All`s Well That Ends Well Date written: between 1602-1603

Date Printed:the script was first printed in 1623 in the First Folio.

Date First Performed: the drama was first performed between 1602 and 1603.

Total Number of Words: 24,505

All`s Well That Ends Well Settings: The settings for the drama

are in Rousillon, Paris, Marseilles in France and Florence, Italy.

All`s Well That Ends Well

Famous Line: "Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie, which we ascribe to Heaven.“

Theme: it is comedy and love.

All`s Well That Ends Well

Characters

All`s Well That Ends Well

HelenThe play's heroine. The orphan daughter of

a great doctor, she is the ward of the Countess of Rousillon, and hopelessly in love with the Countess' son, Bertram.

All`s Well That Ends Well

Bertram The Count of Rousillon since the death of his father,

and the Countess' only son. A handsome, well-liked young man, he proves to be an excellent soldier, but a cad in his relationship with Helena, who he unwillingly marries and quickly abandons.

All`s Well That Ends Well

CountessThe mother of Bertram, the mistress of

Rousillon, and Helena's guardian, she is a wise, discerning old woman who perceives Helena's worth and rejoices when she marries Bertram. 

All`s Well That Ends Well

King of France  Bertram's liege lord. He is deathly ill when the

play begins, and is miraculously cured by Helena, who uses one of her father's medicines. Like the Countess, he loves Helena, and is appalled by Bertram's behavior.

All`s Well That Ends Well

Lafew  An old French nobleman, who offers advice

to the King and is friendly with the Countess. He is wise and discerning, perceiving both Helena's worth and Parolles' worthlessness.

All`s Well That Ends Well

Parolles A companion of Bertram, he is a coward, a

liar and a braggart, who pretends to be a great soldier when he is nothing of the sort. He is eventually exposed and disgraced.

All`s Well That Ends WellOther characters: First Lord   A genial French nobleman

named Dumaine, he serves in the Florentine army and becomes friends with Bertram. 

Second Lord -  The First Lord Dumaine's brother, similar in character and also a friend to Bertram.

Diana -  A young virgin in Florence, who Bertram attempts to seduce. She assists Helena in tricking him into sleeping with his lawful wife.

All`s Well That Ends Well

Widow -  Diana's mother. Mariana -  A woman of Florence. Duke of Florence -  The ruler of

Florence, many French lords (including Bertram, Parolles, and Dumaine) volunteer to fight for him.

Clown -  An old servant of the Countess, who serves as a messenger and enjoys coarse, sexual humor.

Steward -  Another servant of the Countess.

All`s Well That Ends Well Bertram, the son of a widowed countess sets off from

Roussilon with his friend, Parolles, and the Lord Lafeu, to the French court. He is the ward of the French king. He is unaware that Helena, orphan daughter of the countess’ physician, raised in the household of the countess, is in love with him. The countess gives her permission to try and cure the king’s illness. No-one has been able to cure him but Helena succeeds and, as a reward, the king invites her to choose a husband from among his wards. She chooses Bertram. Bertram’s ambitions for a wife go beyond her, however, and although he marries her on the king’s orders, he runs away with Parolles to fight in the wars in Italy.He writes a letter to Helena, telling her that he will not recognise the marriage until she can demonstrate that she is wearing his heirloom ring and carrying his child.

Helena goes home and prepares to seek Bertram out. She disguises herself as a pilgrim and goes to Florence where she is befriended by a widow and her daughter, Diana. In the meantime Bertram has fallen in love with Diana.

All`s Well That Ends Well

Helena fakes her death and Bertram returns to the French court. His mother and Lafeu, also believing Helena to be dead, arrange for Bertram to marry Lafeu’s daughter. Bertram gives Lafeu a ring that Helena, as Diana, had given him at the late night meeting in Florence and it becomes apparent that it is the ring that the king had given Helena on her marriage to Bertram.

In the midst of the confusion Diana arrives with Bertram’s ring and accuses him of seducing and abandoning her. Bertram denies it but Lafeu withdraws his daughter from the marriage. The king orders that Diana be taken to prison but then Helena appears as a witness to the truth of Diana’s story. She is pregnant and her story soon comes out. Bertram accepts her as his wife. The king offers Diana a choice of husbands from among his courtiers, with a rich dowry. The play ends with everyone being more or less satisfied.