After the third reading I'm finally getting it. This is a story about honoring vows: about how, when faced with conflicting promises, it is important to be true to the highest good, not the highest person. The Countess holds her marriage vows (and the king's) to be more important than her promise to grant him whatever he wished (her sexual favors), even more important than her life. She taught the king about honor, and he honored her for that and was rewarded for curbing his desires with victory in the following scenes. Prince Charles similarly defies his father, the king of France, when the king threatens to hang an English nobleman to whom Charles has promised safe passage. There are several other instances of good triumphing over power or expediency, including the final scene with the burghers of Calais. These felicities are easy to overlook when all caught up in the excitement of victory against odds - rah! rah! our team wins again! - but it's the theme that makes it a good play and not just b-grade propaganda.Contrary to what some reviewers say, it's not a hard read at all, unless you find Shakespeare impenetrable to begin with. Nothing like as difficult as Romeo and Juliet, for instance, much less Coriolanus or Antony and Cleopatra. And the passages that are almost surely by Shakespeare (not all of them are, IMHO) are as subtly multilayered and poetically beautiful as he usually is. If you are a fan of Shakespeare and are acquainted with most of his masterpieces, you owe it to yourself to explore this little known play.