ABSTRACT
A similar complexity surrounds Helena, the would-be heroine of Shakespeare’s problematic All’s Well, That Ends Well. Though numerous characters claim her virtuous, readers are often baffled by Helena’s behavior and find her actions “ambitious and scheming.”2 Helena is championed for her agency by some critics, blamed for her poor choice of bedfellow by others, or may simply be dismissed as inconsistent. I suggest, however, that the complexities surrounding Helena establish her part of a biblical tradition of women who, in the name of motherhood, risk modesty and honesty to achieve their goals. Recognizing this tradition does not remove the trou-
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in the Bible’s early chapters in which maternity is presented as a state born from deception. Eve’s delivery of forbidden fruit to her mate prompts a series of events that lead to their expulsion from Eden. Though Eve is punished severely for her transgression, she nonetheless assumes great authority as a result of it. The chapter after the expulsion opens with childbirth and Eve’s declaration that she has “gained a man child with the help of the Lord” (Genesis 4.1). Eve insists on the woman’s lead in procreation; God assists her in motherhood and Adam is removed from the process altogether. Repeatedly the Bible demonstrates that female authority is secured in maternity. Immediately after the birth of his long-awaited son Isaac, Abraham is divinely instructed to heed his wife’s counsel: “whatever Sarah tells you, do as she says” (Genesis 21:12). Her wishes include her husband’s abandonment of his first-born son, and the betrayal of Hagar. Deception and manipulation surround any number of maternal achievements. When one examines All’s Well within this biblical framework, the story’s focus shifts from romantic relationships to maternal ones.
