Shakespeare's "All's Well that Ends Well" Synopsis and Comments - The question is whether all is really well that ends well.
I would like to introduce "All's Well that Ends Well" by Shakespeare, which is said to have been written around 1602-1605. I read it from Chikuma Shobo, translated by Kazuko Matsuoka.
Let's take a quick look at the book.
Helen, the orphaned daughter of the former Count's doctor, is in love with the current Count Bertram. She cures the King of France of his incurable disease, wins the right to choose her husband, and marries the man of her dreams, Bertram, but he hates her, flees, and seduces other girls. What does Helen do? This is a play about characters who are a combination of good and evil, and whose words pierce the heart. The complete works of Shakespeare, translated by Kazuko Matsuoka.
Chikuma ShoboProducts Page.
Now this work is known as Shakespeare's "problem play," as you can see in the book introduction above. Let's take a look at the commentary at the end of the book to see what the problem is.
They lived happily ever after. They lived happily ever after. This is the ending of the fairy tale. The title "All's Well that Ends Well" is taken directly from the happy ending of this fairy tale.
It's not just the title. The play uses a number of fairy tale motifs. The king's incurable illness is successfully cured. The impossible task of conceiving a child by a husband who refuses to share his bed with her is overcome by perseverance and wisdom. A good man who was thought to be dead appears resurrected in a grand circle. With the healing of a disease, the solution of a problem, and the resurrection of the dead, a happy ending is assured. However, as the playwright Bernard Shaw declared, "A bitter play with a bitter title," "All's Well that Ends Well" does not offer the simple sense of relief or accomplishment that comes with the end of a fairy tale. (omitted).
The twist ending is not a "happily-ever-after" one. Even the king, who is optimistic that women will be happy if he gives them plenty of dowry and lets them choose their own husbands, is not happy at the end of this play, which ends with "all is well.like a ..." (All yet seems well) with reservations. There is no such thing as an open-ended happy ending. Just because you end up with a prince doesn't mean you'll be happy. All's Well that Ends Well" is a comedy for an age without illusion. Just as miracles have been replaced by science, fairy tales have been defeated in the face of bitter reality. But a few years later, in a group of works known as the "Romance Plays," Shakespeare would write the fairy tale again. Lost children are found, statues are brought to life, magic punishes and forgives sins. Realistically aware that miracles are a thing of the past, one still wishes for them. Or rather, because they have lived the bitter reality, people pray for what could not happen. Before entrusting their prayers to fairy tales, Shakespeare had to say goodbye to them. All's Well that Ends Well" can be positioned as such.
Chikuma Shobo, Shakespeare, translated by Kazuko Matsuoka, "All's Well that Ends Well" p220-226
Yes, it is. This is the work that says in its title, "All's Well that Ends Well," but begs the question, "Is it really so?" but the work makes you wonder, "Is it really so?
The main character, Helen, gets her wish and ends up marrying Bertram, but clearly Bertram was not happy about it. Depending on the stage direction, maybe they could work something out, but Bertram did not want to marry Helen until the very end. That is why he was trying to keep her away by forcing her to do something unreasonable.
However, since Helen's patience and resourcefulness had enabled her to overcome this impossible task, there was no escape for Bertram. He had no choice but to marry her.
The stage "ends" with this marriage, in a manner of speaking.
But this is where their married life begins. It's not all good that ends well.
Although the story overcomes difficulties and comes to a conclusion, it clearly ends with a "Hmm? The ending of the story is not a "happily-ever-after" ending at all. It is the kind of ending that makes the audience want to say, "This is not a happily-ever-after ending at all. This is Shakespeare, so the audience's reaction is to be expected. The title of the play, "All's Well that Ends Well," is also an ironic reference to Shakespeare's style.
And as noted at the end of the commentary above, Shakespeare would later write what he called "romance plays".Pericles.", "Cymbeline," and "The Winter's Tale,The Tempest.The four romance plays in the "The Last of Us" series are truly miracle stories. The range from tragedy to happy ending is astounding. I also love these romance plays.
In the above commentary.He said, "Despite having a realistic perception that miracles are a thing of the past, one still wishes for them. Or rather, having lived through the bitter reality, one prays for what could not happen to happen."I think that is exactly what was written.
It is precisely because we are on the stage of theater, far away from our daily lives, that we want to see works with such dreams and hopes. The same is true for books. Books take us away from the everyday world. Of course, it is important to read books that are grounded in our daily lives. But sometimes it is good to go to a fantasy world and enjoy it. I would like to enjoy that kind of reading too.
That's why Shakespeare's easygoing romance plays are so interesting.
So, inevitably, a problematic film like "All's Well That Ends Well," which I introduced in this issue, will still make you say, "Hmmm? But that doesn't mean they are boring at all. However, that does not mean that it is completely boring. It is not bad to enjoy it with this sense of discomfort. One way to enjoy reading Shakespeare's works is to read them with a sense of Shakespeare's irony. I felt that this work is interesting in a sense in terms of understanding Shakespeare's overall image.
Besides, the title "All's Well that Ends Well" is a good one to begin with.
I love this saying. No matter what kind of life we live, if we are able to live a good life at the end of it, it is "all's well that ends well. This is something I feel strongly about after reading "Les Miserables," Zola's "Lugon Makkar Series," and the great works of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy.
There are a tremendous number of characters in these epic works. And because they are epic works, they also have epic time frames. In such a situation, we, the readers, see how many characters live and die. I have come to believe that a person's life depends on how he or she lives at the end. No matter how successful and powerful you are, will there be people who will cry for you at the end, and will you be able to die with satisfaction? The way you live and die at the end will determine whether or not you can say, "All's well that ends well.
I want to live a life where I can say, "All's well that ends well.
Conversely, we don't know what we have until the end, and there is a big possibility that it will be no good. But that's okay. I feel that these words encourage us to do what we need to do now and look at life from a larger time frame, rather than fretting and complaining about the immediate future.
And well, I've told you about the title "All's Well that Ends Well", but because I personally like the phrase "All's Well that Ends Well", Shakespeare's irony is piquant and good (laughs), "It's not that sweet," he grins. I can almost picture Shakespeare (laughs).
In any case, it was a work that caused "problems" for me in many ways.
The above is a summary of Shakespeare's "All's Well that Ends Well" and my thoughts on it - the question is whether it's really all good that ends well.
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