All's Well That Ends Well focuses on what makes a marriage work. Helena is in love with Bertram from the very beginning of the play, and although she recognizes that her class status makes her an inappropriate match, she seeks to marry him anyway. In modern day America, marriage across classes is a common enough affair, so that Helena's low-born status may seem a superficial reason for Bertram's refusal of her. Certainly, the play makes Bertram himself into a superficial, vain, and arrogant young nobleman. But the class difference between the two is significant to Bertram, Helena, and the society in which they live. What other barriers, in addition to class distinction, exist in our own society?
When Helena wins Bertram in marriage, it is as though the play reaches a fairy-tale ending to soon. She.....
This is a free excerpt of 135 words. This section contains 782 words. This
study guide contains 59,359 words (approx. 198 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Literature Guide with our All's Well That Ends Well Access Pass.
