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All's Well That Ends Well
·I iii 41 ·
Verse
Countess If ever we are nature's, these are ours; this thorn Doth to our rose of youth rightly belong; Our blood to us, this to our blood is born: It is the show and seal of nature's truth, Where love's strong passion is impress'd in youth: By our remembrances of days foregone, Such were our faults; or then we thought them none. Her eye is sick on't: I observe her now. |
Looking at this monologue, I can see it’s written in rhyming couplets and appears to be from a character reflecting on youth, passion, and natural behavior. Here’s the line-by-line paraphrase:
Original: If ever we are nature’s, these are ours; this thorn
Modern: If we truly belong to nature, then these flaws belong to us too; this painful part
Original: Doth to our rose of youth rightly belong;
Modern: Rightfully goes with our beautiful youth;
Original: Our blood to us, this to our blood is born:
Modern: Our passion belongs to us, and this behavior comes from our passionate nature:
Original: It is the show and seal of nature’s truth,
Modern: It’s the proof and guarantee of what’s natural,
Original: Where love’s strong passion is impress’d in youth:
Modern: Where powerful love leaves its mark on young people:
Original: By our remembrances of days foregone,
Modern: When I remember my own past,
Original: Such were our faults; or then we thought them none.
Modern: I had the same flaws; or back then I didn’t think they were flaws at all.
Original: Her eye is sick on’t: I observe her now.
Modern: Her eye shows she’s troubled by this: I’m watching her right now.
This appears to be a character (likely older and wiser) observing a young person experiencing the intense emotions of youth and love, recognizing that such passionate behavior is natural and remembering their own similar experiences from the past.
In Act I, Scene 3 of “All’s Well That Ends Well,” the Countess of Roussillon converses with her Steward and her Clown (Lavatch). The scene opens with the Clown requesting permission to marry Isbel, a serving woman in the household, offering witty and bawdy justifications for his desire to wed. The Countess engages in verbal sparring with him about his reasons for marriage and his general foolishness, while the Clown demonstrates his skill at wordplay and comic reasoning. After dismissing the Clown, the Countess turns her attention to more serious matters with her Steward, who reveals that he has overheard Helena speaking in solitude about her love for Bertram, the Countess’s son.
The Steward reports that Helena has expressed deep affection for Bertram, believing her love to be hopeless due to the difference in their social stations. The Countess, moved by this information, calls for Helena and gently questions her about her feelings. After some hesitation and attempted denial, Helena finally confesses her love for Bertram to the Countess. Rather than responding with anger or disapproval, the Countess shows understanding and sympathy toward Helena’s predicament. Helena then reveals her true purpose for wanting to travel to Paris: she possesses medical knowledge inherited from her late father, Gerard de Narbon, a famous physician, and she believes she can cure the King of France of his illness. The Countess gives Helena her blessing and support to attempt this cure, providing her with means and encouragement to travel to the French court.
“All’s Well That Ends Well” follows Helena, a physician’s daughter living in the household of the Countess of Rousillon, who is deeply in love with the Countess’s son, Bertram. When the King of France falls gravely ill, Helena travels to court and offers to cure him using remedies learned from her late father. She succeeds in healing the King, who grants her any husband of her choosing as reward. Helena selects Bertram, but he reluctantly marries her and immediately departs for the wars in Italy, declaring he will never consummate the marriage until she can obtain his ancestral ring and bear his child - conditions he believes impossible to fulfill.
Helena returns to Rousillon, where she learns of Bertram’s conditions through a letter. Disguising herself as a pilgrim, she travels to Florence, where Bertram is staying and pursuing Diana, a young woman whose mother keeps a lodging house. Helena reveals her identity to Diana and her mother, proposing a bed trick: Diana will agree to meet Bertram secretly, but Helena will take her place in the darkness. During their encounter, Helena obtains Bertram’s ring and gives him another ring that the King had previously given her.
Helena spreads word of her own death and returns to France, where Bertram has come to seek a new wife with the King’s blessing. When Bertram presents Helena’s ring to his prospective bride, the King recognizes it and suspects Bertram of murdering Helena. Diana arrives and presents Bertram’s ring as proof of their relationship, leading to confusion until Helena appears, pregnant with Bertram’s child and wearing his family ring. Faced with the fulfillment of his impossible conditions, Bertram accepts Helena as his true wife, and the King promises to arrange Diana’s marriage to a suitable husband.