Love's Labour's Lost: Not Yet, At Least

          In Love’s Labour’s Lost, the male characters are pitted against the female characters in a “civil war of wits,” as the princess says.

          The king and his men claim take their oath very seriously; the king won’t even let the princess into his court so as to not break his vow. However, the men fall hopelessly in love with the princess’s company anyway. Since by oath they are forced not to be in a relationship with these women, they begin looking for any loopholes to the oath or any rationalizations they can think of to get as close to these women as they can without actually courting them. The king dismisses the oath as a simple “formality,” yet by his actions (refusing to let the princess’s company into his home) we can see that he only cares that everyone thinks he is abiding by his vow.  Any public contact he has with these women must be absolutely professional; however, I am curious to see how he will act when he is alone with the princess! Will he and the lords keep their vows outside of the public eye?

          The men are very serious about this battle of wits, determined to use their reason to circumvent the oath they made. The women, on the other hand, treat the whole deal as a joke. They are delighted when they hear that the men have made such a foolish vow, and they decide to play them. It is a game to them—will they be able to make them break their oath? The princess believes that they will “prove perjured”: the ladies’ continued presence will cause the king and his lords to give into their desires and break their vows. Obviously they think it will be an easy win, so they don’t take the battle very seriously, laughing at their game and playing with the men much as a cat plays with a mouse before it eats it.