The real-life Berowne inside "Love's Labor's Lost"
Scott Maisano describes a Berowne who stands out and stands aside from the fictional world represented in this Shakespeare comedy.
20 Shakespeare quotes about love
The word “love” appears 2,146 times in Shakespeare’s collected works (including a handful of “loves” and “loved”). Add to that 59 instances of “beloved” and 133 uses of “loving” and you’ve got yourself a “whole lotta love.” So, what does…
Love's Labor's Lost and screwball comedy
The witty, fast-paced dialogue at the heart of the battle of the sexes in Love’s Labor’s Lost is straight out of a golden-age screwball comedy film.
Love's Labor's Lost: The end of study
“What’s especially delightful about Love’s Labor’s Lost is that it’s a comedy about melancholy, a satire on youthful arrogance, intellectual pretension, and romantic naiveté,” writes Austin Tichenor.
Influences for Love's Labor's Lost: Contemporary texts and historical figures
Love’s Labor’s Lost is one of three Shakespeare plays without a primary source (the others being A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest), but that doesn’t mean it was created in a vacuum. Using four items from the Folger collection,…
Small Latin and Less Greek: A Look at the Inkhorn Controversy
The Inkhorn Controversy in the 15th and 16th centuries focused on the use of long, Latinate words as opposed to shorter, Saxon-rooted English counterparts.
From jazzercise to Rococo garden: Four different takes on Love's Labor's Lost
In Shakespeare’s Love’s Labor’s Lost, four friends forswear women so that they can focus on their studies. But, of course, as soon as they do, four lovely ladies enter their lives. Oh, what to do? Romance and comedy ensue. Four of our…
Life of an icon: Shakespeare as playwright and poet
Fifty of the most important manuscripts and printed works related to Shakespeare’s life and career are on display in the Folger exhibition Shakespeare, Life of an Icon, curated by Heather Wolfe. Some of these documents mark important milestones for Shakespeare…