All's Well That Ends Well - Softcover

Shakespeare, William

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141016604 ISBN 13: 9780141016603

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 2005

Synopsis

Classified as one of William Shakespeare's 'problem plays' for its unique mix of comedy and tragedy, All's Well that Ends Well is a masterpiece of irony and subtle wit. This Penguin Shakespeare edition is edited by Barbara Everett with an introduction by Janette Dillon.

'All's well that ends well; still the fine's the crown
Whate'er the course, the end is the renown'

Helena, physician's daughter of humble birth, cures the King of France, and in return is promised the hand of any nobleman she wishes. But the man she chooses, the proud young Bertram, Count of Rosillion, flees to Florence, refusing to consent to the forced marriage unless Helena can pass two seemingly impossible tests. But with the help of the virginal Diana and her mother, Helena uses her wits and wiles to coerce Bertram into submission. Depicting the triumph of trickery over youthful arrogance, All's Well that Ends Well is among Shakespeare's darkest romantic comedies, yet it remains a powerful tribute to the strength of love.

This book contains a general introduction to Shakespeare's life and Elizabethan theatre, a separate introduction to All's Well that Ends Well, a chronology, suggestions for further reading, an essay discussing performance options on both stage and screen, and a commentary.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden some time in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He wrote about 38 plays (the precise number is uncertain), many of which are regarded as the most exceptional works of drama ever produced, including Romeo and Juliet (1595), Henry V (1599), Hamlet (1601), Othello (1604), King Lear (1606) and Macbeth (1606), as well as a collection of 154 sonnets, which number among the most profound and influential love-poetry in English.

If you enjoyed All's Well that Ends Well, you might like Much Ado About Nothing, also available in Penguin Shakespeare.

'He was not of an age, but for all time'
Ben Jonson

About this title

Review:

All's Well That Ends Well has generally been considered one of Shakespeare's most difficult and unpopular plays. Labelled a "Problem Comedy", editors believe that the play was written between 1604 and 1605, and exhibits a darkening of Shakespeare's interest in comedy. The play deals with the complicated relationship between Helena, the daughter of a famous physician, and Bertram, the arrogant son of the Countess of Roussillon. Helena is secretly in love with Bertram, and when she miraculously cures the ailing King, she asks for Bertram's hand in marriage, to which the grateful sovereign happily agrees. Bertram bitterly opposes marriage to Helena, who he regards as a social inferior. After reluctantly agreeing to the marriage, Bertram flees to the wars in Italy with his companion Parolles.

What ensues is Helena's increasingly desperate and complex attempts to retrieve her errant husband, which involves various machinations and a piece of mistaken identity and an infamous "bed-trick" which has never fully convinced audiences or critics. More recently critics have been kinder to the play, seeing its cynical disillusionment with romance as reflecting contemporary social and political anxieties about warfare and commerce, and feminist critics have been keen to celebrate Helena as a particularly complex heroine. The play is also fascinated by language, encapsulated in the character of Parolles (or "words"), and his memorable line for which the play is chiefly remembered: "Simply the thing I am / Shall make me live". --Jerry Brotton

Review:

"A remarkable edition, one that makes Shakespeare's extraordinary accomplishment more vivid than ever."--James Shapiro, professor, Columbia University, bestselling author of "A Year in the Life of Shakespeare: 1599" "A feast of literary and historical information.""--The Wall Street Journal"

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0141016604
• ISBN 13: 9780141016603
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272
• Editor: Everett Barbara, Dillon Janette