Overview

This play is a dramatization of Boccaccio's story of Gillette of Narbonne. Only the comic parts were of Shakespeare's invention; he added the characters of the pusillanimous Parolles, the lofty courtier Lafew, the Clown Lavatch, and the long suffering Countess. He gave new depth and vitality to the leading characters, who are mere outlines in Boccaccio's tale. The comedy has for its heroine a young woman who loves the haughty Bertram with an unrequited and despised passion, cures the King of France of a dangerous sickness, claims as her reward the right to choose a husband from among the courtiers, chooses Bertram, is repudiated by him, and, after a nocturnal meeting at which she takes the place of another woman whom he believes himself to have seduced, at last overcomes his resistance and is acknowledged as his wife. In Helena, Shakespeare drew a portrait of familiar type of loving and cruelly maltreated womanhood--the woman who suffers everything in inexhaustible tenderness and humility, and never falters in her love until in the end she wins the rebellious heart.

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William Shakespeare was born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He wrote about 38 plays (the precise number is uncertain), many of which are regarded as the most exceptional works of drama ever produced, including Romeo and Juliet (1595), Henry V (1599), Hamlet (1601), Othello (1604), King Lear (1606) and Macbeth (1606), as well as a collection of 154 sonnets, which number among the most profound and influential love poetry in English. Shakespeare died in Stratford in 1616. Emma Faye is a versatile audiobook narrator with over twenty years of acting experience. She enjoys narrating YA fantasy, middle-grade, clean/sweet romances, and wholesome nonfiction. Also a betrayal trauma advocate, she runs multiple support groups a week for women. When not performing or running support groups, she enjoys Irish dancing and snuggling with her cats. While she claims California as home, she currently resides in Utah, where she runs a local community theatre. John Burlinson is an American audiobook narrator. Denis Daly is an audiobook narrator and codirector of Voices of Today, an Australian spoken word production house. Gary MacFadden is a voice talent based in western Montana, USA. He works in commercial, e-learning, explainer videos, and audiobooks. Gary has narrated and produced over forty audiobooks, and has produced another dozen books for other narrators. Kendra Murray is an in-demand narrator with a background in film and stage acting. Linda Barrans is a British narrator with a fondness for Jane Austen and Shakespeare. She wrote the Sam books to make positive use of time during COVID lockdown, and to give herself and friend Cate Barratt a modern piece to record together.

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