My initial plans for this blog were to rewrite "All's Well that Ends Well" in plain English. I felt that maybe by translating it I would find more understanding, literal understanding that I could internalize. What ended up happening was that by page fifteen I was exhausted. I found that I could not continue writing, not because the task was long or arduous but because I had come to a realization of sorts.The more and more that I translated the more and more the play lost its meaning. By changing the language I was effectually deconstructing the art. Taking beauty right out of the piece. If critics felt that "All's Well that Ends Well" was bad before, then they really didn't want to read it in plain English. The content of the play is certainly alright however the language is what gives Shakespeare his panache. Upon reaching page fifteen I lowered my hands from the keyboard and surrendered. I bowed down before the text giving Shakespeare some much deserved reverence. I feel that this blog now is my amends for committing hubris against the master and his quill. Shakespeare to use Wordsworth's words sees into the life of things.
In all honestly regardless of convention I quite enjoyed "All's Well that Ends Well". What I liked was that while remaining a comedy it broke with the conventional comedic progression. To be honest I tire easily of comedy. I am a tragedy person. Back to the point of comdey AWTEW stood apart from the other Shakespearian commedies. There are acouple of instance where I noticed (may not be terribly insightfull but this is what I got). For example Betram and Helena marry somewhere in the middle the play breaking the tradtional marriage as an ends. So all the while the reader asks themself how will this end, "the marriage already took place and the man has run off." I feel that the play does end with the marriage, but in the form of the consummation of their marriage. What is really fitting to the comedic tradition is that everything pans out in the end. The title is quite appropriate because it is that over arching theme of the how comedies end, they...well...end well.
Separate from comedy I would like to briefly discuss a portion of the play that I found most interesting. The dialogue between the clown and the countess in Act I.III. Presumably the dialogue is supposed to be jovial however there were a few lines that I found to resonate with me in a more serious manner. The first of which is the line spoken by Lavacht (the clown). The Countess asks him why it is that he must marry and he replies, "My poor body, madam, requires it: I am driven on by the flesh; and he must needs go that the devil drives." (Shakespeare) I reread this line over and over, and then the section over and over. Initially I felt that Lavacht was being a pervert, and that he made his comment as an overt illusion to lust and sinful craving. Then I got this meloncaoly feeling, because the notion of being driven by the flesh implies the existence of the biological clock, the temporality of life (mortality) and impending death. This in conjuction with a line that follows shortly there after I found some other meaning. Lavacht then says, "I have been, madam, a wicked creature, as you and all flesh and blood are; and, indeed, I do marryn that I may repent." (Shakespeare) From this I began to gather another meaning. I feel that Lavacht in some ways did intend his comments to be somewhat lascivious, however they entail deeper mythological meaning. I think that this is an allusion to the myth of original sin and how no matter how hard we struggle that we cannot be sepearte from the sins of the flesh, and that humans are of sin by origin. That being said, if original sin is an inherint part of our being then what is the point of fighting the 'urge". Then the devil come into play because he was the instigator of the original sin and as a result he set humanity in motion, hence the devil drives.This section holds relevance because I find that it is a underlying comment of human sexuality and marriage as the medium in which sexuality is acceptable (to a certain extent). All these conclusions of course have been drawn together in my mind and may not be as relevant as I think. I am also starting to find that Shakespeare may not be as into marriage as his character let on.
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