All's Well That Ends Well

All’s Well That Ends Well is a play by William Shakespeare (1582-1616), one of the most influential writers in the English language. The date of composition is not known, but All’s Well That Ends Well was first performed between 1598 and 1608. It was published in 1623, in the First Folio. Shakespeare’s work is part of Early Modern English literature, alongside playwrights like Ben Jonson and Christopher Marlowe, during which time the play and theater were expanding readily. Many of Shakespeare’s plays, including All’s Well That Ends Well, include retellings of well-known stories, with the inspiration for the main plot surrounding Helen in All’s Well coming from the influential medieval Italian collection of tales The Decameron (1353).

All’s Well That Ends Well is a dark comedy, and it is often identified as one of Shakespeare’s “problem plays,” characterized by both comic and tragic elements and a complex, ambiguous tone. Though the play is humorous, “comedy” at this time denoted a work with a happy ending, specifically a marriage, as opposed to one with a tragic ending. All’s Well That Ends Well covers themes of Female Agency and Social Expectations,

Unlock all 61 pages of this Study Guide

Plus, gain access to 8,850+ more expert-written Study Guides.

Including features:

+ Mobile App

+ Printable PDF

+ Literary AI Tools

Unlock Full Library