To be or not to be a Comedy: Love's Labors Lost

First off can I say I loved this play. It was so different from Shakespeare's other comedies and yet there are many similarities. Because of the ending some people including myself aren't sure if the play should be considered a comedy. So I decided to use the Comedy formula I posted about earlier to determine its genre-legitamacy.

What originally made me question its genre was the ending. If Love's Labors Lost was a normal comedy it would have ended with five marriages. Instead at the end the lovers depart and their futures together are left ambiguous. Biron at the end of the play says,"Our wooing doth not end like and old play; Jack hath not Jill: these ladies courtesy Might well have made our sport a comedy." I feel like these lines are admitting its not a comedy. On the other hand,perhaps this was just a statement Shakespeare wanted to make. The point of a marriage at the end of a comedy is to show that society is once again fixed/restored. Love's Labor Lost doesn't end with the characters problem being fixed which also isn't typical of the genre.


I felt like the male character of the play and their female counter parts were foils of each-other. Foil characters are often found in Shakespeare's comedies.


Most comedies center around love and in this way Love's Labors Lost was the ultimate comedy. Also, the scene where then men disguised themselves as Russians is also found typical of Shakespeare comedies. The case of Disguise or mistaken identity provides humorous opportunities and was therefore used often (ex.Twelfth Night, Merchant of Venice).

There were Stock Characters: Don Armado, Jaquenetta, Costard, and Dull. There were also the wise servants: Mote and Boyet These types of characters are typical of the Shakespeare Comedies


In Conclusion, I would say that Love's Labors Lost is more Comedy than not but the ending definitely breaks the mold of the typical Love wins out in the end plot.