All's Well That Ends Well: Difference between revisions

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''This is a dreadful sentence.''|'''Helena''', reading a letter from Bertram, 3.2}}

 

With the help of the countess, Helena spreads rumours that she has died, prompting Bertram to return to France. She follows in secret, along with Diana and the widow. Once everyone is all together, Helena reveals that she 1) is not dead, 2) has Bertram's family ring, and 3) is pregnant with his child, thanks to their one-night romp. His conditions met, Bertram promises "I'll love her dearly, ever, ever dearly."

 

 

* [[Arranged Marriage]]: Unusual male version. He doesn't take it well.

* [[Bed Trick]]

* [[Jerkass]]: Bertram. At first, you can understand why he might be angry about the arranged marriage to Helena. He came to court believing that he would finally be able to prove his manhood and get out of his father's shadow, and instead the King bars him from going to war and gives him away as a prize to one of his mother's servants. But he ends up handling the situation very childishly (proving that he's not as grown up as he would like to think he is), and he cruelly takes out his anger on the good-natured Helena, even though it was the King who forced the marriage. And sending your wife a letter ''bragging'' about leaving her, then trying to sleep with another woman, is pretty low.

** Notably, this is ''not'' a case of [[Values Dissonance]] -- even ''the other characters in the play'', including the king, point out that he's being a complete tool.

* [[Poisonous Friend]]: Adaptations that try to take the plot seriously play up Parolles as this in an attempt to make Bertram less of a [[Jerkass]].

* [[Title Drop]]:

** And again at the end:

 

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[[Category:Theatrical Productions]]

[[Category:All's Well That Ends Well]]