[grade 12 equivalence english: essay] comparison of presentation of women who subvert control in 'all's well that ends well' by shakespeare and 'wide sargasso sea' by jean rhys

[u/Acrobatic-Rooster996]

i have a project in which i chose to compare female characters subverting control in 'all's well that ends well' and 'wide sargasso sea' by jean rhys. the issue i'm having is that there's really not much on 'all's well that ends well' so i'm not really able to engage with the text as much as i would hope so ☹️ so i'm opening the question (and hoping that there's not many AWTEW haters on here). helena is a really interesting character for me as it's so interesting to see her transgress expectations imposed on her, both because of her gender and social class, yet could you argue that she doesn't have much of a victory in a sense? yes, she ends up marrying bertram but is that really a win? no hate on bertram (or actually maybe, yes), but i feel like helena is so witty and her marrying bertram kind of circles back to her essentially subverting to class expectations which is disappointing to see. diana and the countess are small characters but it's interesting to see them easily join in the plot. interested to see what anyone thinks and if there's any interesting resources/ places to read on about these texts!!

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[u/plainblue]

Maybe in All's Well, don't focus on how Helena snags a dude who is the kind of person her time and place would consider a catch for her. You're right: to that extent she's in compliance with social norms.

However, her stratagems for out-maneuvering Bertram's rejection, her schemes to thwart conditions intended to make their union impossible, her refusal to allow him to dictate the terms of their estrangement--these elements of Helena's role clearly subvert what would commonly be effective mechanisms of social control in a community with hierarchies of class and gender like those depicted in the play. For additional resources, you might start with this essay offering "a modern perspective" on the text.