Princess of France

Play

Love's Labour's Lost

Summary

The Princess of France leads her party to Navarre on a diplomatic mission regarding Aquitaine. Quick, witty, and unwilling to be won by the lords' elaborate games and theatrical courtship, she deftly punctures masculine pretension throughout. When news of her father's death arrives, she refuses the King's proposal on the grounds that their love has been born in artifice, imposing a year's wait as the price of sincerity — giving the play its distinctive open, unclosed ending.

Notable Quotations

"We are wise girls to mock our lovers so." *(5.2)*

"We have received your letters, full of love; / Your favours, the ambassadors of love; / And in our maiden council rated them / At courtship, pleasant jest, and courtesy." *(5.2)*

Cross-references

• Love's Labour's Lost — the play
• Comedies
• character_king_navarre — her suitor and host
• character_berowne — the most vocal of the lords
• character_rosaline_lll — her witty lady
• character_boyet — her attendant lord