Love's Labour's Lost Themes
Love
Shakespeare was probably the biggest mushy-hearted, googly-eyed, sighing romantic around. His version of love isn't just physical, spiritual, or intellectual—it's all of the above. In Love's Labo...
Education
They don't need no education, they don't need no mind control. No dark sarcasm in the classroom.But they think they needs tons of book-learnin'... and nothing but book-learnin'.In Love's Labour's L...
Cunning and Cleverness
In the world of Love's Labour's Lost, where men and women are kept apart, seduction takes the form of language. The men's wits are their version of a peacock's tail—it's all about getting the gir...
Literature and Writing
What happens when you fall in love? In Love's Labour's Lost, step #1 is writing a love letter. Writing is practically a prerequisite to being in love. Once a character explores the art of love-writ...
Sex
In Love's Labour's Lost, sex and sexual attraction sparks self-discovery. If the characters hadn't been attracted to each other, they wouldn't have renounced their absurd, life-denying vows. If the...
Principles
The principles we see in Love's Labour's Lost are way too restrictive, and too prescriptive for this open-air world. The play begins with young men taking oaths not to have any contact with women....
Men and Masculinity
The men in Love's Labour's Lost are young and full of ambition. They want to be great men, strong, smart, and famous. They want to be Hercules and Solomon, all at once. They just don't quite know h...
Women and Femininity
The women of Love's Labour's Lost are miles—no, light-years—ahead of the men. They seem older and more sophisticated. They know what's up. They're not confused little girls.The play ends with e...
Man and the Natural World
Nature is all around Love's Labour's Lost: in the setting, stage directions, and imagery. It's also portrayed as the reason that all these supposedly chaste guys want to get their lovin' on... and...
Time
Time plays a big role in Love's Labour's Lost—and not just because it keeps on slipping into the future. In the absence of the courtiers' birth parents, Nature and Time work together to teach th...