Love's Labor's Lost

Love's Labors Lost by William Shakespeare

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The King and his companions take a vow to fast, study, and look on no woman. This fast falls apart when a delegation from France arrives - the princess and her entourage - and petitions the king. Each of the men fall in love with a woman, and start writing sonnets to her. They find each other out and justify breaking their oaths on technicalities. They go to woo the ladies in disguise, but they know they're coming and spurn them for breaking their oath. When news comes that the princess' father has died, she gets ready to leave. The men repent and the women insist they wait a year to prove their love.

In his comedic fashion, Shakespeare pokes fun at how men act when in love with women. Right after they take a vow with each other that they won't look at a woman, they each fall in love hard and break rationalize breaking their vow! The women later rationalize accepting their love, when they were resolved not to before.

There is a ton of wordplay and punnery - it's hard to keep up sometimes.



View all my reviews