All's Well That Ends Well Old Age and Youth Quotes Page 3

When young Helen uses her dead father's medicine to cure the dying monarch, the king of France is grateful; he even calls her his "preserver." In a previous passage (1.2.7), the king of France worries that the younger generation isn't capable of taking over when he's dead and gone. The fact that he's cured by a girl completely contradicts the idea that all young people are shallow, foolish, and incompetent. Maybe there's some hope for the future after all.

There's something amusing about an old man threatening to beat up a guy who's half his age, especially when we know he could probably do it. Shakespeare seems to be writing this for a laugh, but the whole scene makes a bigger point: the older guys like Lafeu are better men than their younger counterparts.

If adults constantly criticize the way you dress, you're not alone. Here, Lafeu hassles Paroles about his clothes; he's so annoyed by the younger guy's outfit that he says he'd like to "beat" him. This isn't the only time an older character makes a big deal about how the younger generation of men dress themselves. At one point, Lavatch makes a sarcastic crack about how Bertram's friends are all wearing "delicate fine hats, / and most courteous feathers" (4.5.15). In this play, clothing emphasizes the generation gap.

Check out this short clip where a famous costume and set designer talks about how she designed costumes to play up the generation gap in a 2009 production of All's Well.