Making Connections
There are many ideas from many different readers, scholars, and Shakespeare fans of what might have happened to "the lost poem". A well known speculation is that the poem did indeed get printed, it was just printed under a different title. Frederick Gard Fleay believes that Love's Labour's Won became All's Well That Ends Well (Shakespeare Manual, 24). Greg Doran, opposingly, believes Love's Labour's Won took the new title Much Ado About Nothing (RSC 2014 Season Guide, 1). The belief that Much Ado About Nothing was written as the missing sequel and the title was just changed later in time is a relatively new theory, but it seems to be spreading rapidly. When Love's Labour's Lost is compared side-by-side to Much Ado About Nothing there are many aspects of both plays that make it easier to believe Doran's theory.
- Love's Labour's Lost was written between 1594-1595 so it is plausible that Much Ado About Nothing could have originally been the sequel as it is was written between 1598-1599.
- Love's Labour's Lost ends with suspending the relationships between four different couples, and Much Ado About Nothing picks up with four men reuniting with women and friends after they return from war.
- It is argued that the two plays also contain characters that share the same characteristics. Although the characters all have different names within both plays, their are parallel characters within the plays.
- Dogberry - Costard
- Benedick - Berowne
- Claudio - The King
- Hero - The Princess
- Beatrice - Rosaline
- The French war is taking place during Love's Labour's Lost, but the war has seemingly JUST ended at the beginning of Much Ado About Nothing.
- Much Ado About Nothing is now seen as the sequel that made everything happy again. Love's Labour's Lost didn't have the correct ending to be considered a part of the comedy genre; the only way that it could have been a comedy is if it had a partner play that ended with a wedding, which happens to be what takes place in Much Ado About Nothing.
Although it seems plausible that Much Ado About Nothing could possibly be the missing link, there are still many unanswered questions. For example, the first print of Much Ado About Nothing only contains around two thirds of the play that we now read today. In fact, the manuscript that can be seen below contains a hand written final few pages. The hand written ending suggest that when it was originally written it was not the same play that we experience today; therefore, the play may not have originally been written to conclude with the happiness of the couples that takes place in the Much Ado About Nothing play we all read today. The pages that can be examines below simply end after Hero is believed to be dead, almost a glance at Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare was a man full of tricks, suspension, and connections.