Love's Labour's Lost by William Shakespeare

"Love's Labour's Lost" by William Shakespeare is a comedic play believed to have been written in the late 16th century. The story revolves around the King of Navarre and his companions Berowne, Longaville, and Dumaine, who vow to devote themselves to academic study and to avoid the company of women for three years. However, their resolve is tested when the Princess of France and her ladies arrive, leading to humorous exchanges and the exploration of themes such as love, ambition, and the folly of men. The opening of the play introduces the setting and the main characters, establishing a serious yet comedic tone. Ferdinand, the King of Navarre, is determined to uphold their vow and enforces strict rules against women entering his court. His friends engage in witty banter, showcasing their cleverness and establishing their individual personalities. Berowne, in particular, expresses skepticism about their commitment, highlighting the frivolity of their oath in the face of potential romantic interests. The arrival of the French Princess and her entourage foreshadows the impending conflict between their scholarly ambitions and romantic desires, setting the stage for the comedic struggles that will follow. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

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About this eBook

Author Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
Title Love's Labour's Lost
Note Wikipedia page about this book: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love%27s_Labour%27s_Lost
Note The First Folio, 1623
Reading Level Reading ease score: 91.1 (5th grade). Very easy to read.
Language English
LoC Class PR: Language and Literatures: English literature
Subject Comedy plays
Subject Courts and courtiers -- Drama
Subject Princesses -- Drama
Subject Navarre (Kingdom) -- Drama
Category Text
EBook-No. 1109
Release Date
Most Recently Updated Sep 21, 2025
Copyright Status Public domain in the USA.
Downloads 259 downloads in the last 30 days.
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