Unrequited love: it can end when you choose.

Ballet has begin in earnest. As has the school year. This should hopefully get me back on track. ::fingers crossed:: Though did you really miss the crazy ramblings of Charlotte Bronte at all? Or, instead of being, in the words of Nat King Cole "Unforgettable", I am rather more "So forgettable". Perhaps I prefer it that way!

I most recently attended All's Well That Ends Well at Shakespeare Theatre in DC. It was one of the Bard's lesser done works as it is properly entitled a "problem play". Is it a comedy? Is it a tragedy? Well, there is a little bit of history since there is the King of France and an Italian war. This production, however, is set during World War I, so you must suspend your disbelief a bit, and believe that there is still a King of France. And he does play a pivotal role in the plot of this play. For you see, Helena (played by the wonderful Miriam Silverman), the daughter of a doctor, is in love with Bertram, a count, and also the son of her father's patron. Except her father is now dead as is his. Bertram does not love her. Not at all. She observes him from afar.

That is, until one day after he goes to the King's court, she follows to bring medicine, and a proposition, to the King. If she saves his life, he will allow her to marry any of the men at his court. He lives, and guess which man she selects? Bertram. He of course instantly objects and Helena realizes her folly only too late. But, the King will not relent. He promised her a man and she is going to get a man whether they like it or not. They marry, but Bertram leaves for the war that night, leaving her a message that she will never be his real wife until she has his ring on her finger and his baby inside her. And, oh, by the way, I will never return to France until you are dead.

Of course, come the second act, she follows him to Italy and through use of great trickery manages to accomplish his "impossible" demands. But, the real question is, at the end are they happy? Sure, they end up together (and this after Bertram attempts to woo an Italian girl and then later, thinking that Helena has died, returns to France to marry yet another girl), but is that the stuff marriages are made of?

It brings up the question of unrequited love. That perhaps it is better to stay unrequited and never speak of it. That way, you are only hurting yourself and are sparing the person you like. But, if one doesn't speak up, how then does anyone ever get together these day? What do you think? Is it better to keep it in or take the risk and let it all out?