Love’s Labor’s Lost: They’re Just Not That Into You

The simple lesson for the fellas in Shakespeare’s comedy Love’s Labor’s Lost is that when four eligible bachelorettes show up at your doorstep, telling them they’ll have to stay outside in a tent because you’re too busy studying is not your best move.

The King of Navarre and his three-man entourage make a pact at the beginning of the play, swearing off female company for three years, so they can focus on studying. A couple minutes later, who shows up but – you guessed it – female company. The Princess of France arrives with her three attending ladies, to an ungracious welcome and a lame excuse. “Here is my best tent for you ladies. Holler really loud if thou dost need anything. We’ll be in this comfortable castle . . . studying.”

By the time each of the four men confess to being smitten with one of the ladies, it’s a little late to effectively turn on the charm, and the ladies aren’t having it. When the princess finds out about a death in the family, the king proposes a couple minutes later to confirm that his timing is really that bad.

The ladies, having tricked and mocked and generally given their somewhat inept suitors the business, leave the men with some firey hoops to jump through in order to win their love. This cliffhanger welcomes a wealth of speculation as to the possible sequel Love’s Labor’s Won. Though some contemporary documents allude to it, if that play ever was, it has been, well, lost. Perhaps you win some and you lose some after all.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Doctor Who episode “The Shakespeare Code” (from the modern Series 3) which addressed Love’s Labor’s Won, and a great deal of fictionalized Shakespearean lore. I highly recommend it, even if you’re not well versed in the work of the Doctor.


A shot from the Doctor Who episode in question depicting a dashing young Shakespeare with the Doctor's assistant Martha Jones.

In Love’s Labor’s Lost, a highlight is Shakespeare’s use of language. Wordplay comes fast and furious, puns are abundant, and the youthful energy of the play reads to me like an author who is really having fun doing what he’s doing. It really is an enjoyable play, and it was refreshingly light after the horror and heaviness of Titus Andronicus.

It’s back to the heaviness for me though, as I’ve got a handful of tragedies on deck. I hope you’ll check back for all of the carnage.

Thanks for reading!

S.