Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Generally, speaking, I don't like romances. The reason is that romantic tales generally have absurd elements. If you read them carefully, you will probably notice scenes that don't make sense. ("Pericles" is full of annoying flaws. "Winter's Tale" will probably make a sharp observer say: "What?" a few times.) But "Love Labors Lost" seems to be an exception.
It basically starts with the King of Navarre and 3 scholars (Berowne, Longaville, and Dumaine) making an oath. For 3 years, they will engage in scholarship and pay no note to women. And this is not exactly unheard of. Well, a complication comes into play. The princess of France has come to talk to the King of Navarre on matters of diplomacy, and the king (with some understandable humiliation) realizes he has to break his own oath. (He can't rightly tell a princess who is there on a matter of diplomacy to come back in 3 years.) They negotiate a treaty, and on the surface, it seems legitimate. But the king is at least somewhat affected by love. And of course, the princess has 3 women with her. (Rosaline who likes Berowne, Maria who likes Longaville, and Katherine who likes Dumaine).
Berowne seems to be the smart (or at least honest one) who knows that the 3 year oath is not going to last. These 4 men try to conceal their attraction to these women. There is an especially comical scene where the King, Dumaine, and Longaville come on stage one at a time (wrongly thinking that no one is listening) and read letters to the woman they are attracted to. Berowne comes on stage and rebukes them all for not keeping their oath. But after the 3 are ashamed of themselves, an even greater comical moment appears when Berowne receives a letter that is incriminating. After some degree of humiliation, Berowne saves face by speaking of the wonders of love. And the 4 men agree that love is more important than their oath.
You'll probably notice that the final scene (5.2) is just under half of the whole story. It would seem that all the scenes before are just quick buildups for the final scene. It's somewhat unusual, but in this case, it does work.
A party begins where the ladies play a joke on the men. They are all wearing masks, and the ladies dance with different parties. After some confusion on the parts of the men, Berowne (who seems to be the smartest man) realizes what has happened. But it was just a joke, and no one was hurt. After the dancing comes a humorous play.
But sadly, this merry play comes to an end. The princess learns that her father has died. And like a good daughter, she feels that her primary duty right now is to mourn her father. (Generally, romantics like Romeo from "Romeo and Juliet" are not overly respectful of their parents.) But this French Princess is the exception. While the 4 men are understandably sad, they agree that now just isn't the time .
But even with this sadness, there is still hope. A year may pass, and quite possibly they will be reunited with the women they love. The play ends with the exit of the women, and the men are of course sad. But even in their sorrow, there is hope. I think this romance works because it breaks the standard formula. The events are plausible, and instead of the artificial happy ending, we have a sadness. But in the sadness, there is hope. And often, hope is what pulls us through times of great sadness. As I said, I don't really like romances, but this one does seem to work.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Love's Labor's Lost (Signet Classic Shakespeare)
Known as a "feast of language," this is one of the bard's earliest comedies, in which four bachelors who have dedicated themselves to chastity and scholarly pursuits soon encounter the women of their dreams.
Click here for more information about Love's Labor's Lost (Signet Classic Shakespeare)
No comments:
Post a Comment