The Countess: The Play's Moral Centre
maternal love
honour
social class
First appears: Act 1, Scene 1
The Countess is one of Shakespeare's finest older characters. She is warm, clear-sighted, and genuinely fond of Helena in a way Bertram never manages. When Helena confesses her love for Bertram, the Countess does not scold her. She helps her.
She is also the play's most consistent judge of her son. She loves Bertram, but she is not blind to his faults. Her disappointment in his treatment of Helena is explicit.
In a play full of people who deceive each other, she is the one character who consistently says what she means.
Key Scenes
Famous Quotes
“In delivering my son from me, I bury a second husband.”
The Countess of Rossillion — Act 1, Scene 1
Themes
Other Characters in All's Well That Ends Well
← Read All's Well That Ends Well
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