Editing All's Well That Ends Well (section)

==Analysis and criticism==
{{Expand section|date=February 2021}}
There is no evidence that ''All's Well That Ends Well'' was popular in Shakespeare's time and it has remained one of his lesser-known plays ever since, in part due to its unorthodox mixture of [[fairy tale]] logic, [[gender role]] reversals and [[Cynicism (contemporary)|cynical realism]]. Helena's love for the seemingly unlovable Bertram is difficult to explain on the page, but in performance, it can be made acceptable by casting an extremely attractive actor and emphasising the possibility of a homosexual relationship between Bertram and the "clothes horse" fop Parolles: "A filthy officer he is in those suggestions for the young earl" (Act III, scene 5).<ref>{{cite book|last=McCandless|first=David |title=Gender and performance in Shakespeare's problem comedies|publisher=Indiana University Press|location=Bloomington, IN|date=1997|pages=57–59|chapter=All's Well That Ends Well|isbn=0-253-33306-7}}</ref> This interpretation also assists at the point in the final scene when Bertram suddenly switches from hatred to love in just one line. This is considered a particular problem for actors trained to admire psychological realism. Some alternative readings emphasise the "if" in his equivocal promise: "If she, my liege, can make me know this clearly, I'll love her dearly, ever, ever dearly." Here, there has been no change of heart at all.<ref name=dickson>{{cite book|last=Dickson|first=Andrew|title=The Rough Guide to Shakespeare|publisher=Penguin|location=London|date=2008|pages=3–11|chapter=All's Well That Ends Well|isbn=978-1-85828-443-9}}</ref> Productions like London's [[National Theatre, London|National Theatre]] in 2009 have Bertram make his promise seemingly normally, but then end the play hand in hand with Helena, staring out at the audience with a look of "aghast bewilderment" suggesting he relented only to save face in front of the King.<ref>{{cite news|last=Billington|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Billington (critic)|title=Theatre review: All's Well That Ends Well / Olivier, London|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2009/may/29/theatre|access-date=9 May 2011|newspaper=The Guardian|date=29 May 2009}}</ref> A 2018 interpretation by director [[Caroline Byrne (stage director)|Caroline Byrne]] at the [[Sam Wanamaker Playhouse]], London, effects Bertram's reconciliation with Helena by having him make good his vow (Act 2 Scene 2) of taking her as his wife only when she bears his child; as well as Bertram's ring, Helena brings their infant child to their final confrontation before the king.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Taylor|first1=Paul|title=All's Well That Ends Well, review: Eye-opening and vividly alive|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/alls-well-that-ends-well-sam-wanamaker-playhouse-review-a8165611.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180120184250/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/alls-well-that-ends-well-sam-wanamaker-playhouse-review-a8165611.html |archive-date=2018-01-20 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|website=[[The Independent]]|date=18 January 2018}}</ref>

[[File:All's Well That Ends Well Act V Scene iii.jpg|thumb|A 1794 print of the final scene]]
Many critics consider the truncated ending a drawback, with Bertram's conversion so sudden. Speculative explanations have been given for this. There is (as always) possibly missing text. Some suggest that Bertram's conversion is meant to be sudden and magical in keeping with the play's 'clever wench performing tasks to win an unwilling higher-born husband' theme.<ref>W. W. Lawrence, ''Shakespeare's Problem Comedies'' 1931.</ref> Some think that Bertram is not meant to be contemptible but merely a callow youth learning valuable lessons about values.<ref>J. L. Styan ''Shakespeare in Performance'' 1984; Francis G Schoff ''Claudio, Bertram and a Note on Interpretation'', 1959</ref> Andrew Hadfield of the [[University of Sussex]] argues that contemporary audiences would readily have recognised Bertram's enforced marriage as a metaphor for the new requirement (1606) for Catholics to swear an [[Oath of Allegiance (United Kingdom)#To James I|Oath of Allegiance]] to Protestant [[James I of England|King James]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hadfield|first1=Andrew|title=Bad Faith|journal=Globe|date=August 2017|pages=48–53|issn=2398-9483}}</ref>

Many directors have taken the view that when Shakespeare wrote a comedy, he intended there to be a [[happy ending]], and accordingly that the concluding scene should be staged as such. [[Elijah Moshinsky]] in his [[BBC Television Shakespeare]] version in 1981 had his Bertram ([[Ian Charleson]]) give Helena a tender kiss and speak wonderingly. Despite his outrageous actions, Bertram can come across as beguiling; the 1967 [[Royal Shakespeare Company|RSC]] performance with [[Ian Richardson]] as Bertram by various accounts (''The New Cambridge Shakespeare'', 2003 etc.) managed to make Bertram sympathetic, even charming. Charleson's Bertram was cold and egotistical but still attractive.

One character who has been admired is the Countess of Roussillon, whom [[George Bernard Shaw|Shaw]] thought "the most beautiful old woman's part ever written".<ref name=dickson /> Modern productions are often promoted as vehicles for great mature actresses; recent examples have starred [[Judi Dench]] and [[Peggy Ashcroft]], who delivered a performance of "entranc[ing]...worldly wisdom and compassion" in [[Trevor Nunn]]'s sympathetic, "[[Chekhovian]]" staging at [[Royal Shakespeare Company|Stratford]] in 1982.<ref name=dickson /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2003/dec/14/features.review77|title=Judi...and the beast|last=Kellaway|first=Kate|date=14 December 2003|work=The Observer |location=UK|access-date=5 July 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Billington|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Billington (critic)|title=One Night Stands: a Critic's View of Modern British Theatre|publisher=[[Nick Hern Books]]|location=London|date=2001|edition=2|pages=174–176|isbn=1-85459-660-8}}</ref> In the [[BBC Television Shakespeare]] production she was played by [[Celia Johnson]], dressed and posed as [[Rembrandt]]'s portrait of Margaretha de Geer.

It has recently been argued that [[Thomas Middleton]] either collaborated with Shakespeare on the play or revised it at a later time,<ref name="maguire"/><ref>Taylor, Gary; Jowett, John; Bourus, Terri; Egan, Gabriel, eds. (2016). ''New Oxford Shakespeare: Modern Critical Edition''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p.&nbsp;2274. {{ISBN|978-0-19-959115-2}}. Accessed 27 January 2020: "Shakespeare is undoubtedly  the original author. Thomas Middleton added new material for a revival after Shakespeare's death, including the virginity dialogue..., the Kings speech about status and virtue..., and the gulling of Paroles". </ref> but the proposed revisions are not universally accepted.