Hobby-horse represents Braggarts love as a childish feeling

Author: Ryan Kirby

Ryan Kirby

As Braggart and Page discuss Braggarts interest of Jaqueneta, Page gives insight on what he believes Braggart is feeling. He recalls that Braggarts’ love is such of a Hobby-horse. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a hobby-horse is, “A stick with a horse’s head which children bestride as a toy horse”. It is clear that Page expresses the idea that Braggart’s love is not true love, but a type of lust. A feeling that may represent a childish desire just as the hobby-horse is known to be a type of child’s toy. This can clearly be reflected in any individual’s life whether that is in the fifteenth century or in the modern day. It can be hard to determine where feelings come from or what they mean. Taking time to reflect on your own thought can bring a person a sense of clarity that allows them to truly understand what they are experiencing. Furthermore, it is interesting to see the comparison between how the VERSE version of Love Labors Lost and the Boswell-Malone variorum, 1821 edition use grammar to portray a different significance to where they include the phrase “hobby-horse” in the texts. As for the VERSE version, the statement is placed in the middle of a sentence but begins with a capital letter. This may mean that it is intentional that the readers see that Page is directly addressing Braggarts love as a hobby-horse. The capital letter insinuates that the hobby-horse is important and is a proper noun, placing a different significance on it than the Boswell-Marlon variorum, 1821 version. In this version, the phrase begins with a lower-case letter. Although this change is minute, it still takes away some importance of what Page (Moth), is stating. It becomes less of a direct comparison to Braggarts love and can become less perplexing to the reader as it does not assert the same bold statement at the VERSE version does.