Love's Labor's Lost - Tumblr Posts
Looking for a simple way to get into Shakespeare? Enjoy receiving emailed excerpts of classic authors à la Dracula Daily? In need of a #ShaxGirlSummer?
Consider checking out Shakespeare Summer, a substack dedicated to sharing the exciting works of William Shakespeare—one summer at a time. For summer 2024, we will be reading The Taming of the Shrew; Love's Labor's Lost; and Much Ado About Nothing. A round of comedies for 2024, for which you will receive the first email on May 13th. You'll receive an email every M/W/F, and seeing as these plays are on the shorter side, you won’t receive more than two scenes per email (in fact, most emails will contain only one scene, though note that some of these scenes are substantially longer than others).
If we've piqued your interest, consider subscribing and joining us for the second ever #ShaxGirlSummer!
Round 2 of Shakespeare Summer 2024 begins TODAY!
The second play of this year's #ShaxGirlSummer is Love's Labor's Lost, a text that contains:
The longest scene in all of Shakespeare's plays;
The longest word in all of Shakespeare's plays (bonus points if you spot the word when it appears in the text!);
And, depending on the editorial edition you're reading, the longest speech in all of Shakespeare's plays.
Get ready for lots of wordplay and an unconventional ending, and do let us know if you manage to get your hands on a copy of the elusive Love's Labor's Won...
Whether you're new to Shakespeare or a longtime fan, we welcome you to our summer book club with open arms. Feel free to subscribe and start reading Love's Labor's Lost with us today!
*Sesame street voice* Today's signup is brought to you by the letter H. H is for...
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[ID: A multi-panel comic by Good Tickle Brain titled Honorificabilitudinitatibus. There are simple illustrations to go with the text, which reads:
Today we're going to talk about the longest word in Shakespeare: Honorificabilitudinitatibus.
Technically, honorificabilitudinitatibus is the Latin word for "the state of being able to achieve honors."
It is spoken by the least educated character in Love's Labor's Lost, Costard. He says it in response to two pretentious stuffed shirts who are showing off their Latin vocabulary.
So, as far as I'm concerned, what honorificabilitudinitatibus really means is...
...someone who spends too much time memorizing long, obscure words to show off. [In speech bubble, still narrator speaking] Words like honorificabilitudinitatibus!
Fun fact! People who think Sir Francis Bacon wrote Shakespeare's plays point to an anagram of honorificabilitudinitatibus: "Hi ludi, F. Baconis nati, tuiti orb." [In speech bubble from an anti-stratfordian] Or, "these plays, F. Bacon's offspring, are preserved for the world." Proof!!!
But of course, you can get anagrams to spell practically anything... [speech bubbles between anti-stratfordian:] "Fictitious author alibi in bind!" [and narrator] "Bud, I fart onion biscuit. Hail it!"
End ID]
Synopsis provided by Good Tickle Brain - check out their site!
In addition to drawing from contemporary texts, Shakespeare is thought to have based a number of the characters on historical figures. There was a real King of Navarre (a region between Spain and France), Henry, who would later become France’s King Henry IV. He and the French courtiers Charles de Gontaut, duc de Biron; Charles, duc de Mayenne; and Henri I d’Orleans, duc de Longueville are likely reimagined as Ferdinand and friends in Shakespeare’s play.
Love’s Labor’s Lost by William Shakespeare. Design by Manuja Waldia.
The ladies did change favours: and then we, Following the signs, woo’d but the sign of she.
Much Ado About Nothing (1993) // Love’s Labour’s Lost (2009)
How to make a dramatic entrance: a lesson by Berowne.