All's Well That Ends Well
'All's Well That Ends Well' Summary
Helena, the low-born ward of a French-Spanish countess, is in love with the countess's son Bertram, who is indifferent to her. Bertram goes to Paris to replace his late father as attendant to the ailing King of France. Helena, the daughter of a recently deceased physician, follows Bertram, ostensibly to offer the King her services as a healer. The King is skeptical, and she guarantees the cure with her life: if he dies, she will be put to death, but if he lives, she may choose a husband from the court.
The King is cured and Helena chooses Bertram, who rejects her, owing to her poverty and low status. The King forces him to marry her, but after the ceremony Bertram immediately goes to war in Italy without so much as a goodbye kiss. He says that he will only marry her after she has carried his child and wears his family ring. Helena returns home to the countess, who is horrified at what her son has done, and claims Helena as her child in Bertram's place.
In Italy, Bertram is a successful warrior and also a successful seducer of local virgins. Helena follows him to Italy, befriends Diana, a virgin with whom Bertram is infatuated, and they arrange for Helena to take Diana's place in bed. Diana obtains Bertram's ring in exchange for one of Helena's. In this way Helena, without Bertram's knowledge, consummates their marriage and wears his ring.
Helena fakes her own death. Bertram, thinking he is free of her, comes home. He tries to marry a local lord's daughter, but Diana shows up and breaks up the engagement. Helena appears and explains the ring swap, announcing that she has fulfilled Bertram's challenge; Bertram, impressed by all she has done to win him, swears his love to her. Thus all ends well.
There is a subplot about Parolles, a disloyal associate of Bertram's: Some of the lords at the court attempt to get Bertram to know that his friend Parolles is a boasting coward, as Lafew and the Countess have also said. They convince Parolles to cross into enemy territory to fetch a drum that he left behind. While on his way, they pose as enemy soldiers, kidnap him, blindfold him, and, with Bertram observing, get him to betray his friends, and besmirch Bertram's character.
Book Details
Authors
William Shakespeare
United Kingdom
William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon. The son of John Shakespeare and Mary Arden, he was probably educated at the King Edward VI Grammar School in Stratford, where he...
Books by William ShakespeareDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
Related books
La Comédie Humaine: 04 - Scènes de la vie privée tome 4 by Honoré de Balzac
La Comédie humaine estla collection en plusieurs volumes d' Honoré de Balzac (1829-1848) de romans et d'histoires interconnectés décrivant la société...
Bahnwärter Thiel by Gerhart Hauptmann
Bahnwärter Thiel is a poignant novella by Gerhart Hauptmann that explores the themes of isolation, inner conflict, and the struggle to cope with loss....
Viaje de Novios by Emilia Pardo Bazán
En 'Viaje de Novios', la condesa Pardo Bazán explora las complejidades del matrimonio por conveniencia a través de la historia de Miranda y Lucía, una...
Visions by Coulson Kernahan
This book, a collection of “dreams” by a notable English novelist and literary critic, explores profound questions about life, death, and the divine....
Gay Lord Quex by Arthur Wing Pinero
Gay Lord Quex is a satirical Victorian play that explores the complexities of reputation, societal expectations, and gender roles. It centers on Lord...
Chief Legatee by Anna Katharine Green
Chief Legatee follows the unsettling disappearance of a newlywed bride, Georgian Hazen, on her wedding day. As the groom, John Ashton, grapples with t...
Wahlverwandtschaften by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Der Roman ist ein typischer Vertreter der Weimarer Klassik. Goethe greift ein gesellschaftliches Thema auf und verbindet es mit einem naturwissenschaf...
Anna Karenina, Book 3 by Leo Tolstoy
Anna Karenina is a classic novel by Leo Tolstoy that explores the complex themes of love, duty, and social constraints in 19th-century Russia. The sto...
Desperate Remedies by Thomas Hardy
Desperate Remedies explores the complexities of love, duty, and social constraints in Victorian England. Cytherea Graye, a young woman of humble origi...
Anna Karenina, Book 4 by Leo Tolstoy
Anna Karenina is an epic novel by Leo Tolstoy, first published in 1877. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest works of literature ever written....
Reviews for All's Well That Ends Well
No reviews posted or approved, yet...