Shakespeare Marathon, Part I: Read/See Every Shakespearean Play ("All's Well that Ends Well")

An acquaintance of mine, who was also a devotee of Shakespeare, once expressed that those who quickly forget Shakespearean comedy have no reason to be ashamed. His reasoning was that of the canon, it is mainly the histories and the tragedies that should be retained. Familiarity with the comedies is beneficial, he opined, but far from essential. Such a viewpoint is bound to meet with reservations. Although Hamlet, Macbeth, Henry V, Julius Caesar, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet and Othello are essential for anyone of any cultural attainment, comedies cannot be relegated to a wholly inferior status. The macabre spectacle of Titus Andronicus is certainly lesser than the comedic offerings such as The Taming of the Shrew or any of Shakespeare's more whimsical comedies for that matter.

The categorizations themselves have been problematic in regards to Shakespeare. The extent to which the histories of Shakespeare have been based on actual history is a contentious issue, for example. One debate regarding the classification of his plays arises with the work All's Well that Ends Well. Normally classified as a comedy, some have taken the stance that its designation represents a problem owing to the melancholic elements of the work itself. All's Well that Ends Well chronicles the yearnings of young Helena, daughter to the famed court physician. The young man longs for Bertram, a man of higher birth, but is prevented from attaining her desires owing to class differences. Upon healing the king of his lingering malady, she is rewarded with her choice of husband; thus, Bertram is selected to fill this role. The young man, feeling entrapped, flees and is ensnared back into union with the woman he had rejected. Thus, the denouement cannot necessarily be considered a genuinely happy ending as the ultimate desires of Bertram do not seem to be in accordance with matrimony to Helena.

The reason for my choice of All's Well that Ends Well as my first selection in this Shakespearean "marathon" is a prosaic one: it's the first in line in an alphabetical listing and it is an easily penetrable work. My goal for this marathon of sorts is to read each play and enjoy at least one representation of the written word. For this, no greater service has been provided than that of the BBC who, from the late 1970s to the early 1980s, dramatized each work, many of them to widespread acclaim. All's Well that Ends Well, unlike so many of Shakespeare's plays is not given to frequent film adaptations; in fact, scouring imdb for such depictions proved almost desultory. All that was on offer was what the ever-reliable BBC could provide. For this I am grateful and last night I enjoyed over two and a half hours of finely acted Shakespearean comedy.

It is a pity that there are not more cinematic resources for this particular work as the role of Countess Rousillon is one that is indeed multifaceted and would be so worthy of many elder actresses of the British screen, particularly Judi Dench or Claire Bloom. Even G.B. Shaw, a notably acerbic critic of Shakespeare, expressed his admiration for the richness of the part itself. Perhaps in the near future we will have a definitive screen adaptation of the comedy. For now, we will have to settle for the BBC's version and that is far from disappointing.