Remuneration and Guerdon

 

re·mu·ner·a·tion

noun

1.

the act of remunerating.

2.

something that remunerates;  reward; pay: He received little remuneration for his services.

guer·don

noun

1.

a reward, recompense, or requital.

When asked to deliver letters for Armado and Berowne, Costard receives payments from each of these men.  When Armado gives remuneration, Costard decides that must be Latin for three farthings.  When Berowne gives Costard guerdon, Costard also takes this to describe the particular amount of money.  

Costard does not quite understand the level of language used by some of the other characters, which is a language of metaphoric discourse.  Costard believes that the amount of money has the particular names of remuneration and guerdon.  Costard's poor understanding of language is used as a foil to Berowne, who has impressive language skills.  This play highlights the importance of language, which is one of the reasons I am loving reading the work. 

Love's Labour's Lost's Language

I love the language of this play.  I have seen Love's Labour's Lost performed by Idaho State University during my senior year of high school. The characters' clever use of language (or not) keep the play moving and entertaining.  When the King of Navarre and his three lords, Berowne, Longaville, and Dumaine make an oath to study for the next three years and fast, while getting little sleep and avoiding women.  Longaville and Dumaine agree to enter the pact with the King of Navarre, but Berowne does not think he can handle it.

BEROWNE: O, these are barren tasks, too hard to keep,
Not to see ladies, study, fast, not sleep! (1.1.4)

Berowne thinks that it is wrong to put a man up against his natural instincts.

Then, we learn that the daughter of the French king is about to visit.  When Berowne asks the King of Nevarre how he is going to handle this visit, the king says that their interaction will be out of necessity.  Berowne catches this loophole, realizing that they will all just break their vow and call it necessity.

BEROWNE: Necessity will make us all forsworn
Three thousand times within this three years' space; (1.1.38)

I have never read this play before, but so far, I am really enjoying it.