All's Well That Ends Well, Act 3, Scene 4

William Shakespeare

The story so far

Earlier in the play

Bertram has married Helena but refuses to live with her unless she obtains his ring and bears his child. His mother supports Helena, who resolves to leave so he can return.

In the last scene: Act 3, Scene 3

The Duke of Florence appoints Bertram general of his cavalry. Bertram accepts the command and promises to face danger in the Duke’s service, declaring his devotion to war rather than love.

SCENE IV. Rossillon. A room in the Countess’s palace.

Enter Countess and Steward.

COUNTESS

Alas! and would you take the letter of her?Might you not know she would do as she has done,By sending me a letter? Read it again.

STEWARD

I am Saint Jaques’ pilgrim, thither gone.Ambitious love hath so in me offendedThat barefoot plod I the cold ground upon,With sainted vow my faults to have amended.Write, write, that from the bloody course of warMy dearest master, your dear son, may hie.Bless him at home in peace, whilst I from farHis name with zealous fervour sanctify.His taken labours bid him me forgive;I, his despiteful Juno, sent him forthFrom courtly friends, with camping foes to live,Where death and danger dog the heels of worth.He is too good and fair for death and me;Whom I myself embrace to set him free.

This lover's word means Helena will hold death in her arms instead of Bertram, so the closeness he refused her now goes to death.

Saint Jaques is St James, whose principal shrine at Santiago de Compostela in Spain was a major destination of Christian pilgrimage. Journeys to saints’ shrines could be undertaken in fulfilment of a religious vow or as penance.

Rynaldo reads Helena’s letter, saying she has begun a barefoot religious pilgrimage.

Authorship finally claimed, but only for the harm she has done

Helena imagines embracing death to release Bertram from their marriage. Her praise of the man who rejects her makes her devotion painfully unequal.

The comparison is with Juno’s persecution of Hercules. In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Book 9, the dying Hercules recounts his labours and calls on Juno to rejoice in his suffering. Helena assigns herself Juno’s part and Bertram Hercules’.

Helena casts herself as Juno, the spiteful goddess who forced Hercules into deadly tasks, so she takes all the blame and Bertram becomes a hero.

Helena asks the Countess to recall Bertram safely from the war.

In William Painter’s ‘Giletta of Narbona’, in The Palace of Pleasure, Giletta leaves home under the guise of pilgrimage. Shakespeare retains the pilgrim’s departure but adds this farewell letter to the Countess, a character absent from Painter’s tale.

She blames herself for driving Bertram abroad and believes leaving will free him.

COUNTESS

Ah, what sharp stings are in her mildest words!Rynaldo, you did never lack advice so muchAs letting her pass so; had I spoke with her,I could have well diverted her intents,Which thus she hath prevented.

STEWARD

Pardon me, madam;If I had given you this at over-night,She might have been o’erta’en; and yet she writesPursuit would be but vain.

COUNTESS

What angel shallBless this unworthy husband? He cannot thrive,Unless her prayers, whom heaven delights to hearAnd loves to grant, reprieve him from the wrathOf greatest justice. Write, write, Rynaldo,To this unworthy husband of his wife;Let every word weigh heavy of her worth,That he does weigh too light; my greatest grief,Though little he do feel it, set down sharply.Dispatch the most convenient messenger.When haply he shall hear that she is goneHe will return; and hope I may that she,Hearing so much, will speed her foot again,Led hither by pure love. Which of them bothIs dearest to me I have no skill in senseTo make distinction. Provide this messenger.My heart is heavy, and mine age is weak;Grief would have tears, and sorrow bids me speak.

Exeunt.

Characters

Speaking

Countess3 speeches
Steward2 speeches

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Themes

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Questions on this scene

Reading
Where does the Countess’s daughter-in-law go on pilgrimage?
Reading
Reading

Locations

RoussillonScene
The home of Bertram, Count of Roussillon, and his mother, the Countess. Helena grows up in their household; the opening scenes and the final reconciliation take place here. The precise site of the count's house is unspecified.
Set here · 2 quotes in this scene

Also mentioned

Saint Jaques le Grand?1 quote in this scene · characters travel here or from here
Florence1 quote in this scene