Source: "All's Well That Ends Well as Noncomic Comedy," in Acting Funny: Comic Theory and Practice in Shakespeare's Plays, edited by Frances Teague, Farleigh Dickinson University Press, 1994, pp. 41-45.

[In this brief excerpt, Free examines haw All's Well That Ends Well, unlike Shakespeare's other comedies through its central coupling (marriage) of Helena and Bertram The play has only this one pairing whereas Shakespeare's other comedies hare many couples. Helena and Bertram share only fire scenes together, during which they did not always engage each other in dialogue. There is no battle of wit and will between them Helena's role "outside" her social sphere further increases the comic distance, and there is scant "lightness" or "playfulness" in the play.]

. .. Marriage is a central element in the construct of Renaissance comedy. In the Shakespearean canon, a number of the comedies include marriages, placing them (or implying that they impend...