Act: a primary division of a dramatic work, like a play, film, opera, or other performance. The act is made up of shorter scenes.

Captain Parolles is a deceitful character who brags about his triumphs in war but actually turns out to be a coward. This is one of the central features of characters known as alazons. He’s abandoned by Bertram in this play, the only person who was willing to trust him. This was despite the fact that other characters had encouraged Bertram not to trust him to begin with. Shakespeare uses the type most notably with the bombastic and self-glorifying ensign Ancient Pistol in Henry IV, Part 2, The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry V. [4] Other examples are "fashion's own knight", the Spaniard Armardo, in Love's Labour's Lost, the worthless Captain Parolles in All's Well That Ends Well, and Falstaff in Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2, and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Sir Tophas of John Lyly's Endymion also fits the mold.

Baron Munchausen from Baron Munchausen’s Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia by Rudolf Erich Raspe

He falls from whatever remaining good reputation he has by the end of the play and is forced to beg for help. This gets at the heart of his true nature. He’s nothing but talk, and as soon as he encounters a difficult situation, his “bravery” abandons him. Here is a quote from All’s Well that Ends Well: Frye, Northrop. 1957. Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays. London: Penguin, 1990. ISBN 0-14-012480-2. One might say: “The alazon in this story is particularly funny.” Or, “Did you hear what he said? He’s like a modern-day alazon.”

This character, exemplified through Il Capitano in Commedia dell’arte, The Captain, whose title likely doesn’t belong to him, was unsympathetic and annoying. He bragged about his military experiences and pretended to have accomplished more than he did. The word alazon comes from the Ancient Greek meaning “boaster.”