All's Well that Ends Well (Annotated with Biography and Critical Essay)

Book excerpt: All’s Well that Ends Well was written circa 1604 and was the first of a series of plays that Shakespeare wrote mixing humor and pathos. The play may have been a comment on a situation that was being debated in Parliament at the time – that the King could control the property of a nobleman who inherited his title before he turned twenty-one. The plot of the play revolves around Helen, the orphaned daughter of a doctor, who has helped cure the King of France. He had promised her if she could cure him, she could have any man she wanted as her husband. Helen asks him if she could marry Bertram, the Count of Rossillion, whom she is in love with. The Count is considerably above her in station, and the King agrees to the marriage, but with great reluctance. Bertram is unhappy about the whole situation, and soon after the wedding, he leaves for war in Italy, the marriage unconsummated. He is accompanied by, Parolles, who is a bit of an opportunist although Bertram thinks he is a true friend. He later betrays Bertram. This annotated edition includes a biography and critical essay.