SOURCE: "Subjectivity, Desire and Female Friendship in All's Well That Ends Well," in Literature and Psychology, Vol. XXXII, No. 4, 1986, pp. 48-61.

In the following essay, Asp analyzes the character of Helena in All's Well That Ends Well, maintaining that her motivations and actions point toward a re-evaluation of female desire and a critique of the patriarchal social order.

"That man should be at a woman's command and yet no hurt done!"

I.iii.92

According to prevailing opinion, All's Well That Ends Well is a "problem play" whose major difficulty is located in the very assertion that the title makes in summarizing the action. In the opinions of many critics the play does not "end well" because the resolution remains on the structural level rather than moving to the psychological level.¹ The frog prince remains a frog until the end and the princess chooses to overlook his slimy skin...