All’s Well That Ends Well: Shakespeare’s Expression of Machiavellian Ideology

This is a very strange play and does not fit into the structure of a typical Shakespearean comedy. Shakespeare’s comedies end in marriage (conversely, tragedies end in death), but this play, even though considered a comedy, does not end in marriage. In fact, the marriage happens at the beginning, and ends with the consummation of the marriage through trickery. On a very high level, Bertram is ordered by the King to marry Helena, which he does, but then decides to leave her and go off to war so as not to have to “officially” become her husband. Helena later tricks Bertram into having sex with her by pretending to be another woman that Bertram was wooing. Helena gets pregnant and Bertram finally has to acknowledge her as his wife.

Viewed from the post-MeToo perspective, this play does anything but end well. Bertram is a weasel, a liar, and a womanizer, and Helena would have been better off without him. I suppose you could present the play as satire, but I don’t think that is how Shakespeare intended it. Ultimately, marriage and the consummation of the marriage is the goal, even if this is accomplished via deception.

At the heart of this play is Machiavellian philosophy as expressed through The Prince.

Yet, I pray you:
But with the word the time will bring on summer,
When briers shall have leaves as well as thorns,
And be as sweet as sharp. We must away;
Our wagon is prepared, and time revives us:
All’s well that ends well; still the fine’s the crown;
Whate’er the course, the end is the renown.

(Act IV, scene iv)

Machiavelli wrote The Prince in 1513, and All’s Well That Ends Well was written sometime between 1598 and 1608, so Shakespeare would have known about Machiavelli’s famous quote: “The ends justify the means.” Shakespeare is paraphrasing Machiavelli in this quote, “the fine” meaning the finish or the crowning achievement. Additionally, the last line of the quote reemphasizes that whatever the course of events, it is the end result that matters most.

Overall, I did not hate this play, nor did I love it. It has some interesting aspects, particularly surrounding the character Parolles (hint – his name is a play on the French word “paroles” meaning “words”). But the play has problems, and personally, I could not find myself relating to any of the characters. They all seemed deeply flawed in their own ways. But maybe that is another message to be gained from this play, that we all have our issues and problems, and ultimately, it’s what we do in the end that matters.

Thanks for stopping by, and keep on reading cool stuff.

“Game of Thrones” by George R. R. Martin

I have to confess that I watched the HBO series before reading this book. I really enjoyed the series and had heard great things about Martin’s books, so I figured I should grab one and give it a read. I was not disappointed.

As far as fantasy books goes, this one is outstanding and deserves a place along with the best in the genre. There are several sub-plots going on at the same time and Martin employs a nice technique for managing these. Instead of numbering his chapters, he labels each chapter with the name of the key character whom the chapter focuses on. When I was nearing the end of the book, I couldn’t help thinking that it would be interesting to restructure the story and read just one character’s chapters sequentially. If I had more free time, I would do that and see how that works.

One of the recurring motifs in the book is that “winter is coming.” The realm has experienced a prolonged summer and people are expecting a long, dark winter to follow. Winter becomes a metaphor for death and desolation, as well as the end of the realm as it is known. There is also a dark magic associated with winter, embodied by the white walkers, bodies of the dead that rise and roam the frozen forests of the north. The image of winter creates a somber and fearful mood that permeates the story.

Politics plays a major role in the book and most of the political players are decidedly Machiavellian. For example, there is a part where the king’s council is discussing killing Daenerys and her unborn child. While Eddard Stark is vehemently opposed, most of the council supports the idea. Varys explains the political logic behind the decision:

“It is a terrible thing we contemplate, a vile thing. Yet we who presume to rule must do vile things for the good of the realm, however much it pains us.” (p. 295)

There is another great political quote later in the book: “why is it always the innocents who suffer most, when you high lords play your game of thrones?” (p. 531) As I read this, I couldn’t help thinking about our Congress. As I watch the political happenings in Washington, it is essentially the same. Political leaders are more concerned about re-election and about which party is gaining the most power. It’s become a game with the media providing play-by-play analysis. And who are the people left suffering? The working class, the children, the elderly. Again, it is the innocent people who suffer as a result of the political games.

There is one other aspect of the book I would like to talk about, and that is courage and bravery and their association with duty. This plays out in numerous scenarios throughout the book, where individuals are faced with difficult choices and how concepts of duty, honor, and bravery influence those decisions. There is one passage that I think sums up this inner conflict best:

A craven can be as brave as any man, when there is nothing to fear. And we all do our duty, when there is no cost to it. How easy it seems then, to walk the path of honor. Yet soon or late in every man’s life comes a day when it is not easy, a day when he must choose. (p. 553)

If you are a fan of fantasy and you have not read this book yet, I recommend that you do so. Also, if you have not yet seen the HBO series, I’d say it is worth watching. The story line is true to the text. Of course, the book goes into more detail, which makes it that much more interesting. Anyway, I will definitely be adding the second book to my reading list.