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MonkeyNotes-Love's Labour's Lost by William Shakespeare
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Notes
In Shakespearean drama, men dominate the tragedies. Consider
the strength of the tragic heroes, Othello, Macbeth and Hamlet,
compared to their female companions. In the comedies, however,
it is often the women who shine through as the wisest and
strongest characters. Though Love's Labour's Lost is not among
Shakespeare's more mature comedies, both the Princess and
Rosaline take charge almost immediately, and their verbal
dexterity leaves both the King and Biron helpless. In their
ambition and arrogance, the men prove themselves rather foolish.
By this scene in the play, it seems that the women are destined to
teach the men a lesson.
The opening of the scene suggests that the princess and her ladies
have foreknowledge of the special quirks of the four men with
whom they will be paired and have already begun to plan their
attack on the men's resolve. Furthermore, the scene shows the
growing and evident attraction of the King and his three lords to
the Princess and her three attendants. The Princess immediately
senses that the King has put himself and his lords into a
precarious situation and tells him that "tis deadly sin to keep that
oath, my lord,/ And sin to break it." The scene, therefore, serves
two purposes; it establishes the strengths of the women and
foreshadows the outcome of the plot.
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