56 pages 1 hour read

William Shakespeare

Love's Labour's Lost

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1598

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Act IV

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Act IV, Scene 1 Summary

The Princess and her attendants go hunting, guided by a local forester. She engages him in wordplay, questioning the connection between beauty and praise. She takes the bow and laments the harm she will do the deer. She notes that when people deliberately injure rather than kill their target, they prioritize displaying their skill for praise over the skill itself.

Costard enters and asks which lady is highest. The Princess teasingly misunderstands, inviting further wordplay, but he takes her literally. He says he has a letter from Berowne to Rosaline, but when Boyet reads it out, it is actually a love-letter from Armado to Jaquenetta. The letter is rambling, confused, and self-important. Realizing it is the wrong letter, the Princess derides the writer and asks who they are; Boyet explains that Armado is here to entertain the King and court. Costard still insists it is from Berowne to Rosaline. Everyone leaves except Rosaline, Boyet, Maria, and Costard.

Boyet asks Rosaline about her admirer. She deflects with wordplay and they try to one-up each other with double-entendre. Boyet suggests she will be unfaithful, and she calls him a cuckold.

Related Titles

By William Shakespeare

Study Guide

logo

All's Well That Ends Well

William Shakespeare

All's Well That Ends Well

William Shakespeare

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE

logo

A Midsummer Night's Dream

William Shakespeare

A Midsummer Night's Dream

William Shakespeare

Study Guide

logo

Antony and Cleopatra

William Shakespeare

Antony and Cleopatra

William Shakespeare

Study Guide

logo

Coriolanus

William Shakespeare

Coriolanus

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary

logo

Cymbeline

William Shakespeare

Cymbeline

William Shakespeare

Study Guide

logo

Hamlet

William Shakespeare

Hamlet

William Shakespeare

Study Guide

logo

Henry IV, Part 1

William Shakespeare

Henry IV, Part 1

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary

logo

Henry IV, Part 2

William Shakespeare

Henry IV, Part 2

William Shakespeare

Study Guide

logo

Henry V

William Shakespeare

Henry V

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary

logo

Henry VIII

William Shakespeare

Henry VIII

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary

logo

Henry VI, Part 1

William Shakespeare

Henry VI, Part 1

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary

logo

Henry VI, Part 3

William Shakespeare

Henry VI, Part 3

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary

logo

King John

William Shakespeare

King John

William Shakespeare

Study Guide

logo

Measure For Measure

William Shakespeare

Measure For Measure

William Shakespeare

Study Guide

logo

Othello

William Shakespeare

Othello

William Shakespeare