I’m just going to say it:
All’s Well That Ends Well is problematic as all…well, you fill in the blank.
The plays that are famously problematic (Taming of the Shrew with gender, Merchant of Venice with anti-semitism, etc.) have remarkable redeeming qualities, and are much more than just the one aspect for which they are controversial.
This play, much lesser known, does not share those redeeming qualities and does not make up for it in complexity or anything of the sort.
This is really unusual, especially considering that this play came very late in Shakespeare’s career. I really don’t understand how we can go from something like As You Like It to this play. To me, it reads more like his earlier work (probably most similar to Two Gentlemen of Verona, in that way). The thing that stood out to me was that I just kept thinking that I know the Bard could have done better. This could have been a fascinating story, but I felt almost like he wasn’t even trying. You know? Like he had an off-day…every day for a two months, and this is what he ended up with.
I think this is straight up the most disappointing experience I’ve ever had with Shakespeare. Maybe I was just in a bad mood? I don’t know. Am I wrong? I’m less inclined to be persuaded than I was with Merchant of Venice (which I could still appreciate even though I didn’t like). It seems to me there are very few redeeming qualities about All’s Well That Ends Well.
Maybe I will need to come back to this at another time in the future to give it another try. Do you like All’s Well That Ends Well? Please tell me why you like it! I would love to hear your thoughts.
