Love's Labour's Lost Sex

In Love's Labour's Lost, sex and sexual attraction sparks self-discovery. If the characters hadn't been attracted to each other, they wouldn't have renounced their absurd, life-denying vows. If they hadn't renounced their vows, they wouldn't have been free to pursue love. If a character couldn't pursue love, he or she wouldn't experience the mind-bending, cataclysmic change of worldview that comes with it.

Of course there's the satirical side of sex, too—the side that leaves a country wench pregnant and engaged to a zany character.

Questions About Sex

1. How does sexual attraction transition into commitment in the play?
2. What does the confusion of identity in the masque scene say about the seriousness of the men's love?
3. Why do the noblewomen so easily withhold their favors?

Chew on This

With men and women separated from each other, the word becomes the most important erotic currency in the play.