatre, opera, and plays
o 7.3Film, television and radio
 8Notes
o 8.1Editions
 9External links
Characters[edit]
 Ferdinand – King of Navarre
 Lord Berowne (or Biron), Lord Longueville (or Longaville) and Lord Dumaine – attending on
the King
 Princess of France, later Queen of France
 Lady Rosaline, Lady Maria, Lady Katharine and Boyet – attending on the Princess
 Marcadé – messenger
 Don Adriano de Armado – a fantastical Spaniard
 Moth – Armado's page
 Sir Nathaniel – curate
 Holofernes – schoolmaster
 Dull – constable
 Costard – a rustic
 Jaquenetta – country wench
 Forester
 Officers and others, attendants on the King and Princess
Synopsis[edit]
The first page of the play, printed in the First Folio of 1623.
Ferdinand, King of Navarre, and his three noble companions, the Lords Berowne, Dumaine, and
Longaville, take an oath not to give in to the company of women. They devote themselves to
three years of study and fasting; Berowne agrees somewhat more hesitantly than the others. The
King declares that no woman should come within a mile of the court. Don Adriano de Armado, a

Spaniard visiting the court, comes to tell the King of a tryst between Costard and Jaquenetta.
After the King sentences Costard, Don Armado confesses his own love for Jaquenetta to his
page, Moth. Don Armado writes Jaquenetta a letter and asks Costard to deliver it.
The Princess of France and her ladies arrive, wishing to speak to the King regarding the cession
of Aquitaine, but must ultimately make their camp outside the court due to the decree. In visiting
the Princess and her ladies at their camp, the King falls in love with the Princess, as do the lords
with the ladies. Berowne gives Costard a letter to deliver to the lady Rosaline, which Costard
switches with Don Armado's letter that was meant for Jaquenetta. Jaquenetta consults two
scholars, Holofernes and Sir Nathaniel, who conclude that the letter is written by Berowne and
instruct her to tell the King.
The King and his lords lie in hiding and watch one another as each subsequently reveals their
feelings of love. The King ultimately chastises the lords for breaking the oath, but Berowne
reveals that the King is likewise in love with the Princess. Jaquenetta and Costard enter with
Berowne's letter and accuse him of treason. Berowne confesses to breaking the oath, explaining
that the only study worthy of mankind is that of love, and he and the other men collectively
decide to relinquish the vow. Arranging for Holofernes to entertain the ladies later, the men then
dress as Muscovites and court the ladies in disguise. The Queen's courtier Boyet, having
overheard their planning, helps the ladies trick the men by disguising themselves as each other.
When the lords return as themselves, the ladies taunt them and expose their ruse.
Impressed by the ladies' wit, the men apologize, and when all identities are righted, they watch
Holofernes, Sir Nathaniel, Costard, Moth and Don Armado present the Nine Worthies. The four
lords and Boyet heckle the play, saving their sole praise for Costard, and Don Armado and
Costard almost come to blows when Costard reveals mid-pageant that Don Armado has got
Jaquenetta pregnant. Their spat is interrupted by news that the Princess's father has died. The
Princess makes plans to leave at once, and she and her ladies, readying for mourning, declare
that the men must wait a year and a day to prove their loves lasting. Don Armado announces he
will swear a similar oath to Jaquenetta and then presents the nobles with a song.
Sources[edit]
Love's Labour's Lost is, along with Shakespeare's The Tempest, a play without any obvious
sources.[1][2]
Some possible influences on Love's Labour's Lost can be found in the early plays
of John Lyly, Robert Wilson's The Cobbler's Prophecy (c. 1590) and Pierre de la
Primaudaye's L'Academie française (1577).[3]
Michael Dobson and Stanley Wells comment that it
has often been conjectured that the plot derives from "a now lost account of a diplomatic visit
made to Henry in 1578 by Catherine de Medici and her daughter Marguerite de Valois, Henry's
estranged wife, to discuss the future of Aquitaine, but this is by no means certain."[4]
The title page from the second quarto edition, printed in 1631.
The four main male characters are all loosely based on historical figures; Navarre is based
on Henry of Navarre (who later became King Henry IV of France), Berowne on Charles de
Gontaut, duc de Biron, Dumain on Charles, duc de Mayenne and Longaville on Henri I d'Orléans,
duc de Longueville.[5]
Biron in particular was well known in England because Robert Devereux,
2nd Earl of Essex, had joined forces with Biron's army in support of Henry in 1591.[4]
Albert
Tricomi states that "the play's humorous idealization could remain durable as long as the French
names of its principal characters remained familiar to Shakespeare's audiences. This means that

the witty portrayal of Navarre's court could remain reasonably effective until the assassination of
Henry IV in 1610. ... Such considerations suggest that the portrayals of Navarre and the civil-war
generals presented Elizabethan audiences not with a mere collection of French names in the
news, but with an added dramatic dimension which, once lost, helps to account for the
eclipse Love's Labour's Lost soon underwent."[6]
Critics have attempted to draw connections between notable Elizabethan English persons and
the characters of Don Armado, Moth, Sir Nathaniel, and Holofernes, with little success.[6]
Date and text[edit]
Most modern scholars believe the play was written in 1595 or 1596, making it contemporaneous
with Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream.[7]
Love's Labour's Lost was first
published in quarto in 1598 by the bookseller Cuthbert Burby. The title page states that the play
was "Newly corrected and augmented by W. Shakespere," which has suggested to some
scholars a revision of an earlier version.[8]
The play next appeared in print in the First Folio in
1623, with a later quarto in 1631. Love's Labour's Won is considered by some to be a lost
sequel.[9][10]
Love’s Labour’s Lost features the longest scene in all of Shakespeare’s plays (5.2), which,
depending upon formatting and editorial decisions, ranges from around 920 lines[11]
to just over
1000 lines.[12]
The First Folio records the scene at 942 lines.
The play also features the single longest word in all of Shakespeare's
plays: honorificabilitudinitatibus, spoken by Costard at 5.1.30.
The speech given by Berowne at 4.3.284–361 is potentially the longest in all of Shakespeare's
plays, depending on editorial choices. Shakespeare critic and editor Edward Capell has pointed
out that certain passages within the speech seem to be redundant and argues that these
passages represent a first draft which was not adequately corrected before going to
print.[13]
Specifically, lines 291–313 are “repeated in substance”[13]
further in the speech and are
sometimes omitted by editors.[14]
With no omissions, the speech is 77 lines and 588 words.
Analysis and criticism[edit]
Title[edit]
The title is normally given as Love's Labour's Lost. The use of apostrophes varies in early
editions. In its first 1598 quarto publication it appears as Loues labors [sic] loſt. In the 1623 First
Folio it is Loues Labour's Lost and in the 1631 edition it is Loues Labours Lost. In the Third
Folio it appears for the first time with the modern punctuation and spelling as Love's Labour's
Lost.[15]
Critic John Hale wrote that the title could be read as "love's labour is lost" or "the lost
labours of love" depending on punctuation. Hale suggests that the witty alliteration of the title is in
keeping with the pedantic nature of the play.[16]
In 1935 Frances Yates asserted that the title
derived from a line in John Florio's His firste Fruites (1578): "We neede not speak so much of
loue, al books are ful of lou, with so many authours, that it were labour lost to speake of
Loue",[17]
a source from which Shakespeare also took the untranslated Venetian proverb Venetia,
Venetia/Chi non ti vede non ti pretia (LLL 4.2.92–93) ("Venice, Venice, Who does not see you
cannot praise you").[18]
Reputation[edit]
Love's Labour's Lost abounds in sophisticated wordplay, puns, and literary allusions and is filled
with clever pastiches of contemporary poetic forms.[19]
Critic and historian John Pendergast states
that "perhaps more than any other Shakespearean play, it explores the power and limitations of
language, and this blatant concern for language led many early critics to believe that it was the
work of a playwright just learning his art."[20]
In The Western Canon (1994), Harold Bloom lauds
the work as "astonishing" and refers to it as Shakespeare's "first absolute achievement".[21]
It is
often assumed that the play was written for performance at the Inns of Court, whose students
would have been most likely to appreciate its style. It has never been among Shakespeare's
most popular plays, probably because its pedantic humour and linguistic density are extremely

demanding of contemporary theatregoers.[19][20]
The satirical allusions of Navarre's court are
likewise inaccessible, "having been principally directed to fashions of language that have long
passed away, and [are] consequently little understood, rather than in any great deficiency of
invention."[22]
Themes[edit]
Masculine desire[edit]
Masculine desire structures the play and helps to shape its action. The men's sexual appetite
manifests in their desire for fame and honour; the notion of women as dangerous to masculinity
and intellect is established early on. The King and his Lords' desires for their idealized women
are deferred, confused, and ridiculed throughout the play. As the play comes to a close, their
desire is deferred yet again, resulting in an increased exaltation of the women.[23]
Critic Mark Breitenberg commented that the use of idealistic poetry, popularized by Petrarch,
effectively becomes the textualized form of the male gaze.[23]
In describing and idealizing the
ladies, the King and his Lords exercise a form of control over women they love. Don Armado also
represents masculine desire through his relentless pursuit of Jacquenetta. The theme of desire is
heightened by the concern of increasing female sexuality throughout the Renaissance period and
the subsequent threat of cuckoldry. Politics of love, marriage, and power are equally forceful in
shaping the thread of masculine desire that drives the plot.[23]
Reckoning and rationalization[edit]
The term 'reckoning' is used in its multiple meanings throughout the Shakespeare
canon.[24]
In Love's Labour's Lost in particular, it is often used to signify a moral judgement; most
notably, the idea of a final reckoning as it relates to death. Though the play entwines fantasy and
reality, the arrival of the messenger to announce the death of the Princess's father ultimately
brings this notion to a head. Scholar Cynthia Lewis suggested that the appearance of the final
reckoning is necessary in reminding the lovers of the seriousness of marriage.[24]
The need to
settle the disagreement between Navarre and France likewise suggests an instance of
reckoning, though this particular reckoning is settled offstage. This is presented in stark contrast
to the final scene, in which the act of reckoning cannot be avoided. In acknowledging the
consequences of his actions, Don Armado is the only one to deal with his reckoning in a noble
manner. The Lords and the King effectively pass judgement on themselves, revealing their true
moral character when mocking the players during the representation of the Nine Worthies.[24]
Similar to reckoning is the notion of rationalization, which provides the basis for the swift change
in the ladies' feelings for the men. The ladies are able to talk themselves into falling in love with
the men due to the rationalization of the men's purported flaws. Lewis concluded that "the
proclivity to rationalize a position, a like, or a dislike, is linked in Love's Labour's Lost with the
difficulty of reckoning absolute value, whose slipperiness is indicated throughout the play."[24]
Reality versus fantasy[edit]
Critic Joseph Westlund wrote that Love's Labour's Lost functions as a "prelude to the more
extensive commentary on imagination in A Midsummer Night's Dream."[25]
There are several plot
points driven by fantasy and imagination throughout the play. The Lords and the King's
declaration of abstinence is a fancy that falls short of achievement. This fantasy rests on the
men's idea that the resulting fame will allow them to circumvent death and oblivion, a fantastical
notion itself. Within moments of swearing their oath, it becomes clear that their fantastical goal is
unachievable given the reality of the world, the unnatural state of abstinence itself, and the arrival
of the Princess and her ladies. This juxtaposition ultimately lends itself to the irony and humour in
the play.[25]
The commoners represent the theme of reality and achievement versus fantasy via their
production regarding the Nine Worthies. Like the men's fantastical pursuit of fame, the play within
a play represents the commoners' concern with fame. The relationship between the fantasy of
love and the reality of worthwhile achievement, a popular Renaissance topic, is also utilized
throughout the play. Don Armado attempts to reconcile these opposite desires using Worthies
who fell in love as model examples.[25]
Time is suspended throughout the play and is of little

substance to the plot. The Princess, though originally "craving quick dispatch," quickly falls under
the spell of love and abandons her urgent business. This suggests that the majority of the action
takes place within a fantasy world. Only with the news of the Princess's father's death are time
and reality reawakened.[25]
Music[edit]
Unlike many of Shakespeare’s plays, music plays a role only in the final scene of Love's Labour's
Lost. The songs of spring and winter, titled "Ver and Hiems" and "The Cuckoo and the Owl",
respectively, occur near the end of the play. Given the critical controversy regarding the exact
dating of Love's Labour's Lost, there is some indication that "the songs belong to the 1597
additions."[26]
Different interpretations of the meaning of these songs include: optimistic commentary for the
future, bleak commentary regarding the recent announcement of death, or an ironic device by
which to direct the King and his Lords towards a new outlook on love and life.[27]
In keeping with
the theme of time as it relates to reality and fantasy, these are seasonal songs that restore the
sense of time to the play. Due to the opposing nature of the two songs, they can be viewed as a
debate on the opposing attitudes on love found throughout the play.[25]
Catherine McLay
comments that the songs are functional in their interpretation of the central themes in Love's
Labour's Lost.[26]
McLay also suggests that the songs negate what many consider to be a
"heretical" ending for a comedy. The songs, a product of traditional comedic structure, are a
method by which the play can be "[brought] within the periphery of the usual comic definition."[26]
Critic Thomas Berger states that, regardless of the meaning of these final songs, they are
important in their contrast with the lack of song throughout the rest of the play.[27]
In cutting
themselves off from women and the possibility of love, the King and his Lords have effectively cut
themselves off from song. Song is allowed into the world of the play at the beginning of Act III,
after the Princess and her ladies have been introduced and the men begin to fall in love. Moth’s
song "Concolinel" indicates that the vows will be broken.[27]
In Act I, Scene II, Moth recites a
poem but fails to sing it. Don Armado insists that Moth sing it twice, but he does not. Berger
infers that a song was intended to be inserted at this point, but was never written. Had a song
been inserted at this point of the play, it would have followed dramatic convention of the time,
which often called for music between scenes.[27]
Performance history[edit]

A photograph of John Drew as the King of Navarre in Augustin Daly's production.
The earliest recorded performance of the play occurred at Christmas in 1597 at the Court before
Queen Elizabeth. A second performance is recorded to have occurred in 1605, either at the
house of the Earl of Southampton or at that of Robert Cecil, Lord Cranborne. The first known
production after Shakespeare's era was not until 1839, at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden,
with Madame Vestris as Rosaline.[28]
The Times was unimpressed, stating: "The play moved very
heavily. The whole dialogue is but a string of brilliant conceits, which, if not delivered well, are
tedious and unintelligible. The manner in which it was played last night destroyed the brilliancy
completely, and left a residuum of insipidity which was encumbered rather than relieved by the
scenery and decorations."[29]
The only other performances of the play recorded in England in the
19th century were at Sadler's Wells in 1857 and the St. James's Theatre in 1886.[30]
Notable 20th-century British productions included a 1936 staging at the Old Vic featuring Michael
Redgrave as Ferdinand and Alec Clunes as Berowne. In 1949, the play was given at the New
Theatre with Redgrave in the role of Berowne.[31]
The cast of a 1965 Royal Shakespeare
Company production included Glenda Jackson, Janet Suzman and Timothy West.[32]
In 1968, the
play was staged by Laurence Olivier for the National Theatre, with Derek Jacobi as the Duke
and Jeremy Brett as Berowne.[33]
The Royal Shakespeare Company produced the play again in
1994. The critic Michael Billington wrote in his review of the production: "The more I see Love's
Labour's Lost, the more I think it Shakespeare's most beguiling comedy. It both celebrates and
satisfies linguistic exuberance, explores the often painful transition from youth to maturity, and
reminds us of our common mortality."[34]
In late summer 2005, an adaptation of the play was staged in the Dari language in Kabul,
Afghanistan by a group of Afghan actors, and was reportedly very well received.[35]
A 2009 staging by Shakespeare's Globe theatre, with artistic direction by Dominic Dromgoole,
toured internationally. Ben Brantley, in The New York Times, called the production, seen at Pace
University, "sophomoric". He postulated that the play itself "may well be the first and best
example of a genre that would flourish in less sophisticated forms five centuries later: the college
comedy."[36]
In 2014, the Royal Shakespeare Company completed a double-feature in which Love's Labour's
Lost, set on the eve of the First World War, is followed by Much Ado About Nothing (re-
titled Love's Labour's Won). Dominic Cavendish of the Telegraph called it "the most blissfully

entertaining and emotionally involving RSC offering I’ve seen in ages" and remarked that
"Parallels between the two works – the sparring wit, the sex-war skirmishes, the shift from showy
linguistic evasion to heart-felt earnestness – become persuasively apparent."[37]
Adaptations[edit]
Literature[edit]
The start of a performance of Love's Labour's Lost at the Globe Theatre.
Alfred Tennyson's poem The Princess (and, by extension, Gilbert and Sullivan's comic
opera Princess Ida) is speculated by Gerhard Joseph to have been inspired by Love's Labour's
Lost.[38]
Thomas Mann in his novel Doctor Faustus (1943) has the fictional German composer Adrian
Leverkühn attempt to write an opera on the story of the play.[39]
Musical theatre, opera, and plays[edit]
An opera of the same title as the play was composed by Nicolas Nabokov, with a libretto by W.
H. Auden and Chester Kallman, and first performed in 1973.
In the summer of 2013, The Public Theater in New York City presented a musical adaptation of
the play as part of their Shakespeare in the Park programming. This production marked the first
new Shakespeare-based musical to be produced at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park since
the 1971 mounting of The Two Gentlemen of Verona with music by Galt MacDermot. The
adaptation of Love's Labour's Lost featured a score by Bloody Bloody Andrew
Jackson collaborators Michael Friedman and Alex Timbers. Timbers also directed the production,
which starred Daniel Breaker, Colin Donnell, Rachel Dratch, and Patti Murin, among others.[40]
Marc Palmieri's 2015 play The Groundling,[41]
a farce the NY Times referred to as "half comedy
and half tragedy", was billed as a "meditation on the meaning of the final moments of Love's
Labour's Lost".[42]
Film, television and radio[edit]
Main article: Love's Labour's Lost (film)
Kenneth Branagh's 2000 film adaptation relocated the setting to the 1930s and attempted to
make the play more accessible by turning it into a musical. The film was a box office
disappointment.[43]
The play was one of the last works to be recorded for the BBC Television Shakespeare project,
broadcast in 1985. The production set events in the eighteenth century, the costumes and sets
being modeled on the paintings of Jean-Antoine Watteau. This was the only instance in the

project of a work set in a period after Shakespeare's death.[44]
The play is featured in an episode
of the British TV show, Doctor Who. The episode, entitled The Shakespeare Code focuses on
Shakespeare himself and a hypothetical follow-up play, Love's Labour's Won, whose final scene
is used as a portal for alien witches to invade Earth. All copies of this play disappear along with
the witches.[45]
BBC Radio 3 aired a radio adaptation on 16 December 1946, directed by Noel Illif, with music
by Gerald Finzi scored for a small chamber orchestra. The cast included Paul Scofield. The
music was subsequently converted into an orchestral suite.[46]
BBC Radio 3 aired another radio
adaptation on 22 February 1979, directed by David Spenser, with music by Derek Oldfield. The
cast included Michael Kitchen as Ferdinand; John McEnery as Berowne; Anna Massey as the
Princess of France; Eileen Atkins as Rosaline; and Paul Scofield as Don Adriano.[47]
Two independent filmmakers in Austin, Texas are currently in post-production for a new film
adaptation of Love's Labour's Lost, set in a modern-day boarding school.[48][49]
From 16 July 2015, a vlog adaptation titled "Lovely Little Losers" airs on YouTube, created
by The Candle Wasters.[50][51]
Notes[edit]
1. ^ Woudhuysen, H. R., ed. Love's Labours Lost (London: Arden Shakespeare, 1998): 61.
2. ^ Cymbeline also falls into this category to some extent, although that play draws strands of its
narrative from some texts agreed on by modern scholars.
3. ^ Kerrigan, J. ed. "Love's Labours Lost", New Penguin Shakespeare, Harmondsworth
1982, ISBN 0-14-070738-7
4. ^ Jump up to:a b Dobson, M. and Wells, S. The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare, Oxford
University Press, 2001, p. 264
5. ^ G.R. Hibbard (ed), Love's Labour's Lost (Oxford University Press, 1990), p. 49
6. ^ Jump up to:a b Tricomi, Albert (1979). "The Witty Idealization of the French Court in Love's
Labor's Lost". Shakespeare Studies. 12: 25–33.
7. ^ Woudhuysen, H. R., ed. Love's Labour's Lost (London: Arden Shakespeare, 1998): 59.
8. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.See title
page of facsimile of the original 1st edition (1598)
9. ^ Woudhuysen, H. R. (ed.) Love's Labour's Lost (London: Arden, 1998), pp. 80–81
10. ^ Carroll, William C. (ed.) Love's Labour's Lost (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009),
pp. 39–40
11. ^ Mabillard, Amanda. "Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost 5.2 – The Owl and the Cuckoo. Tu-
whit to-who". www.shakespeare-online.com. Archived from the original on 29 December 2017.
12. ^ Poston, Rebecca Niles, Michael. "Folger Digital
Texts". www.folgerdigitaltexts.org. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
13. ^ Jump up to:a b Furness, Horace Howard. (ed.) Love's Labour's Lost A New Variorum Edition of
Shakespeare (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1904), pp. 192–194
14. ^ Poston, Rebecca Niles, Michael. "Folger Digital
Texts". www.folgerdigitaltexts.org. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
15. ^ J. O. Halliwell-Phillips, Memoranda on Love's Labour's Lost, King John, Othello, and on Romeo
and Juliet, Read Books, 2008 (reprint), p.11.
16. ^ Hale, John (1997). "Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost". Explicator. 56 (1):
9. doi:10.1080/00144949709595237.
17. ^ Yates, Frances A. A Study of Love's Labour's Lost, Pennsylvania: Folcroft Press (1936), p. 35
18. ^ Elam, Keir. "'At the cubiculo': Shakespeare’s Problems with Italian Language and Culture"
in Italian culture in the drama of Shakespeare & his contemporaries: Rewriting, Remaking,
Refashioning, Michele Marrapodi, ed. Anglo-Italian Renaissance Studies Series. Aldershot:
Ashgate, pp. 99–110 [100]. ISBN 978-0-7546-5504-6.
19. ^ Jump up to:a b Woudhuysen, H.R. (2001). "Love's Labour's Lost". In Proudfoot, Richard; et al.
(eds.). The Arden Shakespeare complete works (2 ed.). London: Thomson. p. 743. ISBN 978-1-
903436-61-5.
20. ^ Jump up to:a b Pendergast, John (2002). Love's Labour's Lost: A Guide to the Play. Greenwood
Press.

21. ^ Bloom, Harold (2014). The Western Canon. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 46. ISBN 978-
0547546483.
22. ^ Halliwell-Phillipps, J.O. (1879). "Memoranda on Love's Labour's Lost".
23. ^ Jump up to:a b c Breitenberg, Mark (1992). "The Anatomy of Masculine Desire in Love's Labor's
Lost". Shakespeare Quarterly. 43 (4): 430–449. doi:10.2307/2870863. JSTOR 2870863.
24. ^ Jump up to:a b c d Lewis, Cynthia (2008). "'We Know What We Know': Reckoning in Love's
Labor's Lost". Studies in Philology. 105 (2): 245–264. doi:10.1353/sip.2008.0008.
25. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e Westlund, Joseph (1967). "Fancy and Achievement in Love's Labor's
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London, 1967
32. ^ "More Intelligent than Theatrical". The Times. 8 April 1965. p. 6.
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35. ^ Qais Akbar Omar and Stephen Landrigan, "Shakespeare in Kabul", in East-West Diwan: in
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New York Times. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017.
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Shakespeare Theatre, review: 'blissfully entertaining'". Archived from the original on 20 June 2017
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Editions[edit]

 Bate, Jonathan and Rasmussen, Eric (eds.) Love's Labour's Lost (The RSC Shakespeare;
London: Macmillan, 2008)
 Arthos, John (ed.) Love's Labour's Lost (Signet Classic Shakespeare; New York: Signet,
1965; revised edition, 1988; 2nd revised edition 2004)
 Carroll, William C. (ed.) Love's Labour's Lost (The New Cambridge Shakespeare;
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009)
 David, Richard T. (ed.) Love's Labour's Lost (The Arden Shakespeare, 2nd Series; London:
Arden, 1951)
 Furness, H.H. (ed.) Love's Labour's Lost (A New Variourm Edition of Shakespeare;
Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1904)
 Evans, G. Blakemore (ed.) The Riverside Shakespeare (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1974; 2nd
edn., 1997)
 Greenblatt, Stephen; Cohen, Walter; Howard, Jean E. and Maus, Katharine Eisaman
(eds.) The Norton Shakespeare: Based on the Oxford Shakespeare (London: Norton, 1997)
 Harbage, Alfred (ed.) Love's Labour's Lost (The Pelican Shakespeare; London: Penguin,
1963; revised edition 1973)
 Hart, H.C. (ed.) Love's Labour's Lost (The Arden Shakespeare, 1st Series; London: Arden,
1906)
 Hibbard, G.R. (ed.) Love's Labour's Lost (The Oxford Shakespeare; Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1990)
 Holland, Peter (ed.) Love's Labour's Lost (The Pelican Shakespeare, 2nd Edition; London:
Penguin, 2000)
 Kerrigan, John (ed.) Love's Labour's Lost (The New Penguin Shakespeare; London:
Penguin, 1982; revised edition 1996)
 Quiller-Couch, Arthur and Dover Wilson, John (eds.) Love's Labour' Lost (The New
Shakespeare; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1923; 2nd edn. edited by Dover
Wilson only, 1962)
 Walton, Nicholas (ed.) Love's Labour's Lost (The New Penguin Shakespeare 2nd edition;
London: Penguin, 2005)
 Wells, Stanley; Taylor, Gary; Jowett, John and Montgomery, William (eds.) The Oxford
Shakespeare: The Complete Works (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986; 2nd edn., 2005)
 Werstine, Paul and Mowat, Barbara A. (eds.) Love's Labour's Lost (Folger Shakespeare
Library; Washington: Simon & Schuster, 1996)
 Woudhuysen, H.R. (ed.) Love's Labour's Lost (The Arden Shakespeare, 3rd Series; London:
Arden, 1998)
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 Love's Labour's Lost public domain audiobook at LibriVox
Summary gradesaver
King Ferdinand of Navarre and his three closest lords—
Biron, Dumainand Longaville—have taken a vow abstinence from the sensual
pleasures of life to devote three years to the pursuit of knowledge. This task will involve
isolated themselves in the court with extreme limitation upon contact with ladies of the
court. The only one of the four exhibiting doubt about the plan is Biron, but finally he
too signs the oath. Wouldn’t you know this signing is coincident with a visit from
the Princess of France.
Meanwhile, Constable Dull arrives with news about a criminal act by a man
named Costard: flirting with an innocent country girl. Costard is punished for this
transgression with Don Armado the enforcer.
The Princess arrives and is taken aback by the rather inhospitable treatment. The King
and his lords arrive and each is instantly smith with the Princess or one of her ladies.
Biron pressures Costard into delivering love letter to Rosaline, one of those ladies.
Costard has also become the messenger for a letter from Don Armado to
lady Jaquenetta. Bad decision by both men, as Costard gets the letters confused and
winds up delivering them to the wrong lady.
The results are some comical confusions regarding who loves who and plenty of told-
you-so moments from Biron who felt the whole premise of trying to spend three years
studying without giving into the temptations of the flesh was hopelessly doomed from
the beginning. The climax begins with the males disguising themselves as Russians in
order to play a trick upon them, but the women are to cunning and after discovering
their plans beforehand, set about making sure each lord sets to wooing the unintended
object of his affection.
The fluffy tone of light banter and clever repartee suddenly changes when news arrives
for the Princess that her father as died. They women prepare to head back to France
amid affirmations of sincerity in their love from the men. An agreement is made that if
they men are really serious, they must take another vow to commit to certain practices
for another year.
Ferdinand
Ferdinand is the King of Navarre. The plot of the play revolves around his decision—
made in conjunction with Biron, Longaville, and Dumain, to recreate the king’s court in

the image of an academic utopia which be “contemplative in living art.” To get to that
point requires an oath made by all to spend three years studying, fasting, sleeping little
and with absolutely no women while doing so
Biron
Of the three great friends of the King who join him in his determination to create an
academic utopia, Biron is quite clearly the most quick-witted and entertaining
character. Many critics have pointed to this more razor sharp characterization as
evidence that Shakespeare was already working his way toward Biron’s more popular
successors like Benedick from Much Ado about Nothing.
Longaville
The second of the courtiers who briefly maintain the oaths foresworn alongside their
King. In fact, he signs up for the three year fast from food, sleep and women before the
Biron. Quite possibly because he lacks Biron’s natural charm and wit and rather than
expressing that lacking in jealousy and envy, tends to reveal that he wishes he were
more like him.
Dumain
A little less than Biron and perhaps just a little slightly more than Longaville. Or perhaps
less. Certainly not the equal in wit of Biron, but capable of holding his own during many
free-spirited demonstrations of the learning all four men aspire to.
Princess of France
The best-laid plans of Kings and courtiers to keep the dreaded company 0f women from
ruining their idea of an ideal utopia is almost immediately put to the test with the
arrival of the Princess of France and—surprise!—her THREE ladies-in-waiting. Destined
to become the French Queen after some waiting of her own, the Princess arrives in
Navarre with some plans of her own to take home rights to the province of Aquitaine in
the name of her father.
Rosaline
One of those ladies-in-waiting of the Princess is Rosaline. Since the play contains a King
and Princess, the expectation that much of the action will focus on the inevitable
evolution of their romance that quashes the King’s three-year plan. Like Much ado about
Nothing, however, audience attention almost always shifts to the romance developing
between their underlings, Biron and Rosaline. Just as Biron is a rough draft of Benedick,
so is Rosaline clearly a precursor to Beatrice. Rosaline is way more than capable of just
keeping up Biron which is no mean feat for any man in Navarre.
Maria
Just as Rosaline is the ideal fit for Biron, so is Maria a perfect match for Longaville.
Which is to say, she is somewhat less than Rosaline…and, well, less than Katherine as
well.
Katherine
With only one of the King’s courtiers not already hooking up with one of the ladies-in-
waiting, readers might well expect that Katherine ends up with Dumain. And, indeed,
she does. Notably interesting about Katherine, however, is we learn through a bit of so-
called wit from Rosaline that her face is marked with pocks.
Boyet

Boyet is one of the lords who arrives with the Princess of France. Boyet is proof enough
that merely being in the orbit of wit can elevate one’s own sense of wit. Or, perhaps,
thing have worked the other way around. Boyet is a strange figure in the play, seeming
to inhabit a presence that goes well beyond his official role as presenter of royalty and
announce of new arrivals.
Marcade
Marcade is another lord of the French court who makes announcements. He takes stage
only near the end of the play, but the message he brings is absolutely vital to the
progression of the narrative towards its climax.
Don Adrianade Armado
What are a King and his three lords to do for entertainment for three years without
women? Make sport of those they find amusing in their inability to rise to their own
level, of course. Don Adriano de Armado thinks exactly along the same lines as those
who find him amusing, however, so one might suggest that it is as a knowing parody of
their own intellectual failings that the King and his gang of three really make sport of.
Or, perhaps, it is just the sound of Armado trying to keep pace with their witticism
through repetitive responses marked by clever-sounding but ultimately nonsensical
verbiage.
Moth
Moth is one of those Shakespearean characters that you ultimately decide he simply did
not provide enough to do. Moth is Armado’s page, but he is every bit as clever as the
fasting four when it comes to recognizing the pomposity of his master and using his
quick wit to undercut that pomposity at every opportunity. The only real problem is
that he just is not given enough opportunity.
Costard
Costard is Shakespeare’s early attempt at creating one of his beloved clowns which
populate his canon. Costard is another tool of amusement for the King and his crew
when the lack of sleep and women get to be just a little too taxing on the focus toward
creating an academic utopia. He engages in both physical and verbal pratfalls…as
clowns do.
Holofernes
What is the opposite of a truly inspired education that can stimulate an academic
utopia? An uninspired education that results in a pedantic dystopia. Such is the evidence
that Holofernes and his brethren are intended to reveal. Holofernes is evidence enough
that the concept of a little learning being a dangerous thing is very true as his epic
attempts to demonstrate his own capacity for learning through expressions of
witticisms fail miserably and contribute to those scenes in the play most likely to
irritate modern audiences.
Nathaniel
A local curate for local people, Nathaniel looks upon the exhibitions of education
spewing forth from Holofernes like educated manna from the gods…not his God, of
course, but some god, anyway.
Dull
The dystopia of the pedants already has representatives from the worlds of education
and religion, but what about enforcing authority? Enter the pedantically appropriate

head of the constabulary in the anti-utopia that parallels the utopia ideal the King and
his men seek to establish.
Jaquenetta
Jacquenetta is a rather lusty local wench who stands in direct parallel to the somewhat
sexually standoffish Princess of France. She attracts the eyes of both Costard and Don
Adriano de Armado and this leads to one of the typical mix-ups that characterize the
romantic entanglements in Shakespearean comedy.
Plot summary
Love's Labour's Lost: Plot Summary
From Stories of Shakespeare's Comedies by Helene Adeline Guerber.
New York: Dodd, Mead and company (1910).
Act I
The first act opens in the park of the King of Navarre. He enters upon the
scene announcing he has decided to lead the contemplative life hereafter,
with three friends, who have sworn to share his studies for the next three
years. During this time 'Navarre shall be the wonder of the world,' and his
court 'a little Academe, still and contemplative in living art.' One of these
noblemen, Longaville, fancies that during that time 'the mind shall banquet,
though the body pine,' Dumain, that he will enjoy 'living in philosophy,' while
the third, Biron, deems it will be easy to study that length of time, but that
the stipulations not to speak to women, to fast, and never to sleep more,
than three hours a night, will prove 'barren tasks, too hard to keep.'
The king, however, assures him that, having joined his company, he will
have to keep the oath, although Biron objects it was taken merely in jest.
He declares his private study shall henceforth be how to feast when told to
fast, how to meet some lady fair, and wittily demonstrates that such is the
aim and end of all study. His humorous retorts to royal objections fill up the
greater part of the scene, the remarks exchanged bristling with witty
epigrams, wherein the poet's talent is freely displayed. Seeing his principal
companion has turned restive, the king finally suggests that Biron leave
them to their studies, whereupon the latter rejoins he will remain with them,
and sign the paper the king produces. Before doing so, however, he reads
aloud the peculiar item, 'that no woman shall come within a mile of my
court,' a decree published four days ago under penalty that any woman
drawing near the palace will lose her tongue. The second item is that any
man seen talking to a woman during the next three years will have to
undergo such punishment as his companions decree.

When Biron hints the king himself will be the first to break this rule, since
the French King's daughter is on her way to consult with him in regard to
the cession of Aquitane, Navarre admits he forgot that fact when the paper
was drawn up, and that there will have to be an exception made in the
princess' favour. Hearing his royal master plead necessity, Biron sagely
remarks, 'Necessity will make us all forsworn three thousand times within
this three years' space, for every man with his affects is born!'
Nevertheless, he signs the decree, and states that, although he seems 'so
loath,' he is confident he will be 'the last that will last keep his oath!'
When he inquires what recreation is to be granted, the king explains how
Armado, a refined traveller from Spain, who 'hath a mint of phrases in his
brain,' will delight them with tales of his native country. Hearing this, Biron
seems to be satisfied, but the others frankly admit their chief amusement
will be derived from Costard, the rustic. Just then, this man is brought in by
the constable Dull, who also delivers to the king a letter from Armado.
While his majesty is reading it, Costard informs Biron how he was caught
with Jaquenetta in the park, and that, although ' it is the manner of a man to
speak to a woman,' he is now to be punished for it.
The king next proceeds to read aloud his letter, wherein, with much wordy
circumlocution, Armado describes how he found Costard — whom he
honours with epithets the rustic acknowledges as applicable to him —
talking 'with a child of our grandmother Eve, a female!' The letter concludes
with the statement that the swain is sent in the constable's custody to the
king to be judged, Armado meanwhile keeping the other delinquent in his
house ready to produce her at the king's request. This reading finished, his
majesty begins to cross-question Costard, who admits speaking to a
woman, although he insists he did not thereby infringe the law, as it
declared any one taken with a 'wench' would be arrested! The rustic claims
that a virgin, damsel, or maid, is not a 'wench,' an excuse the king refuses
to accept. He, therefore, decrees that in punishment. Costard shall fast a
week on bran and water, Biron himself delivering him over to Armado, who
is to act as keeper during that space of time. Then the king leaves the
scene with two of his friends, while Biron lingers to exclaim he is ready to
wager his head 'these oaths and laws will prove an idle scorn.' This
assurance Costard echoes, stating he is suffering for truth's sake ere Dull
leads him away.
The next scene is played on the same spot, where Armado is bidding his
pupil Moth tell him what it portends when a man grows melancholy. Then
the two indulge in a duel of repartee, wherein they parade their wit and
learning. After calling for an explanation of almost every term Moth uses,
Armado finally reveals he has promised to study three years with the king,
but has already broken his promise by falling deeply in love with a lowly

maiden. To comfort himself, he has his disciple recapitulate the names of
the world's great lovers, and describe the charms of their lady-loves. Still,
Armado avers all pale before the 'white and red' of his own charmer, in
whose toils he is completely caught. Next, still hoping to divert his thoughts,
the master invites the pupil to sing, but before the song can begin several
persons draw near.
Among them we see the constable Dull, who reports the king has sent
Costard to Armado to be detained a prisoner, and has decreed that
Jaquenetta shall remain in the park as dairy-maid. This news pleases
Armado, who arranges to visit his new sweetheart at the lodge, ere he
dismisses her and Dull. Then, he entrusts Costard's keeping to Moth, and
when they have gone off together, indulges in a soliloquy in regard to his
passion for Jaquenetta, for whose sake he is forsworn, and in whose
honour he proposes to indite a sonnet.
Act II
The second act opens before the same park, just as the Princess of France
and her train arrive on the scene. The chamberlain, Boyet, now bids his
mistress pluck up spirit, as her father has sent her hither to obtain from the
King of Navarre the restoration of Aquitaine. The princess, however,
deeming this task beyond her strength, dreads it, for she counts little upon
her physical charms. Besides, she has heard it rumoured Navarre has
withdrawn from society for three years of silent study, during which no
woman will be allowed to approach his court! Not daring to brave such a
decree herself, the princess sends her chamberlain into the park, to inform
the King of Navarre that the daughter of the King of France is waiting at his
gates for an interview, 'on serious business, craving quick dispatch.'
The chamberlain having departed with cheerful alacrity to execute these
orders, the princess inquires of her train whether any of them know the
gentlemen who have joined the king in his studious retirement. When
Longaville, Dumain, and Biron are mentioned, Maria, Katharine, and
Rosaline describe in turn how they became acquainted with these lords,
each description proving so laudatory on the whole, that the princess
declares all three must be in love, for each has garnished her lover with
'bedecking ornaments of praise!' The ladies have barely finished their
euphuistic descriptions of the three knights, when the chamberlain returns,
announcing that, unable to admit them on account of his oath, the King of
Navarre will come out and speak to them at the gate, as that will be no
infringement of his word.
A moment later, his majesty appears with his three companions and train,
and gallantly bids the fair French princess welcome to his court of Navarre,

When the princess, in return, ironically welcomes him 'to the wide fields,'
the king explains with embarrassment that he has sworn an oath he cannot
break. The princess, however, archly predicts it will soon be violated, and
enters into a conversation with the king, while Biron entertains Rosaline,
both couples testing each other's mettle in the then fashionable game of
repartee.
After some polite verbal skirmishing, the king states the question as he
understands it, promising that, as the princess has come to settle the
business in her father's behalf, she shall return 'well satisfied to France
again,' although he intimates the King of France's demands are unjust.
When the princess reproaches him with not acknowledging the payments
her father has made, Navarre courteously rejoins he has never heard of
them, but is willing, if she proves her case, either to repay the sum in full, or
to surrender Aquitaine, which he holds in pledge. Although unable to
produce the required documents on the spot, — for the packet containing
them has not yet arrived, — the princess accepts the offer and begs the
king to postpone decision until the morrow. Navarre, therefore, takes
courteous leave, again regretting not to be able to receive the fair princess
more worthily within his gates, but assuring her 'here without you shall be
so received as you shall deem yourself lodged in my heart, though so
denied fair harbour in my house.' Then, returning her gracious farewell with
the oft-quoted, 'Thy own wish wish I thee in every place!' Navarre departs.
Meantime, Biron, who has been conversing with the quick-witted Rosaline,
takes leave of her, too, and rejoins his master, while Dumain and
Longaville linger behind to ask the chamberlain the names of two of the
princess' attendants who have particularly attracted their notice. It is quite
evident both these gentlemen have fallen in love, as well as Biron, who, as
soon as they have gone, returns to ask Boyet Rosaline's name, and to
ascertain whether she is already married.
The gentlemen once out of hearing, Maria declares the last to go was
Biron, a man who enjoys the reputation of never uttering a word save in
jest. Such being the case, the chamberlain rejoins he answered the
stranger in his own vein, and encouraged by Maria's playfulness,
volunteers to kiss her. She, however, refuses such advances, declaring her
lips are 'no common,' and chaffing him until the princess remarks they must
save their wit to exercise it on Navarre and 'his book-men.' Hearing this, the
chamberlain gallantly assures his royal mistress the King of Navarre fell so
deeply in love with her at first sight, that, provided she play her part well, he
will give her 'Aquitaine and all that is his,' in return for 'one loving kiss.'
Pretending to consider such a remark impertinent, the princess retires to
her pavilion, while her maids linger to gibe at Boyet, whom they term 'an

old love-monger,' since he is to be their messenger whenever they wish to
communicate with the unapproachable court of Navarre.
Act III
The third act opens in the same place, just as Armado is enjoining upon
Moth to sing to him, and after listening to his song, bids him release
Costard, so he can carry a letter to his love. After commenting upon these
orders in wordy style, and arguing for a while about love, the pupil goes,
and Armado, the pedant, sinks into melancholy. He is roused from his
reflections by Moth's return with Costard, whom he introduces by a pun,
which gives rise to another display of recondite wit on the part of master
and pupil. It is only after some time, therefore, that the love-letter is
entrusted to the wondering Costard, who is told to deliver it to Jaquenetta.
Delighted with his freedom, and with the gift which the pedant
grandiloquently terms a 'remuneration,' Costard watches master and pupil
depart, and then reaches the conclusion that remuneration must be the
Latin for 'three farthings.' Still, as that is a larger sum than he has ever
before received, he is so pleased with the term that he vows, 'I will never
buy or sell out of this word.'
The rustic is still commenting upon his unusual luck, when Biron joins him,
and, after some talk in regard to the purchasing power of three farthings,
retains his services for the afternoon. Then Biron confides to the rustic that
he wishes a letter delivered to Rosaline, one of the ladies in the princess'
train. He has noticed that the ladies daily hunt in this part of the forest, and
wishes his 'sealed up counsel,' safely placed in Rosaline's fair hand. To
insure this he now hands Costard, with the letter, a 'guerdon,' which proves
to be a whole shilling, thus causing the rustic to hope none but 'gardons'
will henceforth come his way.
The delighted Costard having departed, Biron, in a soliloquy, confesses he
has fallen victim to 'Dan Cupid,' whose wiles he eloquently describes, for
he, who has ever made fun of 'his almighty dreadful little might,' is now
reduced to 'love, write, sigh, pray, sue, and groan.'
Act IV
The fourth act, played in the same place, reveals the princess with her
hunting train inquiring of the chamberlain whether it was the king who in the
distance, 'spurred his horse so hard against the steep uprising of the hill.'
Because the chamberlain seems doubtful, the princess haughtily remarks
that, whoever it was, he showed a 'mounting mind,' and concludes that his
majesty's answer is due to-day, and that they will return home as soon as it
is received. Then, turning to the forester, she inquires where she had better

post herself, for she prides herself upon her fine shooting. While conversing
wittily with this gentleman forester, and with her chamberlain, the princess
is suddenly accosted by Costard, who blunderingly asks whether she is 'the
head lady.' Amused by his awkwardness and simplicity, the princess
mystifies him for a while, and then only asks for whom his message is
intended. On learning it is a letter, from Monsieur Biron to Lady Rosaline,
the princess takes possession of it, vowing it shall be read aloud to all
present. She, therefore, breaks the seal, and hands it to her chamberlain,
who finds it is addressed to Jaquenetta. Still, as his mistress insists upon
hearing it, the chamberlain reads aloud a missive couched in such
grandiloquent style that it hugely amuses the princess. She is still
marvelling at its succession of parentheses within parentheses, when
Boyet assures her it can have been penned only by Armado, a fantastic
traveller, who 'makes sport to the prince and his book-mates.'
Hearing this, the princess questions the rustic, who artlessly tells her Lord
Biron gave him the letter for Lady Rosaline. Coldly informing him he has
made a mistake, the princess hands over the letter to Rosaline, and leaves,
followed by most of her train. The chamberlain, lingering behind with
Rosaline, teasingly tries to obtain some information from her, but
encounters only clever, evasive answers, couched in the style of the times.
When Rosaline and Katharine have followed their mistress, the
chamberlain and Maria pump the rustic, who answers their witticisms in
kind until they leave him with a reproof. Thus left to his own devices.
Costard declares he is 'a most simple clown,' whom these lords and ladies
are trying to mystify, but expresses keen admiration for Armado, whose
manners in ladies' company seem to him the acme of elegance.
After the rustic has left, the scene is occupied by the schoolmaster
Holofernes, the curate Sir Nathaniel, and the constable Dull, who discuss
learnedly about hunting matters, the schoolmaster, in particular,
interspersing his remarks with Latin words. which he ostentatiously
translates for the benefit of his companions. They are both duly impressed,
although the constable, ignorant of classic tongues, often mistakes a Latin
word for some similar sounding expression in English. The curate,
however, charitably explains and excuses such errors, by saying Dull has
'never fed of the dainties that are bred in a book,' that 'he hath not eat
paper, as it were; he hath not drunk ink!' These excuses seem somewhat
uncalled for by Dull, who, to exhibit some learning, too, propounds a riddle
as old as the hills, which his companions solve without difficulty. This three-
cornered conversation continues until interrupted by the arrival of
Jaquenetta and Costard.
Returning their greetings in his pedantic way, the schoolmaster learns that
Jaquenetta has received a letter through Costard, which she wishes to

have read aloud to her. After a sonorous Latin quotation from Holofernes,
— which the curate admires, — the latter reads aloud Biron's flowery
epistle, couched in verse far too elegant for Jaquenetta to understand. The
pedantic schoolmaster, however, criticises the curate's mode of reading
poetry, and vows he did not accent the lines properly. Then he demands of
the damsel who the writer of this epistle may be, and when told, 'Biron, one
of the strange queen's lords,' glances in surprise at the superscription. Now
only, he discovers it is addressed 'to the snow-white hand of the most
beauteous Lady Rosaline,' and notices that the signature is 'your ladyship's
in all desired employment, Biron.' From this fact he sagely concludes the
letter has fallen into the wrong hands, and bids Jaquenetta hasten to
deliver it to the King of Navarre. Afraid to venture alone, Jaquenetta again
bespeaks Costard's escort, and, after they have gone, the schoolmaster
and curate discuss the verses, ere both depart; the former to dine with one
of his pupils, to which meal he invites the constable Dull.
They have barely left this picturesque glade when Biron appears there,
holding a paper, and declaring that, while the king is hunting the deer, he is
coursing himself, for love pursues him incessantly and inclines him to
melancholy and rhyming. While regretting he should have perjured himself
so soon, he wonders whether his companions are afflicted with the same
mad disease, until he suddenly becomes aware the king is drawing near,
and hides in the bushes to take note of what he is doing. Deeming himself
alone, the king sighs in such a sentimental way that Biron exclaims in an
aside that his master has fallen victim to Cupid's art. He decides that by
lending an attentive ear he may discover the royal secrets, and is soon
rewarded by overhearing Navarre thoughtfully recite some verses he has
composed, wherein he reveals how desperately he has fallen in love with
the French princess. These lines he intends to drop in her way, just as
Longaville draws near in his turn, also reading aloud. Wishing to ascertain
why his follower is prowling thus alone in the forest, and what he is reading,
the king plunges into the bushes, to spy upon him.
Utterly unconscious of two listeners, Longaville now strolls forward, wailing
he is forsworn, which causes the king and Biron to remark separately that
he is acting exactly like a man on the stage. But when the unfortunate man
wonders whether he is first to perjure himself, a whisper from Biron in the
bushes avers that three, at least, of their band are guilty of this sin!
Meantime, Longaville expresses fear lest his stubborn lines fail to impress
'sweet Maria, empress of my love,' and seems for a while inclined to tear
them up and resort to plain prose. Still, after perusing them aloud, to the
secret entertainment of his listeners, who comment upon his pompous
lines, he decides to send them, although he does not know by what
agency.

At this point, Longaville is disturbed in his cogitations by the sound of
approaching footsteps, and promptly hides in his turn, while Biron mutters
that they are acting just like children, while he sits aloft like a demigod in
the sky, discovering 'wretched fools' secrets.' Unconscious of three
eavesdroppers, Dumain comes in sighing, 'O most divine Kate,' and
proceeds to make sundry remarks about his lady-love's charms.
Meanwhile, Biron, the king, and Longaville ironically comment upon his
statements, although they all fervently echo his lover-like 'O that I had my
wish!' Dumain, too, reads aloud verses he has composed, which he intends
to send with 'something else more plain, that shall express my true love's
fasting pain.' He expresses so ardent a desire that the king, Biron, and
Longaville were lovers too, for 'none offend where all alike do dote,' that
Longaville emerges from his hiding
place, virtuously exclaiming he
ought to blush to be 'o'erheard and
taken napping so!' But, scarcely has
Longaville finished this hypocritical
reproof, when the king, issuing from
the bushes in his turn, vows
Longaville has doubly offended,
since he is in a similar plight, and
has spent considerable time
expatiating upon Maria's charms. This royal reproof, addressed to
Longaville, simply delights Biron, who waits until it is ended, ere he steps
out in his turn to 'whip hypocrisy,' for, although he humbly begs his master's
pardon, he cannot refrain from wittily describing how he overheard Navarre
behaving just as sentimentally as Longaville or Dumain. Biron is still
ridiculing all three, — who are covered with confusion to have been
overheard and wince when Biron repeats their speeches, — and has just
launched into a tirade, wherein he states he holds it sin 'to break the vow I
am engaged in,' when tramping is heard, and Jaquenetta and Costard rush
in.
After greeting the king, this couple breathlessly declare they have a paper,
which must be treason, and which they hand over to him. While the king
questions the messengers, — who declare the missive was given them by
the pedant Armado, — the king carelessly hands it over to Biron, who no
sooner glances at it, than he furiously tears the paper to pieces. His
master, wonderingly inquiring why he does this, Biron rejoins it was a mere
trifle, but Dumain and Longaville insist it 'moved him to passion,' and
curiously gather up the bits to see what they mean. To Dumain's surprise
he discovers they are in Biron's handwriting! Seeing himself betrayed by
Costard's stupidity, Biron now confesses he made fun of his friends without
having any right to do so, seeing he is in the same predicament as they. He
acknowledges 'that you three fools lack'd me fool to make up the mess' and

that they four 'are pick-purses in love,' and hence 'deserve to die.' Then,
urging his master to dismiss the rustic couple, — who depart with the
virtuous consciousness of having ably fulfilled a weighty duty, — Biron
rapturously embraces his fellow-sinners, declaring sagely, 'young blood
doth not obey an old decree.'
When the king asks him whether the torn lines were addressed to some
one he loves, Biron enthusiastically launches out into a panegyric of
'heavenly Rosaline,' over whose charms he raves, until the king and his
friends proceed just as rapturously to claim the palm of beauty for their
lady-loves. The duo between the king and Biron, who are the readiest
speakers, is varied by an occasional quartette, in which Dumain and
Longaville take part, so as to defend and uphold the attractions of their
sweethearts. In the course of this fourfold rhapsody and dispute in regard
to the preeminence of their beloveds' charms, these men employ the
extravagant euphuistic expressions current at that day to describe female
attractions. Finally, Biron pronounces that the only study worthy of mankind
is that of the opposite sex, and declares women's eyes are 'the ground, the
books, the academes, from whence doth spring the true Promethean fire.'
The four lovers, therefore, conclude 'it is religion to be thus forsworn,' and
decide, instead of foolishly carrying out their original programme, to lay
siege to the hearts of all four ladies. This motion being enthusiastically
carried, plans are made to entertain the ladies in their tents with a series of
masques, revels, and dances, each suitor pledging himself to do his best to
entertain his special inamorata, and strew 'her way with flowers.'
Act V
The fifth act opens on the same spot, just as the schoolmaster, the curate,
and Dull are expatiating in characteristic fashion upon the enjoyment they
have derived from their meal. The curate and schoolmaster use many
pretentious words, until interrupted in their verbal pyrotechnics by the
arrival of the very man whose arts they were discussing. When Armado,
with Moth, and Costard have joined them, a conversation is begun, wherein
the learned speakers parade considerable false Latin and make far-fetched
puns, while Moth slyly whispers to Costard that 'they have been at a great
feast of languages, and stolen the scraps!' Then, taking his part in the
discussion, Moth displays wit which appeals so strongly to Costard's limited
sense of humour, that he bestows upon him the 'remuneration' he received
a little while ago.
Finally, Armado informs his companions, in such a maze of words that it is
difficult to discover their meaning, that the king and his companions wish to
entertain the ladies with a pageant. Knowing the schoolmaster's and
curate's talents in this line Armado has come to bespeak their aid. Flattered

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