The young King of Navarre and three attendant lords solemnly vow to avoid all women as they begin a three-year program of intense study, but they soon find this oath difficult to keep.  Costard, a young villager, is immediately caught consorting with a wench in the vicinity, and the Spanish courtier, Don Armado, falls in love with the same girl.  The Princess of France arrives on a diplomatic embassy on behalf of her “sick, and bedrid father,” attended by three charming ladies.   Predictably, the four young lords fall in love with the French ladies, but in respect of their oath they try to keep the ladies away from the palace, entertaining them from afar with a royal hunt, lavish gifts, and some mis-directed love-letters.  

In an elaborate eavesdropping scene, the lords discover that each of them has broken his oath and fallen in love.  They renounce their academic plans and vow instead to woo the French ladies.  To impress them, they present a masque in Russian costumes, and then invite the local villagers to present a pageant of the Nine Worthies.  Both entertainments are ludicrous, and the merriment grows until a sudden interruption comes from France.   As the ladies hurriedly prepare to leave for home, the lords hastily propose marriage.  Can these oaths be trusted?  Only time will tell.

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