"I love him for his sake" : All's Well That Ends WellにおけるParollesの役割

概要

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Parolles in All's Well is not just a Falstaffian figure who gets the audience's laughter. Nor is he a bad angel wrangling Bertram's soul with a good angel, Helena. Under Parolles' influence Bertram goes to the war, disdaining Helena, who saved the king's life and is praised by all the characters in the play except by Parolles and Bertram. Though he earns the king's disfavor by going to the war, he wins honor by "do[ing] the most honorable service". (3. 5. 4.) Misled by Parolles, Bertram falls in love with Diana, a young gentlewoman in Florence, and gives her his monumental ring for having an affair with her. Though losing the ring is "the greatest obloquy i'th'world" (4. 2. 44) in him, thanks to her trick, this experience ultimately leads him to accept Helena. In his trial Bertram reveals his dishonesty and disloyalty which he acquired through his association with Parolles. When he is forced to face his meanness, however, he asks Helena's forgiveness. Thus, though Bertram is degenerated by Parolles, he realizes Helena's virtue through degeneration. Like the lovers in A Midsummer Nights Dream for whom their experience in the woods is a fortunate fall, Bertram's association with Parolles also is a fortunate fall.
2006-12-25