All's Well That Ends Well

The women of All’s Well That Ends Well display a high degree of agency, often subverting social expectations in ways that confuse or astound the men of the play. Helen is the major proponent of this theme, as she takes it upon herself to travel to Paris, treat the King, demand Bertram’s hand in marriage, pursue Bertram to Florence, trick him into sex and out of his signet ring, then confront the King, Countess, and Bertram openly in Rossillion. The Countess is a powerful autonomous woman and is a role model for and facilitator of Helen’s agency. The other women of the play, Diana, and the Widow likewise tend to take control of their situations, often with assistance or guidance from Helen. The narratives of the women in the play largely disregard the social expectations of modesty and submission in women, and they drive the plot toward an ending that, crucially, rewards the women’s transgressive ingenuity.

The most obvious and dominant subversion of expectations begins in the first scene of the play, when Helen asks Parolles, “Bless our poor virginity from underminers and blowers-up! Is there no military policy how virgins might blow up men?” (1.