All's Well That Ends Well

There are two rings in the text, and they each play a specific role in representing the concepts of honor and reputation. Bertram’s ring is the Count’s ring, which is an heirloom passed down through the Count’s family. This would be a signet or seal ring and, worn by each Count, it signifies his identity and authority. As an emblem of the family’s nobility, it is also a symbol of the Count’s honor. By contrast, Helen’s ring is a gift from the King, and it represents her personal reputation and honor, as it is an emblem of the King’s appreciation for her medical assistance and personal value. Unlike Bertram’s ring, Helen acquired the ring through her own action and qualities, whereas Bertram inherited his ring from his father.

The Count’s ring is one of Bertram’s family’s prized possessions, and Bertram comments to Diana on how losing the ring would be “the greatest obloquy” (4.2.53), meaning public disgrace. His words are correct but in a way he does not intend. He will part with both the ring and his honor through his own choice and this will result in his “obloquy” in the final scene. Bertram is willing to give Diana his ring as part of the promises he makes to her. Crucially, it is not given in exchange for her virginity directly (i.e., as payment for sex) but is a sign of his promises and their betrothal. It is a symbol of the marriage he promises her and of his word as a nobleman—made literally “on his honor.” The exchange is only dishonorable because he is insincere: If he were to marry her, the ring—and his honor—would remain his. When Bertram sees Diana’s virginity as valuable (before sex), the ring must be valuable also. Thus, when he treats her virginity as worthless (after sex), the ring must have been correspondingly thrown away. This devaluation of the ring shows that, in dishonoring her, he has devalued his family’s honor. Bertram’s relinquishing the ring is therefore part of the play’s depiction of hereditary honor, showing how the ring, and the Countship, is a meaningless, outward show of nobility without personal noble qualities beneath. Helen’s ultimate use of the ring to force Bertram into honoring marriage with her adds another layer to the ring’s symbolism, showing how it can enforce the noble behavior it is supposed to represent.

Helen’s ring, unlike the Count’s ring, represents real personal nobleness as a means for true reputation and honor. This ring is readily recognized by both the Countess and the King in the final scene, just as they readily perceived Helen’s true value, and this serves to undo Bertram’s plan to avoid Diana and marry Lafew’s daughter. The ring, like Helen’s virtues, is immediately recognizable to all but Bertram and it acts as a foil to Bertram’s ring, representing the difference between hereditary nobility and true virtuous nobility.