All’s Well That Ends Well · Chapter
Scene VI explained
Bertram and the two French Lords plot to expose Parolles as a coward by tricking him into attempting to recover a lost drum, while Bertram reveals his frustrated pursuit of Diana.
What happens
Bertram and the two French Lords plot to expose Parolles as a coward by tricking him into attempting to recover a lost drum, while Bertram reveals his frustrated pursuit of Diana.
Themes in this chapter
Deception and Appearance
Parolles's false bravado is contrasted with the lords' scheme to reveal his true cowardice, highlighting the gap between appearance and reality.
Honor and Reputation
Bertram and the lords question Parolles's honor, and the drum becomes a symbol of military reputation and the lengths one will go to preserve it.
Characters to notice
- Bertram
Participates in the plot to test Parolles and discusses his failed advances toward Diana.
- Parolles
Boastfully undertakes to recover the lost drum, unaware of the trap set for him.
- First Lord Dumain
Helps devise the scheme to expose Parolles and encourages Bertram to see Diana.
- Second Lord Dumain
Proposes the plan to capture and interrogate Parolles, calling him a notable coward.
Key passages
“Believe it, my lord, in mine own direct knowledge, without any malice, but to speak of him as my kinsman, he’s a most notable coward, an infinite and endless liar, an hourly promise-breaker, the owner of no one good quality worthy your lordship’s entertainment.”
The Second Lord tells Bertram that Parolles is a notorious coward, a perpetual liar, and a constant promise-breaker with no redeeming qualities.
The Second Lord warns Bertram about Parolles's true character.
“I, with a troop of Florentines, will suddenly surprise him; such I will have, whom I am sure he knows not from the enemy: we will bind and hoodwink him so, that he shall suppose no other but that he is carried into the leaguer of the adversaries, when we bring him to our own tents.”
The Second Lord plans to ambush Parolles with Florentine soldiers, blindfold him, and make him believe he is captured by the enemy.
The scheme to trick Parolles into revealing his cowardice is laid out.
“That’s all the fault: I spoke with her but once And found her wondrous cold; but I sent to her, By this same coxcomb that we have i' the wind, Tokens and letters which she did re-send;”
Bertram complains that Diana is chaste and has rejected his gifts and letters delivered by Parolles.
Bertram reveals his frustrated pursuit of Diana.