Unlock the more straightforward side of All’s Well That Ends Well with this concise and insightful summary and analysis! This engaging summary presents an analysis of All’s Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare, a ‘problem play’ that draws on elements of both comedy and tragedy. It tells the story of Helena, a spirited young woman who has fallen in love with the high-born but imprudent Bertram. Helena manages to secure his hand in marriage by winning favour with the king, but Bertram is disinterested in the match and absconds to fight in a war. Helena is forced to rely on her quick wits and resourcefulness to both track him down and persuade him to come back to her... All’s Well That Ends Well is a lesser-known play by William Shakespeare, who is widely considered to be one of the most influential writers in the history of the English language. Find out everything you need to know about All’s Well That Ends Well in a fraction of the time! This in-depth and informative reading guide brings you: • A complete plot summary • Character studies • Key themes and symbols • Questions for further reflection Why choose BrightSummaries.com? Available in print and digital format, our publications are designed to accompany you on your reading journey. The clear and concise style makes for easy understanding, providing the perfect opportunity to improve your literary knowledge in no time. See the very best of literature in a whole new light with BrightSummaries.com!

A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's "All's Well that Ends Well," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Shakespeare for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Shakespeare for Students for all of your research needs.

These articles, reprinted from various volumes of Shakespeare Survey, concern three plays which have gradually become appreciated by critics and in the theatre. Since the early years of this century they have been seen as an interrelated group, with a peculiarly twentieth-century appeal. Measure for Measure, concerned as it is with adolescents' first encounters with sex, love and death, has a special appeal for young people; Troilus and Cressida, set in the Trojan War, has been found deeply relevant to our own war-troubled times; and All's Well That Ends Well, sharing these preoccupations, is a necessary companion piece. John Barton, who has directed all three plays, is interviewed in one of the articles, which together illustrate the often heated controversy about the plays. Reviews and photographs of post-war productions at Stratford are also included. The book as a whole is designed as a stimulating introduction to these plays and to conflicting interpretations of them.

In All's Well That Ends Well, Helen, a lowly ward, risks her life to satisfy her boundless love for Bertram, a count and ward to the King of France. Following him to Paris, she concocts an endangering plan to win the King of France's favour and induce Bertram's hand in marriage. In the comprehensive introduction to this new, fully-illustrated Arden edition, Suzanne Gossett takes a transformative look at the play's critical and performance history by offering fresh perspectives on the conundrum of genre, sexuality and moral dilemmas with masculinity and the structures of family. The authoritative play text is amply annotated to clarify its language and allusions, and two appendices debate the play's authorship and review its casting. Offering students and scholars alike a wealth of insight and new research, this edition maintains the rigorous standards of the Arden Shakespeare.

In this romantic reconciliation comedy, the sweetly mischievous Helena plots and plans her way to winning the aloof Bertram's hand in marriage. While the lovers are united by the close of the final act, Shakespeare pokes fun at the fantasy, wish fulfillment, and conventions of romantic comedy with the play's ambiguous resolution, which has intrigued scholars, readers, and theatergoers for centuries. This invaluable new study guide to one of Shakespeare's greatest plays contains a selection of the finest criticism through the centuries, plus an introduction by Harold Bloom, an accessible summary of the plot, a comprehensive list of characters, a biography of Shakespeare, and more.

Few writers have a deeper understanding of the foibles of human nature and life’s absurdities and tragedies than William Shakespeare. This makes him a fascinating companion for the season of Lent, a traditional time for a spot of self-examination. This engaging, wise and often amusing Lent book sets quotations from Shakespeare’s characters and poems alongside biblical passages and reflects on the resonance between them – one reflection for each day of the season. It starts with dust on Ash Wednesday (‘Golden lads and girls all must, As chimney-sweepers, come to dust’, from Cymbeline) and ends with resurrection as Easter Sunday approaches (‘It is required you do awake your faith’, from The Winter’s Tale). In between, it considers many rich spiritual themes: mercy, love, loyalty, trust, good vs evil, guilt, forgiveness, ageing, grief, death, hope and more. Each day’s reflection opens with a quotation from Shakespeare and explores its ideas in conversation with the Bible and Christian thought.

An exciting new edition of the complete works of Shakespeare with these features: Illustrated with photographs from New York Shakespeare Festival productions, vivid readable readable introductions for each play by noted scholar David Bevington, a lively personal foreword by Joseph Papp, an insightful essay on the play in performance, modern spelling and pronunciation, up-to-date annotated bibliographies, and convenient listing of key passages.

The Arden Research Handbook of Shakespeare and Textual Studies is a wide-ranging, authoritative guide to research on Shakespeare and textual studies by an international team of leading scholars. It contains chapters on all the major areas of current research, notably the Shakespeare manuscripts; the printed text and paratext in Shakespeare's early playbooks and poetry books; Shakespeare's place in the early modern book trade; Shakespeare's early readers, users, and collectors; the constitution and evolution of the Shakespeare canon from the sixteenth to the twenty-first century; Shakespeare's editors from the eighteenth to the twenty-first century; and the modern editorial reproduction of Shakespeare. The Handbook also devotes separate chapters to new directions and developments in research in the field, specifically in the areas of digital editing and of authorship attribution methodologies. In addition, the Companion contains various sections that provide non-specialists with practical help: an A-Z of key terms and concepts, a guide to research methods and problems, a chronology of major publications and events, an introduction to resources for study of the field, and a substantial annotated bibliography. The Arden Research Handbook of Shakespeare and Textual Studies is a reference work aimed at advanced undergraduate and graduate students as well as scholars and libraries, a guide to beginning or developing research in the field, an essential companion for all those interested in Shakespeare and textual studies.