Love's Labour's Lost is one ofWilliam Shakespeare's early comedies, believed to have been written in the mid-1590s for a performance at theInns of Court before QueenElizabeth I. It follows the King ofNavarre 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 ofFrance 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 inquarto 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 asLove'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 theRoyal Shakespeare Company, theNational Theatre, and theStratford Festival of Canada, among others. It has also been adapted as a musical,an opera, for radio and television and asa musical film.
Ferdinand, King ofNavarre, 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 betweenCostard 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 ofAquitaine, 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 asMuscovites 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 theNine Worthies. 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.
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 Shakespeare plays –A Midsummer Night's Dream andThe Tempest.[1] Some possible influences onLove's Labour's Lost can be found in the early plays ofJohn Lyly,Robert Wilson'sThe Cobbler's Prophecy (c. 1590) andPierre de La Primaudaye'sL'Academie française (1577).[2] Michael Dobson andStanley 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 byCatherine de' Medici and her daughterMarguerite de Valois, Henry's estranged wife, to discuss the future of Aquitaine, but this is by no means certain."[3]
The four main male characters are all loosely based on historical figures; Navarre is based on Henry of Navarre (who later becameHenry IV of France), Berowne onCharles de Gontaut, duc de Biron, Dumain onCharles, duc de Mayenne and Longaville onHenri I d'Orléans, duc de Longueville.[4] Biron in particular was well known in England becauseRobert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, had joined forces with Biron's army in support of Henry in 1591.[3] 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 eclipseLove's Labour's Lost soon underwent."[5]
Critics have attempted to draw connections between notableElizabethan English persons and the characters of Don Armado, Moth, Sir Nathaniel, and Holofernes, with little success.[5]
Most scholars believe the play was written in 1594–1595, but not later than 1598.[6]Love's Labour's Lost was first published inquarto in 1598 by the booksellerCuthbert 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.[7]
Dating to 1598,Edinburgh University's manuscript is one of the earliest known copies of the work and according to its title page, is the same version as that which was presented to QueenElizabeth I the previous Christmas, in 1597. It is in quarto format and was donated toEdinburgh University between 1626 and 1636 by former studentWilliam Drummond ofHawthornden, making it part of the university's first literature collection.[8]
The play next appeared in print in theFirst 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]
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 editorEdward 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.[11] Specifically, lines 291–313 are "repeated in substance"[11] further in the speech and are sometimes omitted by editors.[12] With no omissions, the speech is 77 lines and 588 words.
The title is normally given asLove's Labour's Lost. The use of apostrophes varies in early editions. In its first 1598 quarto publication it appears asLoues labors loſt. In the 1623First Folio it isLoues Labour's Lost and in the 1631 quarto it isLoues Labours Lost. In theThird Folio it appears for the first time with the modern punctuation and spelling asLove's Labour's Lost.[13] HistorianJohn 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 this parallel nature of product and process was intended and is derived from existing Latin idioms. Hale suggests that the witty alliteration of the title is in keeping with the pedantic nature of the play.[14] In 1935Frances Yates asserted that the title derived from a line inJohn Florio'sHis 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",[15] a source from which Shakespeare also took the untranslated Venetian proverbVenetia, Venetia/Chi non ti vede non ti pretia (LLL 4.2.92–93) ("Venice, Venice, Who does not see you cannot praise you").[16]
Love's Labour's Lost abounds in sophisticated wordplay, puns, and literary allusions and is filled with clever pastiches of contemporary poetic forms.[17] 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."[18] InThe Western Canon (1994),Harold Bloom lauds the work as "astonishing" and refers to it as Shakespeare's "first absolute achievement".[19] It is often assumed that the play was written for performance at theInns 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.[17][18] 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."[20]
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.[21]
Critic Mark Breitenberg commented that the use of idealistic poetry, popularized byPetrarch, effectively becomes the textualized form of the male gaze.[21] 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 theRenaissance period and the consequent threat ofcuckoldry. Politics of love, marriage, and power are equally forceful in shaping the thread of masculine desire that drives the plot.[21]
The term 'reckoning' is used in its multiple meanings throughout the Shakespeare canon.[22] InLove'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.[22] 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.[22]
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 inLove's Labour's Lost with the difficulty of reckoning absolute value, whose slipperiness is indicated throughout the play."[22]
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Critic Joseph Westlund wrote thatLove's Labour's Lost functions as a "prelude to the more extensive commentary on imagination inA Midsummer Night's Dream."[23] 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.[23]
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.[23] 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.[23]
Unlike many of Shakespeare's plays, music plays a role only in the final scene ofLove'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 ofLove's Labour's Lost, there is some indication that "the songs belong to the 1597 additions."[24]
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.[25] 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.[23] Catherine McLay comments that the songs are functional in their interpretation of the central themes inLove's Labour's Lost.[24] 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."[24]
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.[25] 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.[25] 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.[25]
The earliest recorded performance of the play occurred at Christmas in 1597 at the Court before QueenElizabeth. A second performance is recorded to have occurred in 1605, either at the house of theEarl of Southampton or at that ofRobert Cecil, Lord Cranborne. The first known production after Shakespeare's era was not until 1839, at theTheatre Royal, Covent Garden, withMadame Vestris as Rosaline.[26]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."[27] The only other performances of the play recorded in England in the 19th century were atSadler's Wells in 1857 and theSt. James's Theatre in 1886.[28]
Notable 20th-century British productions included a 1936 staging at theOld Vic featuringMichael Redgrave as Ferdinand andAlec Clunes as Berowne. In 1949, the play was given at theNew Theatre with Redgrave in the role of Berowne.[29] The cast of a 1965Royal Shakespeare Company production includedGlenda Jackson,Janet Suzman andTimothy West.[30] In 1968, the play was staged byLaurence Olivier for theNational Theatre, withDerek Jacobi as the Duke andJeremy Brett as Berowne.[31] The Royal Shakespeare Company produced the play again in 1994. The criticMichael Billington wrote in his review of the production: "The more I seeLove'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."[32]
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.[33]
A 2009 staging byShakespeare's Globe theatre, with artistic direction byDominic Dromgoole, toured internationally.Ben Brantley, inThe New York Times, called the production, seen atPace 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."[34]
In 2014, theRoyal Shakespeare Company completed a double-feature in whichLove's Labour's Lost, set on the eve of the First World War, is followed byMuch Ado About Nothing (re-titledLove's Labour's Won). Dominic Cavendish of theTelegraph 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."[35]
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Alfred Tennyson's poemThe Princess (and, by extension,Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operaPrincess Ida) is speculated by Gerhard Joseph to have been inspired byLove's Labour's Lost.[36]
Thomas Mann in his novelDoctor Faustus (1943) has the fictional German composer Adrian Leverkühn attempt to write an opera on the story of the play.[37]
Anopera of the same title as the play was composed byNicolas Nabokov, with a libretto byW. H. Auden andChester 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 theirShakespeare in the Park programming. This production marked the first new Shakespeare-based musical to be produced at theDelacorte Theater inCentral Park since the 1971 mounting ofThe Two Gentlemen of Verona with music byGalt MacDermot. The adaptation ofLove's Labour's Lost featured a score byBloody Bloody Andrew Jackson collaboratorsMichael Friedman andAlex Timbers. Timbers also directed the production, which starredDaniel Breaker,Colin Donnell,Rachel Dratch, and Patti Murin, among others.[38]
The 2004ska musicalThe Big Life is based onLove's Labour's Lost, reworked to be about theWindrush generation arriving in London.[39]
Marc Palmieri's 2015 playThe Groundling,[40] a farce theNew York Times referred to as "half comedy and half tragedy", was billed as a "meditation on the meaning of the final moments ofLove's Labour's Lost".[41]
Kenneth Branagh's2000 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.[42]
The play was one of the last works to be recorded for theBBC Television Shakespeare project, broadcast in 1985. The production set events in the eighteenth century, the costumes and sets being modeled on the paintings ofJean-Antoine Watteau. This was the only instance in the project of a work set in a period after Shakespeare's death.[43] The play is featured in an episode of the British TV show,Doctor Who. The episode, entitledThe 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.[44]
BBC Radio 3 aired a radio adaptation on 16 December 1946, directed by Noel Illif, with music byGerald Finzi scored for a small chamber orchestra. The cast includedPaul Scofield. The music was subsequently converted into an orchestral suite.[45] BBC Radio 3 aired another radio adaptation on 22 February 1979, directed by David Spenser, with music by Derek Oldfield. The cast includedMichael Kitchen as Ferdinand;John McEnery as Berowne;Anna Massey as the Princess of France;Eileen Atkins as Rosaline; andPaul Scofield as Don Adriano.[46]
A modern-language adaptation of the play, titledGroups of Ten or More People, was released online byChicago-based company Littlebrain Theatre in July 2020.[47][48] This adaptation, set during the early days of theCOVID-19 pandemic, was filmed entirely over the digital conferencing programZoom.[49]
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