All's Well That Ends Well is one of Shakespeare's most beguiling plays. It is a comedy, yet seems to lack maturity in its development and tacks on a somewhat truncated ending. For these reasons, along with lines in the play, some speculate that it is actually a "lost play", a companion for Love's Labor Lost, which would have been entitled Love's Labor Won. A lost play is one that lacked Shakespeare's final revisions. The protagonist of All's Well That Ends Well is the beautiful Helena, who pursues Bertram, a man well above her station at the French court of Rousillon. Bertram is in mourning for his late father, but he is also a cad with no redeeming traits. When Helena saves the King and is given her choice of husband, she chooses Bertram, but he refuses her unless she can put a ring on his finger and produce an heir. Many hijinks ensue, including the infamous bed trick. Shakespeare drew upon multiple sources for the play, including most directly William Painter's... Это и многое другое вы найдете в книге The Tudor Shakespeare (Classic Reprint) (William Shakespeare)