All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well

All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well is spoken between Gerry and Stella during a fragile pause at the airport. Its assurance is not offered as a neat resolution: the exchange leads Gerry from repeating words of hope to naming the self-loathing bound up with his drinking, while Stella answers with the blunt fact that he drinks all the time.

The Saying in the Airport Exchange

Gerry begins with the brief declaration, “All shall be well,” and Stella prompts him to continue: “And again.” He supplies, “And all shall be well.” Stella makes a pedalling gesture with both hands, signalling that more of the saying remains. Gerry completes it: “And all manner of thing shall be well.” The phrase thus unfolds through a small call-and-response, with Stella prompting its continuation rather than merely receiving it.

Reassurance and Self-Recognition

The exchange takes place after Stella has acknowledged that an all-female religious collective is no longer an option and suggested that the flat may not have to be sold if Gerry keeps his word about giving up drinking. Gerry nods and puts a hand on her arm; after a silence, he speaks the saying. Its hopeful cadence is immediately tested by his confession: “I hate myself when I’m drinking.” Stella counters that he drinks all the time, and Gerry follows the logic to its bleak conclusion: “So I hate myself all the time.”

Significance

The saying’s movement from partial recitation to completion gives the scene a shared rhythm of hope, but the conversation does not allow that hope to erase the problem. Stella’s gesture helps bring the words to their close; Gerry’s confession then turns the exchange toward the condition that would have to change for reassurance to mean more than a consoling formula. The saying remains present alongside the couple’s unresolved reckoning with his drinking.