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Jaquenetta. Biron also gives
Costard a letter for Rosaline. Biron
curses his foolishness in falling in
love—and with a girl so deficient.
The princess and the ladies are
hunting when Costard says he has
a letter for Rosaline from Biron. The
princess asks to see it and in his
confusion, Costard gives Boyet
Armado’s letter. Boyet realizes it
is meant for Jaquenetta, but the
princess asks him to read it out loud.
Boyet teases Rosaline bawdily about
Biron and she responds in kind.
Boyet indulges in an innuendo-laden
exchange with Maria, joined byCostard who doesn’t quite get it all.
Holofernes discusses the hunt with
Dull and Nathaniel. Jaquenetta
arrives with Costard and asks them
to read the letter from Armado. It is,
of course, Biron’s letter to Rosaline
and after Holofernes analyzes the
poem’s merit they take it to the king.
Biron overhears the king
composing a love sonnet. Biron and
the king hear Longueville doing the
same. Longueville hears Dumaine
composing a sonnet. Longueville
accuses Dumaine of breaking their
agreement. The king accuses
Longueville. Biron criticizes allTHE LORD CHAMBERLAIN’S MAN
2.1
3.1 4.2 4.3
4.1 4.3 5.2
The lords each ask
Boyet if a particular
lady is single: Biron
likes Rosaline; Dumaine
is sweet on Katharine,
and Longueville has
interest in Maria.
Armado sets Costard
free on the condition he
take a letter to Jaquenetta,
and Biron asks Costard to
take a letter to Rosaline.Realizing Costard’s
error, Jaquenetta
takes his letter to
the king.Forced to admit his love
for Rosaline, Biron persuades
the lords and the king that
love is their best education.Costard mistakenly gives
Armado’s letter for
Jaquenetta to Rosaline,
and Boyet reads it out
loud to the ladies.The lords overhear
each other secretly
declaring their
love for a lady
in a sonnet.The ladies see through the lords’
attempts to woo them in disguise, and
Holofernes and company stage a
pageant of the Nine Worthies.5.2
News arrives that
the King of France
has died, and the
princess and
her ladies ask
their suitors to
wait a year.Act 3 Act 4 Act 5
three. Costard arrives with Biron’s
letter to Rosaline. The quartet
agrees to forget their pact and
woo the ladies in earnest.
Armado, Holofernes, Nathaniel,
Dull, and Mote are to entertain the
party. They disguise themselves,
but the ladies, forewarned, play
along. When the men return
dressed as themselves, the ladies
pretend not to recognize them. The
lords decide to woo from now on
only with honesty, but then news
arrives that the princess’s father has
died. Her marriage is postponed,
and the ladies prepare to depart. ❯❯