Notesale: Turn your study into money

Document Preview

Extracts from the notes are below, to see the PDF you'll receive please use the links above

---

ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL
Magic and Divine Grace
Helen in All’s Well That Ends Well is an embodiment of divine grace
...
’ The King’s defeatism is
expressed to us clearly at the beginning as in Scene Two he remarks ‘farewell’ to his
court several times and furthermore, refuses Lafeu’s invitation to be cured bluntly
and stubbornly
...
By the end of Scene Two, Helen’s ‘inspired merit’ and
‘confidence’ gives the King hope from recovering from his disease and judges Helen
as a ‘blesséd spirit’
...
Helen, although born of lowly rank and in a poor situation of
orphanage, is rewarded for her ‘heavenly effect’ on the King as he grants her a
choice of husbands, a rare occasion
...
’ Calvinist traditions of God are rife here as we see Helen with power to
determine who her husband is
...

Gender and Rank
What makes All’s Well That Ends Well particularly remarkable are the literal gender
role diversifications that take place
...
For example, in a conversation with Paroles, Helen is quick
to retort to his rudeness as he asks ‘Are you meditating on virginity?’ in Scene One
...
Here, Helen does not particularly categorise within Jacobean traditional sexual
status yet it does enlighten the audience to the male role that Helen will later take
on
...
As soon as
she is able to choose and elect her husband Bertram, she quickly plays into the
Jacobean tradition of the virgin and wife being physically and contained by those
boundaries
...
’ Helen is clever in achieving her husband through
acting like a male yet she is most clever in conforming to the traditions of wifery to
maintain happiness

---