『끝이 좋으면 다 좋다』: 독자의 인식 문제의 거울

As one of Shakespeare's problem plays, All's Well That Ends Well contains complex problems, social as well as personal, and also reflects the audience's or the reader's own problems. Though they are resolved in the end of the play, problems of sin and guilt are not clearly resolved. This play is usually called a problem play, not only because it cannot easily be classified as either a comedy, or a tragedy or a romance, but also because the play deals with social problems that its heroine must overcome. Confronting her problems, Helena, the play's heroine, shows two contradictory characters, both passive and active, conservative and creative. She does not attempt to destroy the traditional social hierarchy in which she can hardly achieve her love for Bertram. She rather uses the social hierarchy in order to pursue her love, when she dares to cure the king's apparently incurable disease. But her very use of the social hierarchy is also active and adventurous. Valuing her right to choose her own life partner against the traditional system of arranged marriage, she decides to lose her virginity to her own liking. She only seeks and uses the best available device to solve her problem, the so-called bed trick, which sparks different responses from the audience or readers. Social problems in the play work as the background for her love, and our concern should be given to how she resolves her problems. As we recognize the problems of Helena's contemporary society through her responses to them, we can face the problems of our own society through our responses to her problems and ways of solutions. The play works as a mirror of our perceptual problems. KCI Citation Count: 0