Book Review: Love’s Labour’s Lost

Shakespeare is a cracking writer. And I’m not saying that because I’m British, or that I grew up doing theatre. He is just great. Tis a fact, everyone knows! I haven’t sat down to read a Shakespeare or a play this year and I felt like reading a comedy. Something nice. Light-hearted to go with the rather lovely weather we’ve been having recently and as I perused my shelf of plays, I fancied Love’s Labour’s Lost. It's not as well-known as his more popular comedies: ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ or ‘Much Ado About Nothing’. But I fancied giving it a go.

 So, down to it: The King and his 3 courtiers – Berowne, Longaville and Dumaine all resolve to abstain from earthly delights (and by that, I mean women) for three years. They all sign a pact and resolve to live in isolation to focus on their duties and their studies. Naturally, that completely goes out the window when The Princess of France and her three ladies-in waiting-arrive.

Hilarity ensues.

 Well, that and mostly Shakespeare confirms again that women are effortlessly superior, wise and not to be taken for granted. You see it in Much Ado About Nothing with the voice of Beatrice; she does not hold back and neither does the Princess nor her Ladies-in-waiting “That visor: that superfluous case That hid the worse and showed a better face” ouch. Essentially, the men are smitten (and hypocrites) each of the men overhears the other declaring their love through the letters they write and collectively, decide to give up the sworn oath “What fool is not so wise To lose an oath to win a paradise?”. The rest, they say, is history.

But then you may be wondering about the title dear reader. ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’! How do they lose? What is lost? As is often the case with a Shakespeare romantic comedy, it always ends in a wedding(s) and a lovely high-spirited dance. This is not the case with this play. The Princess’s father dies, and she must return to France but with the promise that she will return to the King in a year and a day. So, there is something to hope for, but patience is key. With that, the ladies and their princess say their goodbyes leaving their lovers behind. This twist is a departure from the usual Shakespearean format that we know from his comedic plays. But it is a testament to The Bard that he, even now over 400 years later, can continue to surprise us with his works.