SOURCE: Schork, R. J. “The Many Masks of Parolles.” Philological Quarterly 76, no. 3 (summer 1997): 203-09.

In the following essay, Schork claims that All's Well That Ends Well's Parolles is a clever adaptation of several stock types from Roman New Comedy: the cowardly braggart soldier, the crafty servant, and the archetypal pimp.

As a romantic comedy there are a number of very odd twists to All's Well That Ends Well. Its adolescens hero is a reluctant lover, delinquent husband, and a liar. The King of France practically forces the youthful Count of Rossillion to marry a poor, but beautiful and intelligent commoner; Bertram's noble mother thoroughly approves of this match. In terms of the stock roles of the genre, the play's villain is an even greater bundle of contradiction. Parolles is acknowledged as part miles gloriosus, part parasite, and all rogue. The purpose of this note is to add...