All's Well That Ends Well William Shakespeare, Notes, Summary, Lectures, Text,

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Analysis

All's Well That Ends Well is often described as a "dark" or "problem" play, distinguished from the earlier, more cheerful comedies by unpleasant characters and a sophisticated bitterness toward human relations, all capped off with a "happy ending" that is nothing of the sort. In part, these criticisms are unfair. The characters in general are a pleasant group, distinguished either by the wisdom of experience (the King of France, Lafew, the Countess) or by basic decency and good intentions (Diana, the First Lord and Second Lord Dumaine). The only truly unsympathetic figure in the supporting cast is Parolles, who is less a villain than a comically value- free rogue. The ending, while unsatisfactory to our sensibilities, seems to please the characters, and the play is far from being a tragedy.

 
There are unpleasant themes percolating amid the comedy, however. Specifically, the gloom of decay and old age hangs heavily over the older characters, none of whom seem to have long to live. At the same time, for a play ostensibly concerned with romance, All's Well takes a harshly cynical view of sexual love. We expect coarse humor from characters like the Clown, who exist to provide smutty comic relief, and cynics like Parolles, but even the romantic heroine, Helena, indulges in sexual banter, and has a low opinion of male sexual behavior in general. This view is justified, the play suggests, since the successful central deception, the bedroom switch that enables Helena to become pregnant by her husband, Bertram, and thus force him to stay by her side, hinges on the fact that in the dark, all women are alike to men.

Just as significant in analyzing the unpleasant effect of the play on the reader/audience are the facts of the central "romance," if we can call it that. Shakespearean audiences have to accept great women picking men who are unworthy of them (Portia and the fortune-hunter Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice; Hero and the feckless Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing, and many others), but it is extremely difficult to reconcile oneself to a romantic lead as odious as Bertram, who abandons Helena, tries to seduce an innocent woman, and only turns repentant in the play's final scene. We may be meant to perceive him as salvageable in some way, and to expect that he will mature in marriage, but the play gives us only a few hints of this, preferring to focus on his obvious flaws.

The resourceful Helena, meanwhile, loved by everyone (save for Bertram), cuts a far more appealing figure. However, her relentless pursuit of a man who is obviously unworthy of her has the unfortunate effect of diminishing her appeal as the play goes on. Nothing stands in Helena's way as she determinedly pursues the man she loves, and while we may admire her, by the time she appears to triumphantly show Bertram how he has been tricked, we no longer like her as much as we did--and our opinion of her good taste, after so long watching her chase a cad, is all but gone. The final scene demands that we celebrate the triumph of love--but it seems less a fariy-tale ending than a cynically contrived close to a cynical comedy, in which true love takes a back seat to manipulation.

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Study Questions

Discuss the generational differences in All's Well That Ends Well

Answer for Study Question 1 >>

 
Discuss the play's perspective on relations between the sexes.

Answer for Study Question 2 >>

Discuss Parolles' role in the play.

Answer for Study Question 3 >>

Discuss the role of setting in the play.

Analyze the character of Helena, paying attention to other characters' opinions of her.

Analyze the character of Bertram, paying attention to other characters' opinions of him.

Discuss the role of deception in the play, especially the bed-trick, involving Helena and Diana switching places in her bed to deceive Bertram, and the fake capture that fools Parolles in Act IV.

Is Helena's behavior moral? Is she justified in her deceptions?

Discuss the role of authority in the play, especially the role of the King of France.

Does the play have a happy ending? Why or why not?

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Review Questions

The Countess of Rousillon is Helena's

(A) Sister
(B) Mother
(C) Guardian
(D) Ruler
Helena's father was a celebrated

(A) General
(B) Doctor
(C) Painter
(D) Lawyer
When the play begins, Bertram is about to leave for

(A) Florence
(B) The King's court
(C) A monastery
(D) Austria
Bertram is accompanied on his journey by

(A) The Clown
(B) Lafew
(C) Helena
(D) Parolles
The Countess' Steward overhears Helena saying that

(A) She wishes to become a doctor
(B) She loves Bertram
(C) She wishes to go to Paris
(D) She wishes to become a soldier
Helena decides to go to Paris in order to

(A) Cure the King's illness
(B) Enter a monastery
(C) Convince Bertram to propose to her
(D) Attend her father's funeral
In return for her service, the King of France promises Helena

(A) That she will be made a doctor
(B) That she can have any husband she wishes
(C) That Bertram be allowed to go to war
(D) That she be made a Countess
Upon marrying Helena, Bertram

(A) Departs without even kissing her goodbye
(B) Promises to remain by her side forever
(C) Takes her back to Rousillon with him
(D) Consummates the marriage quickly, and then departs
After his marriage, Bertram joins

(A) The clergy
(B) The King of France's army
(C) The medical profession
(D) The Duke of Florence's army
In order to have Bertram as a true husband, Helena must

(A) Wear his ring and bear his child
(B) Save the Countess' life
(C) Save Bertram's life in battle
(D) Sleep with Parolles
Immediately after her marriage, Helena goes to

(A) Marseilles
(B) Florence
(C) Nowhere, she stays in Paris
(D) Rousillon
In Florence, Bertram attempts to seduce

(A) The Widow
(B) Diana
(C) Mariana
(D) His wife
Parolles promises that he will recover, from the enemy, a lost

(A) Drum
(B) Battle flag
(C) Sword
(D) Castle
Instead, he is taken prisoner by

(A) Bandits
(B) Men from his own army, in disguise
(C) Enemy soldiers
(D) Mercenaries hired by Helena
Bertram and Diana exchange

(A) Kisses
(B) Gold chains
(C) Rings
(D) Bracelets
Bertram believes he is sleeping with____, when in fact he is sleeping with ____

(A) Helena; Diana
(B) Diana; the Widow
(C) Diana; Helena
(D) Diana; Mariana
As he returns to France, Bertram believes that Helena is

(A) In Rousillon
(B) In a monastery
(C) Dead
(D) In Paris
When he is exposed as a coward and a fraud, Parolles

(A) Accepts his disgrace philosophically
(B) Kills himself
(C) Challenges Bertram to a duel
(D) Plans to kill Helena
Returning to France, Helena is accompanied by ____ and ____.

(A) The Countess; Diana
(B) The Widow; Diana
(C) Bertram; Parolles
(D) Parolles; Diana
Trying to reach the King, Helena mistakenly journeys to

(A) Marseilles
(B) Paris
(C) Rome
(D) Rousillon
In fact, he has gone to

(A) Paris
(B) Rousillon
(C) Florence
(D) The Holy Land
With Helena believed dead, Parolles is engaged to

(A) Diana
(B) The King's daughter
(C) Lafew's daughter
(D) The Duke's daughter
The ring that the King sees in Bertram's hand originally belonged to

(A) Bertram's father
(B) Diana
(C) Helena
(D) Lafew
Diana is saved from prison by the emergence of

(A) Helena
(B) The Countess
(C) The Widow
(D) Parolles
The play ends with Helena and Bertram

(A) Divorced
(B) Dead
(C) Reconciled
(D) Married to other people