Love’s Labour’s Lost · Chapter
Scene III explained
The lords of Navarre are each discovered privately composing love poems, breaking their oaths of celibacy.
What happens
The lords of Navarre are each discovered privately composing love poems, breaking their oaths of celibacy. Biron, the king, Longaville, and Dumain each confess their love for Rosaline, the Princess, Maria, and Katharine respectively. They confront each other's hypocrisy, then resolve to woo the ladies together, planning revels and disguises.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Climax.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
This scene is the dramatic climax because it marks the emotional peak where Biron, the play’s most vocal oppon…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Love vs. Oath
The lords break their vows of celibacy as love overcomes their sworn oaths, a central conflict in the scene.
- Deception and Disguise
The lords hide their true feelings and spy on each other, revealing the theme of self-deception and mutual hypocrisy.
- Wit and Language
Biron's clever wordplay and the poetic declarations showcase the play's emphasis on rhetorical skill and linguistic play.
Characters to notice
- Biron
Biron is caught writing a love sonnet for Rosaline and later exposes the others' hypocrisy, ultimately proposing they all pursue the ladies.
- King of Navarre
The king is discovered reading a love poem to the Princess, breaking his own oath, and joins the plan to woo the French ladies.
- Longaville
Longaville is found with a poem for Maria, admits his perjury, and agrees to the group's romantic pursuit.
- Dumain
Dumain is caught with a love letter for Katharine, confesses his feelings, and joins the others in their scheme.
- Costard
Costard delivers Jaquenetta's letter to the king, revealing Biron's poem, and is dismissed with Jaquenetta.
- Jaquenetta
Jaquenetta brings Biron's letter to the king, claiming it is treason, and exits with Costard.
Key passages
“I, that am honest; I, that hold it sin / To break the vow I am engaged in; / I am betray'd, by keeping company / With men like men of inconstancy.”
Biron claims he is honest and faithful to his oath, but he feels betrayed by the others' inconstancy.
Biron ironically accuses the others of breaking their vows while he himself has done the same.
“Vows are but breath, and breath a vapour is: / Then thou, fair sun, which on my earth dost shine, / Exhalest this vapour-vow; in thee it is: / If broken then, it is no fault of mine.”
Longaville argues that vows are mere breath, and his love for Maria evaporates his oath, so breaking it is not his fault.
Longaville rationalizes his perjury by comparing his vow to vapor dissolved by the sun.
“Let us once lose our oaths to find ourselves, / Or else we lose ourselves to keep our oaths.”
Biron suggests that breaking their oaths will lead to self-discovery, while keeping them would mean losing their true selves.
Biron redefines perjury as a path to authenticity, a key argument for abandoning the oath.
