Having emphasised the creative potential of erotic metaphor, Conceiving Desire in Lyly and Shakespeare concludes by reflecting on some of its limits, specifically the incapacities of any single metaphor to dramatize eros in all of its complexity. While Troilus considers his erotic limitations ‘monstruous,’ this section of the book probes the potential of such limits. Metaphorical constraints and entailments tether elusive erotic experiences to language and to the desiring body. This conclusion suggests that the process of constraining and limning eros through metaphor makes both love and lovers singular. For Troilus, as for so many of Shakespeare’s characters, contemplative speech brings coherence to physically incompatible sexual scenarios, making erotic experience startlingly new.