All’s Well That Ends Well · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in All’s Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare.
Skim names here — open a free preview to see character cards and Character Web beside the page as you read.
Helena
major
Also known as Helen
A physician's orphan who cures a dying king, then claims the husband she loves — and must outwit his contempt to keep him.
Bertram
major
Also known as Young Bertram, Count Rousillon
A young count newly orphaned of his father, sent to court as the king's ward, who bristles at the bride chosen for him.
Parolles
supporting
Also known as Monsieur Parolles
Bertram's swaggering hanger-on, all drum and no soldier, whose boasts grow louder the less he has to boast about.
Countess of Rousillon
supporting
Also known as Countess, Countess Faith
Bertram's mother, twice widowed in one farewell, who loves her son and her dead physician's daughter with equal clear sight.
Lafeu
supporting
Also known as old lord Lafeu
An old lord with a tooth still in his head, fond of plain speech, plain truth, and any maid who can dance.
King of France
supporting
Also known as King, King Plutus
A monarch who has abandoned his physicians and waits to die, until a dead man's daughter offers him a cure.
Diana
supporting
Also known as Diana Capilet
Diana moves through Florence as a young woman of respectable family, courted by Bertram with the same reckless appetite he brings to everything he wants. Her wariness of his flattery and her loyalty to her mother's household put her in a position to weigh reputation against compassion when Helena arrives needing help. Her decision to lend her name and her body's place to another woman's cause turns private virtue into the play's most consequential act of trust.
Widow Capilet
minor
Also known as Widow
Diana's mother who shelters Helena in Florence.
Lavache
minor
Also known as Clown
The Countess's witty and foolish servant.
Steward
minor
The Countess's steward who reports Helena's love for Bertram.
First Lord Dumain
minor
Also known as this Captain Dumain, Captain Dumain
A French lord serving with Bertram in the Florentine wars.
Second Lord Dumain
minor
Also known as Second Lord
Another French lord and brother to the first, also in Florence.
Gentleman A Stranger
minor
Also known as First Gentleman
A French gentleman who aids Diana's petition to the King.
Mariana
minor
A neighbor and friend to the Widow Capilet in Florence.
Interpreter
minor
Also known as one Captain Spurio
A soldier who translates for the captured Parolles in the mock ambush.
Rinaldo
minor
The Countess's steward, sometimes named as a servant.