Dark Shades in the Unfortunate Comedy: Helena's Project in Alls Well That Ends Well
Resource
臺大文史哲學報, 66, 93 -121
Journal
中華心理學刊
Pages
93-121
Date Issued
2007
Date
2007
Author(s)
謝君白
Abstract
The epithet ”the unfortunate comedy,” though first attached to ”All's Well That Ends Well” through some superstitious associations, quite aptly sums up the worrying impressions of dissonances haunting the play's happy end. This paper proposes to examine the care that goes into Shakespeare's rendering of the dark shades and worrying impressions which give ”the unfortunate comedy” its distinctive flavor. Attention will be given to at least three sorts of off-notes Shakespeare highlights in the play. Specifically, the paper will illustrate how Shakespeare brings about ambivalent feelings about Helena's final triumph by (1) enhancing the clashes between the play's ”romantic patterns” and ”anti-romantic preoccupations,” (2) foregrounding the intractability of human wills and conflicting needs by the play's strikingly realistic characterization and, (3) through ironic syncopations of the main motif in the background, deepening the impression that ”misjudgment and the misprizing of true values” are universal human flaws. For a play sometimes called ”Shakespeare's most thorough experiment with comic form,” the dark shades of strain should be deemed its definitive quality-and a fully intended effect.
Type
journal article
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