Sofa Spotlight - All's Well That Ends Well, William Shakespeare

This year my ambition is to read through all of Shakespeare’s plays. I’ve only met with Shakespeare’s work a couple of times having studied Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. So, I thought it was high time I worked my way through some of his other works.

My first stop on my Shakespearean journey is All’s Well that Ends Well. It’s an odd play and I found it to not only be hard to read but also baffling at how quickly Bertram, one of the main characters, changed his mind. Also confusing is the behavior of Helena, who is in love with Bertram. I found it hard to believe that after the way Bertram rejects her and how harsh he is to her; she still loves him and goes to great lengths to prove it.

As a first read it was a tough one. I was worried that getting my head around the language would be tough and I was right. Hopefully that will get easier as I press on. And maybe the content will be better too. Not sure how I feel about this one. But there are plenty more plays to get through so the only way is up.