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With her husband lately deceased and her son being sent off to the court of the King of France, the aging Countess turns her affections toward Helen. The Countess is the first character in the play to recognize Helen’s virtues. Her affection for the young woman inspires her to treat her like a daughter. Initially, she makes a symbolic gesture of adopting Helen. But as soon as she learns of Helen’s pining for her son, the Countess conspires with her to arrange a marriage with Bertram and so make her a legitimate daughter-in-law. Whereas Bertram will fail to recognize Helen’s inherent nobility and resist enabling her upward mobility through marriage, the Countess already sees Helen as belonging to the upper class. Though the Countess has a secondary role in the play, she’s important for at least three reasons. First, as a supporter of Helen, she contributes to the play’s overall view of social class as a construct of minimal value. Second, as an intelligent woman of wide influence, she demonstrates a resourcefulness that rivals that of our heroine. Third, the Countess stands among several other women—including Diana and her mother—who repeatedly prove more mature and capable than any of the men in the play.
