Episode 54 - All's Well That Ends Well

Another one of Shakespeare's problem plays, All's Well That Ends Well doesn't really, well... end well. It's a play deeply concerned about gender norms, sex, and lies, with some interesting characters who - like those in other problem plays - defy the typical conventions we usually associate with Shakespeare's better known figures. We talk about these themes and the characters that lay trapped within them, in this episode!

Notes:

• As always, the Folger accompanying essay, "All's Well That Ends Well: A Modern Perspective" is a good resource for digging into some of the thornier issues of this play.
• The Shmoop guide ain't half bad either!
• The BBC version really does rip off the baroque and other famous painters shot-for-shot at times - well worth checking out for that alone!
• The film Aidan mentions in the outro is definitely Ran by Akira Kurosawa. not Rain, which is a lesser known film that doesn't sound nearly as good.

Ancient Bickerings:

It's a simple question for this one: is all well at the end of the play? Lindsay says no, Aidan says yes. Aidan is wrong.