Shakespeare’s Reversal Of Traditional Conventions In “All’s Well That Ends Well”

One of the reasons William Shakespeare is regarded as the greatest writer in English literature is that his works disrupt cultural conventions. To me, he was an extraordinary writer who did things differently. William Shakespeare wasn't the best playwright or novelist of his time, but the fact that he did things differently made him stand out among his peers. Picture this: in a standard high school where students dress in the same uniform - the boys wear light blue shirts, deep blue sweaters and trousers, and a blue tie, while the girls wear the same uniform but with skirts instead. Now, imagine that out of all the students in the school, there's one who dresses differently, wearing a black cap, a green shirt, brown sweater, pink tie, and white shoes. If that student stood in the middle of the other students, they would surely stand out. This is exactly how William Shakespeare stood out in his time.

During the Elizabethan period, writers explored societal issues like gender, class, and so on. However, William Shakespeare took social issues and renovated them to suit his needs. Other writers such as Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe, Sir Philip Sydney, and Edmund Spencer, wrote about societal problems, but Shakespeare took things to another level. A very good example of this is evident in his work, All’s Well That Ends Well. The play revolves around the main character, Helena, who is of a lower class. Her father was a great physician, and when he died, he left her in the care of a Countess, the mother of Bertram. Helena, falls in love with Bertram, who is above her in the social hierarchy. Bertram on the other hand does not reciprocate the feeling and is in love with another. Despite the class differences, Helena persists and resorts to tricky means to get what she wants. She craved something, chased it despite initial rejections, laid her hands on it till it became hers.

There are many ways in which Willaim Shakespeare disrupts cultural or traditional conventions in All’s Well That Ends Well. In the play, conventional gender roles are reserved. In traditional conventions, men are always the active participants while women remain passive. For example, Christopher Marlowe’s plays often feature strong male characters, while women are presented as passive and given secondary roles. In his work, Tamburlaine and the Great, Tamburlaine is an active character, while female characters like Zenocrate remain passive. In the same vein, Edmund Spencer, an Elizabethan writer like Willaim Shakespeare, often presents women as passive characters, giving men the active role. A notable example of this is his work, The Faerie Queen. Characters like Redcrosse Knight are presented as strong, performing chivalric roles, while female characters like Una, are in need of help.

However, in William Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well, Helena, a female character, is the protagonist of the play and events revolve around her. During the Elizabethan Era, Men were expected to woo women by using beautiful words, sweet-scented flowers and gifts, but Shakespeare disrupts this cultural convention to suit his needs. The main character in All’s Well That Ends Well, chases after Bertram, the man she loves, and tries all tricky means to get him.

Moving on, Shakespeare deliberately disrupts traditional conventions in "All's Well That Ends Well" by reversing the social hierarchy of Elizabethan society. There are three major types of classes: the upper class, middle class, and lower class. Traditional conventions allowed for romance within the same social class. For example, it was common and acceptable for a noble to marry another noble. Similarly, people from the middle and lower classes married within their own social groups. However, marriage across social boundaries was frowned upon. It was rare for someone from the upper class to marry someone from the lower class. In Shakespeare's work, Helena, the daughter of a late physician who serves in Bertram's household, falls in love with her master's son and marries him. What makes this more interesting is that Helena, who is from the lower class, is the one who pursues Bertram, rather than the other way around.

These traditional disruptions are what makes the book interesting. I absolutely enjoyed reading William Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well. I recommend this book to all book lovers.

Thanks for reading.