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''Love's Labour's Lost'' is one of
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's early comedies, believed to have been written in the mid-1590s for a performance at the
Inns of Court The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court – Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple. All barristers must belong to one of them. They have ...
before
Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...
. It follows the King of
Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...
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 France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and her ladies makes them forsworn (break their oath). 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 Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...
in 1598, the play's title page suggests a revision of an earlier version of the play. There are no obvious sources for the play's plot. 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 causes 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 The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...
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 Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...
. ''Love's Labour's Lost'' features the longest scene (5.2), the longest single word '
honorificabilitudinitatibus Honorificabilitudinitatibus (''honōrificābilitūdinitātibus'', ) is the dative and ablative plural of the medieval Latin word ''honōrificābilitūdinitās'', which can be translated as "the state of being able to achieve honours". It is ment ...
' (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).


Characters

* Ferdinand – King of
Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...
* 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 Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young m ...
* Sir Nathaniel –
curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...
* Holofernes – schoolmaster * Dull –
constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...
*
Costard Costard is a comic figure in the play '' Love's Labour's Lost'' by William Shakespeare. A country bumpkin, he is arrested in the first scene for flouting the king's proclamation that all men of the court avoid the company of women for three yea ...
– a rustic * Jaquenetta – country wench * Forester * Officers and others, attendants on the King and Princess


Synopsis

Ferdinand, King of
Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...
, 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, writes a letter to tell the King of a tryst between
Costard Costard is a comic figure in the play '' Love's Labour's Lost'' by William Shakespeare. A country bumpkin, he is arrested in the first scene for flouting the king's proclamation that all men of the court avoid the company of women for three yea ...
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 Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 January ...
, 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 his 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 Nine Worthies are nine historical, scriptural, and legendary men of distinction who personify the ideals of chivalry established in the Middle Ages, whose lives were deemed a valuable study for aspirants to chivalric status. All were commonly ...
. The four lords and Boyet heckle the play, saving their sole praise for Costard. 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

''Love's Labour's Lost'' may be found to have a number of sources for various aspects, but a primary source for the story is not extant. It has this in common with two other plays — ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...
'' and '' The Tempest''. Some possible influences on ''Love's Labour's Lost'' can be found in the early plays of
John Lyly John Lyly (; c. 1553 or 1554 – November 1606; also spelled ''Lilly'', ''Lylie'', ''Lylly'') was an English writer, dramatist of the University Wits, courtier, and parliamentarian. He was best known during his lifetime for his two books '' Eu ...
, Robert Wilson's ''The Cobbler's Prophecy'' (c. 1590) and
Pierre de la Primaudaye Pierre de La Primaudaye (1546–1619) was a French writer. He is known particularly for ''L'Academie Française'', which was influential in English translations, from 1584 onwards, particularly ''The French Academie'' of 1618. La Primaudaye came ...
's ''L'Academie française'' (1577). Michael Dobson and
Stanley Wells Sir Stanley William Wells, (born 21 May 1930) is a Shakespearean scholar, writer, professor and editor who has been honorary president of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, professor emeritus at Birmingham University, and author of many books a ...
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 Catherine de' Medici ( it, Caterina de' Medici, ; french: Catherine de Médicis, ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Florentine noblewoman born into the Medici family. She was Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to King H ...
and her daughter
Marguerite de Valois Margaret of Valois (french: Marguerite, 14 May 1553 – 27 March 1615), popularly known as La Reine Margot, was a French princess of the Valois dynasty who became Queen of Navarre by marriage to Henry III of Navarre and then also Queen of France ...
, Henry's estranged wife, to discuss the future of Aquitaine, but this is by no means certain."Dobson, M. and Wells, S. ''The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare'', Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 264 The four main male characters are all loosely based on historical figures; Navarre is based on
Henry of Navarre Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch ...
(who later became King Henry IV of France), Berowne on
Charles de Gontaut, duc de Biron Charles de Gontaut, duc de Biron (, 156231 July 1602) was a French soldier whose military achievements were accompanied by plotting to dismember France and setting himself up as ruler of an independent Burgundy. Biography He was born in Saint-Bla ...
, Dumain on Charles, duc de Mayenne and Longaville on
Henri I d'Orléans, duc de Longueville Henry I of Orléans-Longueville (1568 – April 8, 1595) was a French aristocrat and military and Grand Chamberlain of France between 1589 and 1595. Biography Henry was the eldest son of Léonor d'Orléans, duc de Longueville (1540–1573) and Mari ...
. Biron in particular was well known in England because
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG, PC (; 10 November 1565 – 25 February 1601) was an English nobleman and a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following a ...
, had joined forces with Biron's army in support of Henry in 1591. 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." Critics have attempted to draw connections between notable
Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...
English persons and the characters of Don Armado, Moth, Sir Nathaniel, and Holofernes, with little success.


Date and text

Most scholars believe the play was written 1594―1595, but not later than 1598. ''Love's Labour's Lost'' was first published in
quarto Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...
in 1598 by the bookseller
Cuthbert Burby Cuthbert Burby (died 1607) was a London bookseller and publisher of the Elizabethan and early Jacobean eras. He is known for publishing a series of significant volumes of English Renaissance drama, including works by William Shakespeare, Rober ...
. 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. The play next appeared in print in the
First Folio ''Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies'' is a collection of plays by William Shakespeare, commonly referred to by modern scholars as the First Folio, published in 1623, about seven years after Shakespeare's death. It is cons ...
in 1623, with a later quarto in 1631. ''
Love's Labour's Won ''Love's Labour's Won'' is a lost play attributed by contemporaries to William Shakespeare, written before 1598 and published by 1603, though no copies are known to have survived. Scholars dispute whether it is a true lost work, possibly a sequ ...
'' is considered by some to be a lost sequel. ''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 to just over 1000 lines. The First Folio records the scene at 942 lines. The play also features the single longest word in all of Shakespeare's plays: ''
honorificabilitudinitatibus Honorificabilitudinitatibus (''honōrificābilitūdinitātibus'', ) is the dative and ablative plural of the medieval Latin word ''honōrificābilitūdinitās'', which can be translated as "the state of being able to achieve honours". It is ment ...
'', 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 Edward Capell (11 June 171324 February 1781) was an English Shakespearian critic. Biography He was born at Troston Hall () in Suffolk. Through the influence of the Duke of Grafton he was appointed to the office of deputy-inspector of plays ...
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.Furness, Horace Howard. (ed.) ''Love's Labour's Lost'' A New Variorum Edition of Shakespeare (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1904), pp. 192–194 Specifically, lines 291–313 are "repeated in substance" further in the speech and are sometimes omitted by editors. With no omissions, the speech is 77 lines and 588 words.


Analysis and criticism


Title

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 loſt''. In the 1623
First Folio ''Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies'' is a collection of plays by William Shakespeare, commonly referred to by modern scholars as the First Folio, published in 1623, about seven years after Shakespeare's death. It is cons ...
it is ''Loues Labour's Lost'' and in the 1631 quarto it is ''Loues Labours Lost''. In the
Third Folio The earliest texts of William Shakespeare's works were published during the 16th and 17th centuries in quarto or folio format. Folios are large, tall volumes; quartos are smaller, roughly half the size. The publications of the latter are usually a ...
it appears for the first time with the modern punctuation and spelling as ''Love's Labour's Lost''. Critic John Hale notes 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. In 1935
Frances Yates Dame Frances Amelia Yates (28 November 1899 – 29 September 1981) was an English historian of the Renaissance, who wrote books on esoteric history. After attaining an MA in French at University College London, she began to publish her resear ...
asserted that the title derived from a line in
John Florio Giovanni Florio (1552–1625), known as John Florio, was an English linguist, poet, writer, translator, lexicographer, and royal language tutor at the Court of James I. He is recognised as the most important Renaissance humanist in England. F ...
'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", 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").


Reputation

''Love's Labour's Lost'' abounds in sophisticated wordplay, puns, and literary allusions and is filled with clever pastiches of contemporary poetic forms. 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." In ''
The Western Canon ''The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages'' is a 1994 book about Western literature by the American literary critic Harold Bloom, in which the author defends the concept of the Western canon by discussing 26 writers whom he sees as ce ...
'' (1994),
Harold Bloom Harold Bloom (July 11, 1930 – October 14, 2019) was an American literary critic and the Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. In 2017, Bloom was described as "probably the most famous literary critic in the English-speaking wor ...
lauds the work as "astonishing" and refers to it as Shakespeare's "first absolute achievement". It is often assumed that the play was written for performance at the
Inns of Court The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court – Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple. All barristers must belong to one of them. They have ...
, 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. The satirical allusions of Navarre's court are likewise inaccessible, "having been principally directed to fashions of language that have long passed away, and reconsequently little understood, rather than in any great deficiency of invention."


Themes


Masculine desire

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. Critic Mark Breitenberg commented that the use of idealistic poetry, popularized by
Petrarch Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited w ...
, effectively becomes the textualized form of the male gaze. 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 The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
period and the consequent threat of
cuckoldry A cuckold is the husband of an adulterous wife; the wife of an adulterous husband is a cuckquean. In biology, a cuckold is a male who unwittingly invests parental effort in juveniles who are not genetically his offspring. A husband who is a ...
. Politics of love, marriage, and power are equally forceful in shaping the thread of masculine desire that drives the plot.


Reckoning and rationalization

The term 'reckoning' is used in its multiple meanings throughout the Shakespeare canon. 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. 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. 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."


Reality versus fantasy

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 ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...
''." 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. 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. 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.


Music

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." 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. 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. Catherine McLay comments that the songs are functional in their interpretation of the central themes in ''Love's Labour's Lost''. 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 " roughtwithin the periphery of the usual comic definition." 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. 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. 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.


Performance history

The earliest recorded performance of the play occurred at Christmas in 1597 at the Court before Queen
Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...
. A second performance is recorded to have occurred in 1605, either at the house of the
Earl of Southampton Earl of Southampton was a title that was created three times in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1537 in favour of the courtier William FitzWilliam. He was childless and the title became extinct on his death in 1542. The se ...
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 The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...
, with Madame Vestris as Rosaline. ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' 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." The only other performances of the play recorded in England in the 19th century were at
Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-sea ...
in 1857 and the
St. James's Theatre The St James's Theatre was in King Street, St James's, London. It opened in 1835 and was demolished in 1957. The theatre was conceived by and built for a popular singer, John Braham; it lost money and after three seasons he retired. A suc ...
in 1886. Notable 20th-century British productions included a 1936 staging at the
Old Vic Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary * Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...
featuring
Michael Redgrave Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave CBE (20 March 1908 – 21 March 1985) was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author. He received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''Mourning Becomes Elect ...
as Ferdinand and
Alec Clunes Alexander Sheriff de Moro Clunes (17 May 1912 – 13 March 1970) was an English actor and theatrical manager. Among the plays he presented were Christopher Fry's ''The Lady's Not For Burning''. He gave the actor and dramatist Peter Ustinov h ...
as Berowne. In 1949, the play was given at the New Theatre with Redgrave in the role of Berowne. The cast of a 1965
Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...
production included
Glenda Jackson Glenda May Jackson (born 9 May 1936) is an English actress and former Member of Parliament (MP). She has won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice: for her role as Gudrun Brangwen in the romantic drama ''Women in Love'' (1970); and again for ...
,
Janet Suzman Dame Janet Suzman, (born 9 February 1939) is a South African-born British actress who enjoyed a successful early career in the Royal Shakespeare Company, later replaying many Shakespearean roles, among others, on TV. In her first film, ''Nicho ...
and
Timothy West Timothy Lancaster West, CBE (born 20 October 1934) is an English actor and presenter. He has appeared frequently on both stage and television, including stints in both ''Coronation Street'' (as Eric Babbage) and ''EastEnders'' (as Stan Carter) ...
. In 1968, the play was staged by
Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the Theatre of the U ...
for the National Theatre, with
Derek Jacobi Sir Derek George Jacobi (; born 22 October 1938) is an English actor. He has appeared in various stage productions of William Shakespeare such as ''Hamlet'', ''Much Ado About Nothing'', ''Macbeth'', ''Twelfth Night'', ''The Tempest'', ''King ...
as the Duke and
Jeremy Brett Peter Jeremy William Huggins (3 November 1933 – 12 September 1995), known professionally as Jeremy Brett, was an English actor. He played fictional detective Sherlock Holmes in four Sherlock Holmes (1984 TV series), Granada TV series from 1984 ...
as Berowne. 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." 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. A 2009 staging by
Shakespeare's Globe Shakespeare's Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse for which William Shakespeare wrote his plays, in the London Borough of Southwark, on the south bank of the River Thames. The original theatre was built in ...
theatre, with artistic direction by
Dominic Dromgoole Dominic Dromgoole (born 25 October 1963)DROMGOOLE, Dominic Charles Flemi ...
, toured internationally.
Ben Brantley Benjamin D. Brantley (born October 26, 1954) is an American theater critic, journalist, editor, publisher and writer. He served as the chief theater critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1996 to 2017, and as co-chief theater critic from 2017 to ...
, in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', called the production, seen at
Pace University Pace University is a private university with its main campus in New York City and secondary campuses in Westchester County, New York. It was established in 1906 by the brothers Homer St. Clair Pace and Charles A. Pace as a business school. Pac ...
, "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." In 2014, the
Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...
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 ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...
'' (re-titled ''Love's Labour's Won''). Dominic Cavendish of the ''
Telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
'' 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."


Adaptations


Literature

Alfred Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...
's poem '' The Princess'' (and, by extension,
Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...
's comic opera ''
Princess Ida ''Princess Ida; or, Castle Adamant'' is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was their eighth operatic collaboration of fourteen. ''Princess Ida'' opened at the Savoy Theatre on 5 January 1884, for a ru ...
'') is speculated by Gerhard Joseph to have been inspired by ''Love's Labour's Lost''.
Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novella ...
in his novel '' Doctor Faustus'' (1943) has the fictional German composer Adrian Leverkühn attempt to write an opera on the story of the play.


Musical theatre, opera, and plays

An opera of the same title as the play was composed by
Nicolas Nabokov Nicolas Nabokov (Николай Дмитриевич Набоков; – 6 April 1978) was a Russian-born composer, writer, and cultural figure. He became a U.S. citizen in 1939. Life Nicolas Nabokov, a first cousin of Vladimir Nabokov, and of ...
, with a libretto by
W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
and
Chester Kallman Chester Simon Kallman (January 7, 1921 – January 18, 1975) was an American poet, librettist, and translator, best known for collaborating with W. H. Auden on opera librettos for Igor Stravinsky and other composers. Life Kallman was born in ...
, and first performed in 1973. In the summer of 2013,
The Public Theater The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American Li ...
in New York City presented a musical adaptation of the play as part of their
Shakespeare in the Park Shakespeare in the Park is a term for outdoor festivals featuring productions of William Shakespeare's plays. The term originated with the New York Shakespeare Festival in New York City's Central Park, originally created by Joseph Papp. This conc ...
programming. This production marked the first new Shakespeare-based musical to be produced at the
Delacorte Theater The Delacorte Theater is a 1,800-seat open-air theater in Central Park, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is home to the Public Theater's free Shakespeare in the Park productions. Over five million people have attended more than 15 ...
in
Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
since the 1971 mounting of ''
The Two Gentlemen of Verona ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1589 and 1593. It is considered by some to be Shakespeare's first play, and is often seen as showing his first tentative steps in laying ...
'' with music by
Galt MacDermot Arthur Terence Galt MacDermot (December 18, 1928 – December 17, 2018) was a Canadian-American composer, pianist and writer of musical theater. He won a Grammy Award for the song " African Waltz" in 1960. His most-successful musicals were ''Hai ...
. The adaptation of ''Love's Labour's Lost'' featured a score by ''
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson ''Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson'' is a rock musical with music and lyrics written by Michael Friedman and a book written by its director Alex Timbers. The show is a comedic historical rock musical about the founding of the Democratic Party. It r ...
'' collaborators Michael Friedman and
Alex Timbers Alex Timbers (born August 7, 1978) is an American writer and director and the recipient of Tony, Golden Globe, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and London Evening Standard Awards, as well as two OBIE and Lucile Lortel Awards. He is the recipie ...
. Timbers also directed the production, which starred
Daniel Breaker Daniel Breaker (born June 2, 1980) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing Donkey in ''Shrek The Musical''. Career Beginning his career in 2002, immediately after graduating from Juilliard, Breaker has performed in Off-Br ...
,
Colin Donnell Colin Donnell (born October 9, 1982) is an American actor and singer best known for his performances as Billy Crocker in ''Anything Goes'', Tommy Merlyn in The CW television series ''Arrow'', Scotty Lockhart on the Showtime drama '' The Affair'' ...
,
Rachel Dratch Rachel Susan Dratch (born February 22, 1966) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. After she graduated from Dartmouth College she moved to Chicago to study improvisational theatre at The Second City and ImprovOlympic. Her breakthrough ro ...
, and Patti Murin, among others. Marc Palmieri's 2015 play ''The Groundling'', 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''".


Film, television and radio

Kenneth Branagh Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh (; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Branagh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and has served as its president since 2015. He has won an Academy Award, four BAFTAs (plus t ...
'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. The play was one of the last works to be recorded for the
BBC Television Shakespeare The ''BBC Television Shakespeare'' is a series of British television adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, the plays of William Shakespeare, created by Cedric Messina and broadcast by BBC Television. Transmitted in the UK from 3 December 1978 to ...
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 Jean-Antoine Watteau (, , ; baptised October 10, 1684died July 18, 1721) Alsavailablevia Oxford Art Online (subscription needed). was a French painter and draughtsman whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement, as ...
. This was the only instance in the project of a work set in a period after Shakespeare's death. The play is featured in an episode of the British TV show, ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
''. The episode, entitled ''
The Shakespeare Code "The Shakespeare Code" is the second episode of the third series of the revived British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was broadcast on BBC One on 7 April 2007. According to the BARB figures this episode was seen by 7.23 mi ...
'', 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. BBC Radio 3 aired a radio adaptation on 16 December 1946, directed by Noel Illif, with music by
Gerald Finzi Gerald Raphael Finzi (14 July 1901 – 27 September 1956) was a British composer. Finzi is best known as a choral composer, but also wrote in other genres. Large-scale compositions by Finzi include the cantata '' Dies natalis'' for solo voice and ...
scored for a small chamber orchestra. The cast included
Paul Scofield David Paul Scofield (21 January 1922 – 19 March 2008) was a British actor. During a six-decade career, Scofield achieved the US Triple Crown of Acting, winning an Academy Awards, Academy Award, Emmy Award, Emmy, and Tony Award, Tony for his ...
. The music was subsequently converted into an orchestral suite. 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 Michael Roy Kitchen (born 31 October 1948) is an English actor and television producer, best known for his starring role as Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle in the ITV drama ''Foyle's War'', which comprised eight series betwee ...
as Ferdinand;
John McEnery John McEnery (1 November 1943 – 12 April 2019) was an English actor and writer. Born in Birmingham, he trained (1962–1964) at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, playing, among others, Mosca in Ben Jonson's ''Volpone'' and Gaveston ...
as Berowne;
Anna Massey Anna Raymond Massey (11 August 19373 July 2011) was an English actress. She won a BAFTA Award for the role of Edith Hope in the 1986 TV adaptation of Anita Brookner's novel ''Hotel du Lac'', a role that one of her co-stars, Julia McKenzie, ha ...
as the Princess of France;
Eileen Atkins Dame Eileen June Atkins, (born 16 June 1934), is an English actress and occasional screenwriter. She has worked in the theatre, film, and television consistently since 1953. In 2008, she won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress and the Emmy A ...
as Rosaline; and
Paul Scofield David Paul Scofield (21 January 1922 – 19 March 2008) was a British actor. During a six-decade career, Scofield achieved the US Triple Crown of Acting, winning an Academy Awards, Academy Award, Emmy Award, Emmy, and Tony Award, Tony for his ...
as Don Adriano. A modern-language adaptation of the play, titled ''Groups of Ten or More People'', was released online by
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
-based company Littlebrain Theatre in July 2020. This adaptation, set during the early days of the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, was filmed entirely over the digital conferencing program
Zoom Zoom may refer to: Technology Computing * Zoom (software), videoconferencing application * Page zooming, the ability to magnify or shrink a portion of a page on a computer display * Zooming user interface, a graphical interface allowing for image ...
.


Notes


Editions

* 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 J. B. Lippincott & Co. was an American publishing house founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1836 by Joshua Ballinger Lippincott. It was incorporated in 1885 as J. B. Lippincott Company. History 1836–1977 Joshua Ballinger Lippincott (Marc ...
, 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)


External links

* *
''Love's Labour's Lost''
at
British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

''Love's Labour's Lost''
at
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (SBT) is an independent registered educational charity based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, that came into existence in 1847 following the purchase of William Shakespeare's birthplace for preserva ...
* {{Authority control 1590s plays English Renaissance plays British plays adapted into films Fiction set in the 1570s Shakespearean comedies