One of Shakespeare’s earliest comedies, written around 1594-95, Love’s Labour’s Lost follows the King of Navarre and three of his courtiers who swear an oath of scholarly celibacy — only to be immediately and comically undone when the Princess of France and her ladies arrive. The play is Shakespeare’s most linguistically playful early work, sparkling with wordplay, poetic parody, and romantic comedy.
Less frequently staged than his later comedies, Love’s Labour’s Lost rewards readers with some of Shakespeare’s finest verbal wit and an unusually melancholy ending that subverts comic convention. Download this free EPUB from Better Gutenberg and enjoy one of Shakespeare’s most charming early plays.