Summary
Ferdinand, the King of Navarre, shares with his three lords Dumaine, Biron, and Longaville his plan to develop his court into an academy.
He asks that the lords sign an oath requiring them to fast, obtain little sleep, and avoid women for three years. While Dumaine and Longaville are agreeable to signing the oath, Biron expresses his discontent; he believes the stipulations of the oath are unrealistic and will be difficult for them to achieve. Eventually, he capitulates and signs, along with the other two lords and the King.
Dull, the constable, arrives with Costard and a letter from Don Armado. In the letter, Don Armado explains that he caught Costard with a local wench, Jaquenetta, and that he has sent Costard to the King to be punished.
The King sentences Costard to a week of eating only water and bran.
Meanwhile, Don Armado confesses to his page, Mote, that he is in love with Jaquenetta. Mote tries to comfort Don Armado by telling him of other famous, strong men who have also been in love.
Don Armado attempts to tell Jaquenetta how he feels, but she winds up leaving with Dull, who has brought Costard back and informed Don Armado of the King's sentence.
Mote brings Costard to prison and Don Armado laments how afflicted he is by love's power. He asks for help from the gods of words as he endeavors to write a sonnet.
Analysis
The first act of the play establishes what will become the central conflict: the King's oath to abstain from earthly pleasures in order to increase the intellectual reputation of his court.
As such, the opening scenes of the play rely heavily on foreshadowing, as audiences know from the outset that the King's plan will likely fail. The clearest example of foreshadowing is Biron's protestation against the oath. He admits to the King that he agrees to study at the court for three years, but the stipulations that they must fast, only sleep three hours a night, and abstain from women are, according to Biron, unrealistic. He says, "O, these are barren tasks, too hard to keep, / Not to see ladies, study, fast, not sleep!" (1.1). That Biron refers to the rules of the oath as "barren" suggests that he sees them not just as difficult to achieve, but altogether empty and meaningless.
Indeed, Biron's commentary introduces one of the play's central philosophical questions, namely: what must one sacrifice in the name of intellectual pursuit? The King believes that abstention and temperance will transform his court into an "academe," or academy, thereby bolstering his fame. Biron's protestations suggest that the King's plan is misguided and will be challenged by natural impulses related to desire, sex, and love.
This opening act also introduces a great deal of parody to the play through the character of Don Armado. Don Armado is listed in the cast of characters as "the braggart," or someone who boasts about their achievements and possessions. Consequently, he is portrayed in the play as a foolish and hypocritical character. He advocates for Costard's imprisonment based on Costard's association with Jaquenetta, a local wench, and then proceeds to fall in love with Jaquenetta himself. His love-sick behavior is comical in the play, as he represents the over-the-top, melodramatic, poetry writing lovers whom Shakespeare himself satirized in his own sonnet sequence.
Moreover, Don Armado's name is a not-so-subtle gesture toward the Spanish Armada, an allegedly mighty fleet that attempted to invade England in 1588, but failed. By portraying Don Armado as a foolish hypocrite, Shakespeare panders toward his very specific audience in the Elizabethan court, as it was Elizabeth I who was credited with the defeat of the Armada and the continued prosperity of England.
