Alls Well That Ends Well as Fairy Tale and Morality Play :: Alls Well That Ends Well Essays

Alls surface That Ends Well as Fairy Tale and Morality Play     Shakespeare employed two ancient story-telling forms in writing Alls Well That Ends Well. One, the fairy tale, he inherited from his source. The other, the morality play, he worked into the story.   The type of fairy and folk tales of which Alls Well That Ends Well is an example are known as righteousness stories. These are composed of two major sections The Healing Of The King and The Fulfillment Of The Tasks. These tales can be found in the early literature of cultures the world all over and have two qualities in common the cleverness and devotion of the woman sent by her husband to perform the tasks, and the husbands immediate acceptance of the fulfillment of the tasks as evidence of the wifes courage and love. The Healing Of The King in Alls Well is a variation of a common popular theme a hero wins the feed of the kings daughter by performing a difficult task, in which failure will cost him his life. Boccaccio and Shakespeare add interest by switching the genders of the characters.   Shakespeare also draw on the morality plays, a popular medieval theatrical form in which characters representing good and evil struggle for the soul of the hero. In Alls Well Shakespeare has created homogeneous relationships by adding the character of Parolles. Parolles acts as Vice personified, and Helena acts as Divine Grace. Together they struggle for the soul of Bertram, unredeemed man.   Shakespeare carefully weaves these two forms together at two major points in the action. Helenas healing of the king operates on the level of fairy tale and carries hints of the miraculous as well. Lafeu calls it A showing of a heavenly effect in an earthly actor. At the end of the play, Bertrams acceptance of Helena fits the Virtue story form. It also reflects the point in morality plays when unredeemed man, charge by sin and about to be carried off to the everlasting torments of hell, cal ls for mercy. However, unlike the characters in morality plays and fairy tales, Shakespeares characters are realistic in their motivations and behavior. Can a fairy tale work in the complex lives of real people?