The Dialogues of Spring and Winter

Despite the heretical ending of Love’s Labour’s Lost, an ending where “Jack hath not Jill” (V.2.865) ¹ and the ritual marriage celebrations are denied or popstponed “too long for a play” (V.2.868), the drama does have its connections to the ritual origins of comedy in the concluding Songs or Dialogues of Spring and Winter. ² Although there is considerable controversy over the dating of the play, it is generally agreed to be the product of at least two different periods, and there is indication that the songs belong to the 1597 additions. ³ Nevertheless, the songs are not merely tacked on to the completed play to bring it within the periphery of the usual comic definition. That they are functional, indeed that they hold a key to the interpretation of the central themes of Love’s Labour’s Lost, I hope to prove. ⁴