ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the group as a crucible in which grief, loss, and creativity can be expressed in different ways. It examines the writer who is perhaps the most striking exemplar of all these experiences, Shakespeare, whose middle period play All’s Well That Ends Well binds together grief, loss, and creativity, both in its own content and in the circumstances surrounding its composition and context. The phoenix arises from the alchemical fire, which is held in a creative container, into which La Feu helps to put Parolles and Bertram together. One of the remarkable features of the play is the way it moves rapidly across Europe. The play is a most striking exemplification of the creative working through of grief, but it also best exemplifies Rothenberg’s thesis concerning the dynamics of creativity. It is important when considering such losses to remind ourselves of modern ways of handling grief that recognize the importance of seeing the dead person or baby.
