Introduction to the play
Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well is the story of its heroine, Helen, more so than the story of Bertram, for whose love she yearns. Helen wins Bertram as her husband despite his lack of interest and higher social standing, but she finds little happiness in the victory as he shuns, deserts, and attempts to betray her.
The play suggests some sympathy for Bertram. As a ward to the French king, he must remain at court while his friends go off to war and glory. When Helen cures the King, he makes Bertram available to her. To exert any control over his life, Bertram goes to war in Italy.
Helen then takes the initiative in furthering their marriage, undertaking an arduous journey and a daring trick. Few today, however, see a fairy-tale ending.
The Folger Shakespeare
Our bestselling editions of Shakespeare's plays and poems
… ’Twere all one
That I should love a bright particular star
And think to wed it, he is so above me.
—Helen
Act 1, scene 1, lines 90–92
The web of our life is of a mingled yarn,
good and ill together.
—First Lord
Act 4, scene 3, lines 73–74
All’s Well That Ends Well in our collection
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Essays and resources from The Folger Shakespeare
All’s Well that Ends Well
Learn more about the play, its language, and its history from the experts behind our edition.
About Shakespeare’s All’s Well that Ends Well
An introduction to the plot, themes, and characters in the play
Reading Shakespeare’s Language
A guide for understanding Shakespeare’s words, sentences, and wordplay
An Introduction to This Text
A description of the publishing history of the play and our editors’ approach to this edition
Textual Notes
A record of the variants in the early printings of this text
A Modern Perspective
An essay by David McCandless
Further Reading
Suggestions from our experts on where to learn more
Shakespeare and his world
Learn more about Shakespeare, his theater, and his plays from the experts behind our editions.
Shakespeare’s Life
An essay about Shakespeare and the time in which he lived
Shakespeare’s Theater
An essay about what theaters were like during Shakespeare’s career
The Publication of Shakespeare’s Plays
An essay about how Shakespeare’s plays were published
Related blog posts and podcasts
Mona Awad on All's Well
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 173 In her new novel, All’s Well, author Mona Awad combines elements of All’s Well That Ends Well, Macbeth, and the 1999 movie Election to tell the story of Miranda Fitch, a theater professor with a mutinous…
ENCORES: 'Recipes for Thought' Lecture by Wendy Wall (2011)
Folger Public Programs is pleased to present ENCORES, a weekly online series highlighting past performances and recalling the rich history of programming on the historic Folger stage. See an excerpt of Wendy Wall’s lecture “Recipes for Thought,” the 2011 Shakespeare…
Elizabethan Medicine
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 55 Being a patient in Shakespeare’s time was an adventure. You might be told to drink liquid gold or syrup of violets. You might undergo a violent purgation to take the bad humors out of your body.…
Teaching All’s Well That Ends Well
Use the Folger Method to teach any of Shakespeare’s works. Become a Teacher Member to get exclusive access to lesson plans and professional development.
Early printed texts
All’s Well That Ends Well was published for the first time in the 1623 First Folio, and that text is the source of all later editions of the play.
