SOURCE: Nakanori, Koshi. “The Structure of Love's Labour's Lost.” In Love's Labour's Lost: Critical Essays, edited by Felicia Hardison Londré and translated by Toru Iwasaki, pp. 289-99. New York: Garland Publishing, 1997.

In the following essay, originally published in Japanese in 1982, Nakanori argues that Love's Labour's Lost shares strong structural affinities with Shakespeare's other “festive” comedies.

Some of Shakespeare's works have long been neglected and only recently come to critical attention. Love's Labour's Lost is a typical example, illustrating most vividly the fluctuations in Shakespearean criticism.

Aside from Richard Burbage's opinion, contemporary to the play and praising its “wytt” and “mirthe,” the general tone of its critical history since the Restoration has been negative, although parts of the play were occasionally commended. Until the twentieth century, most critics considered the play a failure or an immature piece. William Hazlitt went so far as to declare: “If we were to...