“Diana: Ay, so you serve us till we service you. But when you have our roses, you barely leave our thorns to prick ourselves, and mock us with our bareness” (Shakespeare, 4.2.18) When Shakespeare wrote All’s Well That Ends Well, gender equality was laughable. Women, considered the weaker sex were subordinate and subservient to the every whim of men. Through the use of humor and creative characters, Shakespeare is able to voice the reality of that era. By making both feminism and sexism comical, Shakespeare is able to seamlessly enmesh these two juxtaposed views, best seen in the characterization of Helen and Paroles, dialogue and interaction of act 1.1 of All’s Well That Ends Well.

Helen was a Shakespearian feminist: independent, intelligent, sarcastic, determined, and confident; the opposite of what a 17^th century ‘lady’ was expected to be. Helen knew what she wanted, Bertram, and went for it using any means necessary to attain her prize. Though such behavior would be expected from a hero, a heroine risking the impossible to win a man seems unthinkable. As a feminist, Helen proved that women are capable of much more than house work and making babies: she saved the king’s life when no one else could, and went on a journey only to return home having completed the impossible tasks Bertram demanded. Paroles is the epitome of theatrical sexism: rude, insensitive, crass, and degrading, but funny. Obviously Shakespeare dramatized the sexist aspect a great deal, as it was sure to get many laughs, though the underlying gist of men’s disrespect of feminine purity, honesty and worthiness chimes a realistic tone.

Virginity and purity were aspects of womanhood that were expected in the 17^th century but devalued by men. In 1.1.105 Paroles asks Helen, “Are you meditating on virginity?” To which Helen replies, “man is enemy to virginity: how may we barricade it against him?” (Shakespeare, 1.1.107) Though the tone of the conversation is light and playful, the content is full of sarcastic comebacks from Helen and degrading remarks from Paroles. While Helen respectfully defends her virginity, another true sign of a feminist, Paroles continues to grow steadily more uncouth. After calling virginity a sin (1.1.134) he goes on to add the most demeaning comment to feminism found in All’s Well That Ends Well:

“and your virginity, your old virginity, is like one of our French withered pears: it looks ill, it eats drily, marry, ‘tis a withered pear – it was formerly better, marry, yet ‘tis a withered pear. Will you anything with it?” (Shakespeare, 1.1.147)

In a modern setting, a time of political correctness and sensitivity, a man joking of a woman’s virginity would at least be done out of the company of the woman whose virginity he is mocking. The dialogue between Helen and Paroles is a clear indicator of the problematic social structure making a woman’s chastity sacred and a man’s unchaste is to be expected. Though men want to take women’s virginity, they do not want to marry an unchaste woman. Shakespeare mocks this societal double standard by cleverly blending Paroles’ sexism with Helen’s feminism. As he tries to disgrace her with his crude speech, Helen maintains her composure and several of her comebacks to Paroles are bursting with a feminist tone.

Helen’s greatest defense against the vulgarity of Paroles is sarcasm, and from their first lines of dialogue, this mockery can be viewed. Still, for an early feminist, Helen is quite aggressive in not allowing Paroles to get too much of an upper hand. When he mocks her, she mocks back. On stage, such cynicism would come off as comedic and intended, though the feminist undertones of Helens speech may have been missed, especially by early viewers of the play when feminist ideas did not yet have a name. After Helen asks Paroles if there is any way to barricade one’s virginity from a man to which he responds no, there is none, she cleverly asks Paroles, who pretends to be a soldier, “Is there no military policy how virgins might blow up men?” (Shakespeare, 1.1.115) The irony and sickly sweet demeanor available to Helen in raising such an absurd question, is completely sarcastic and brilliant. She again shows feminism by repeatedly announcing her plan to save her virginity, regardless of what any man thinks her for it. Just before Paroles exits, Helen jabs his manhood one last time:

“Helen: You go so much backward when you fight.

Paroles: That’s for advantage.

Helen: So is running away” (Shakespeare, 1.1.186).

By not allowing Paroles to throw the last punch, Helen gains important ground for the side of feminism. It is as if Helen unknowingly and unexpectedly fought and won and early battle of feminism against sexism in an era of femininity.

In All’s Well That Ends Well, Shakespeare is able to successfully combine ideas of both feminism and sexism in a humorous way, not only to please the audience, but to shed light on real issues of 17^th century life. As the dialogue between Helen and Paroles shows, Shakespeare’s ability to create comic relief even on sensitive subjects further exemplifies why students of literature still study his work today. Through characterization, dialogue and sarcasm, Shakespeare gives feminism a place in a sexist era.