The ladies discover the situation and the gentlemen realise that they truly love the ladies. The ladies banish the men to a hermitage for a further year before they will associate with them. 

Information provided about the Love's Labour's Lost play
William Shakespeare never published any of his plays and therefore none of the original manuscripts have survived. Eighteen unauthorised versions of his plays were, however, published during his lifetime in quarto editions by unscrupulous publishers (there were no copyright laws protecting Shakespeare and his works during the Elizabethan era). A collection of his works did not appear until 1623 (a full seven years after Shakespeare's death on April 23, 1616) when two of his fellow actors, John Hemminges and Henry Condell, posthumously recorded his work and published 36 of William’s plays in the First Folio. Some dates are therefore approximate other dates are substantiated by historical events, records of performances and the dates plays appeared in print.

Date first performed
It is believed that Love's Labour's Lost was first performed between 1594 and 1595. In the Elizabethan era there was a huge demand for new entertainment and Love's Labour's Lost would have been produced immediately following the completion of the play.

Date first printed
It is believed that Love's Labour's Lost was first printed in 1598. As William Shakespeare clearly did not want his work published details of the play would have therefore been noted, and often pirated without his consent, following a performance.

The setting for Love's Labour's Lost
The setting  is Navarre, a province in northern Spain bordered by France.

Theme of Love's Labour's Lost
The play is categorised as a Comedy

Number of words in Love's Labour's Lost
The number of words in the script, according to the Complete Public Domain Text is 22,994.

Most important characters
The most important characters in Love's Labour's Lost are:
Ferdinand the King of Navarre and the Princess of France. 

Famous Quotes / Quotations
The following quote is from Love's Labour's Lost. Details of this famous quote follows, complete with information regarding the Act and the Scene, allowing a quick reference to the section of the play that this quotation can be found in. Please click here for the full text of the script of the play.

"Sweet hearts, we shall be rich ere we depart" (Act V, Scene II).

History of Love's Labour's Lost
Love's Labour's Lost is not based on any historical events or people.

William Shakespeare's Main Source
Inspiration was probably taken from Renaissance literature.

The Cast and Characters
Click the link to access a list of all the cast and characters.