All's Well That Ends Well, by Will Shakespeare, Reviewed

Image via Wikipedia

How do you go about reviewing a work that must have been described, analysed and generally pulled apart by thousands of readers, writers, scholars and professional reviewers? Well, as I see it, the only thing to do is give a very personal opinion.

Shakespeare is, of course, our national bard, our cultural hero, if we write in English. So, the reviewer better beware if he says anything untoward. But I set myself a target and I'm determined to hit it. The target? As a writer, to read and review at least 52 books this year, all taken from my 'to read' list'. So, you have my motivation.

I have yet to read most of the Bard's work. What I've so far managed has been very good. But I can't say that for All's Well That Ends Well. It reads like an apprentice piece, almost as if it was written by a different author, in fact.

In common with much of his work, Shakespeare took the original plot from Boccaccio's Decameron and embellished it with his own characters and additions. But, for me, he hasn't done his usual magic here. I found much of the text tedious. There was little that made me laugh and a great deal that felt like unnecessary complication. In fact, the play, for me, would have worked much better without a number of the scenes; some of which seemed to have no bearing on the story at all.

Of course, the language is brilliant most of the time, of course the characters are written with the usual sureness of style and genius. But the whole doesn't quite add up to the parts in this one. Naturally, there is the ever present problem for a modern reader that certain references no longer have the meaning they did for the contemporary audience and this means that some of the jokes fall flat. Some of the words used have not been included in the staggering total of new words that Will added to our language and context is then the only clue to their meaning.

I was able to follow the story, the plot, relatively easily. But some of the characters failed to display the qualities they were reported to carry by their fellows. So, I could see no evidence, until the scene where he is hooded and tricked, of Parolles' reported wickedness. He came across as no more a villain than others in the play. Even his diatribe against Lafeu seemed relatively justified in light of the Old Lord's treatment of him. And it was difficult to understand Helena's infatuation for the superficial, opportunist and selfish Bertram.

So, not a play I'm likely to go out of my way to watch, though it's my personal experience that Shakespeare always comes alive when performed, especially by a good ensemble cast. I'm sorry if I've offended or upset the lovers of our national poet, amongst which I count myself, but this one was a disappointment.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Monologue or soliloquy?

Monologue or soliloquy?

Monologue: noun - long speech made by one person, either in company or conversation; discourse in the nature of a soliloquy; scene in a drama in which a person talks alone, a dramatic composition for one voice; a dramatic entertainment performed by one person; form of dramatic scenes or compositions for one person; literary composition in the form of a soliloquy.

Soliloquy: noun - literary representation of an instance of talking to yourself regardless of an audience, part of a play involving this; action of making a soliloquy or monologue.

As is so often the case in English, there is little actual difference between these terms, and any variations are subtle. It comes down to a matter of taste and, as always, consistency in choice is perhaps more important than any other consideration. However, I’d tend to use ‘monologue’ for something comic or plain and ‘soliloquy’ for something literary or flowery.

So, I’d label the famous deliveries given by Stanley Holloway (The Lion & Albert), and I’d call the famous speech by Hamlet a ‘soliloquy’ (To be or not to be).

Pic: Looking south east along Deep Dale

Published Authors: Do You Want an Interview?

Image by dalcrose via FlickrIf you are a writer who has published any form of writing, (fiction - novel, novelette or short story, poetry, non-fiction, biography, drama, film script, articles, anything where words appear in some form) in any medium and by any route from the traditional paths to the rocky road of self-publishing, I'd love to hear from you and have the opportunity to interview you here.

If you're interested, please contact me here
It would be helpful if you give me an idea of your writing and include any appropriate links, but don't worry if that's a technological nightmare for you; I can generally discover what I need.

Website Still Suffering Problems

Image by stuartaken via FlickrI still can't get onto my website to update it. Sorry about this. Looks as though the problem won't be sorted now until after Xmas.
In the meantime, please take full advantage of all the stuff on the blog here, add your comments, follow the blog for updates etc.
I'm in the process of compiling some anthologies, so watch this space for news of that. Currently working on a sci-fi collection.
Oh, and the picture to the right? That's me, aged 11, as photographed by my father for the family Christmas card that year. By all means, send me your observations.