Love's Labour's Lost

Characters:

• Ferdinand, King of Navarre
• referred to only as "King"
• scholar who has sworn an oath to uphold his scholarship at the expense of earthly pleasures, especially receiving women at his court
• Berowne, Longaville, Dumaine
• lords who join the King in his oath of scholarship
• they fall in love with Rosaline, Maria and Katherine, respectively
• Princess of France
• visits King of Navarre and plays a game of wit with the King and his lords
• Rosaline, Maria, Katherine
• three ladies attending the Princess
• Boyet
• lord attending the Princess
• serves as messenger to the king's court and exchanges jokes with the lords
• Don Armado
• Spaniard who falls in love with Jaquenetta
• Mote
• Don Armado's page
• Costard
• the fool
• accidentally switches Armado and Berowne's letters
• Jaquenetta
• country wench caught with Costard by Don Armado
• Sir Nathaniel, Holofernes
• curate and schoolmaster, respectively
• provide learned commentary on the letters of other characters
• responsible for masque of Nine Worthies near the end of the play
• Dull
• constable usually appearing with Sir Nathaniel and Holofernes
• Mercade
• lord attending on Princess

Plot summary:

• The King of Navarre and his 3 lords, Berowne, Longaville and Dumaine, swear an oath to scholarship, which includes fasting and avoiding contact with women for 3 years
• They receive a letter from Don Armado telling them he has caught Costard and Jaquenetta consorting in the park
• The King announces Costard's sentence and they go off to begin their oath.
• Don Armado confesses to Moth that he has fallen in love with Jaquenetta. 
• He writes her a letter which he asks Costard to deliver.
• The Princess of France arrives to visit the King but the King cannot receive her because of his oath. He visits them at their camp outside the castle.
• The King and his lords fall in love with the Princess and her ladies.
• Berowne gives Costard a letter to deliver to Rosaline but Costard accidentally switches it with the letter from Don Armado to Jaquenetta.
• Jaquenetta brings Berowne's letter to Holofernes and Sir Nathaniel to read for her but they tell her it was meant for someone else. They deliver it instead to the King.
• Berowne watches the King as he reads about his love for the Princess. 
• Longaville enters. The King hides, and both Berowne and the King observe Longaville reading about his love for Maria.
• Dumaine enters, and Longaville hides. Longaville, the King and Berowne observes Dumaine reading an ode he wrote to Katherine.
• Longaville enters and tells Dumaine that he is in love as well.
• The King enters and scolds both for breaking their oath.
• Berowne enters and reveals that the King is in love as well.
• Jaquenetta arrives and gives Berowne the letter, which he rips up. However, Dumaine picks a piece of the letter up with Berowne's name on it and Berowne confesses that he is in love as well.
• The four men decide to court their women and they go to the Princess's pavilion dressed as Muscovites.
• The women switch favors so that the men mistake them for each other. 
• After the men reappear as themselves, the women reveal their prank, and they all watch a show of the Nine Worthies performed by Don Armado, Sir Nathaniel and Holofernes. 
• A messenger arrives with the news that her father has died, and the women return to France telling their men to seek them again in a year.