莎劇「問題喜劇」之一的《善哉善了》（All’s Well That Ends Well）素以劇中突出的「壓力感」著稱。 不少批評家同意：這種特殊的壓力源自莎士比亞在本劇中嘗試的一種喜劇創作實驗。莎翁不但在原始素材的「傳奇情節」（romantic plot）中注入了「心理寫實」（psychological realism）的成份，而且把兩種成份的劑量同時大幅增強，彷彿刻意要它們彼此抵觸拉扯、營造出特殊效果。 透過一種光影交織的描摹（chiaroscuro），莎士比亞在《善哉善了》喜劇的圖案當中植入越來越深、越來越濃的陰影──以致於劇末的結局裡，男女主角雖終成眷屬，卻全無歡樂的亮彩，反而掩上一層壓抑著複雜心事的晦澀顏色。自十八世紀以來，《善哉善了》就被冠上了「不幸的喜劇」（the Unfortunate Comedy）這個別名。這個名號本來是因為它在劇場表演裡迭生事故而來；不過，衡量劇中幾乎淹沒了喜劇圖案的陰影、以及喜劇結局最終留下悵惘深深，用「不幸的喜劇」之名來總括本劇獨特的滋味倒也相當貼切。 莎翁到底運用了哪些特別的設計，讓原始素材裡活潑亮麗的民間故事變成了透露出勉強與不安、輸贏糾結、悲喜難言的一齣戲？這篇論文旨在針對《善哉善了》獨特的戲劇滋味作深入的觀察。論文關注的焦點集中在莎翁在劇中陰影營造的手法，尤其留意他在以下幾個方面的用心：（一）把「傳奇故事」的邏輯強加在「寫實描摹」的世界──增強劇中契合理想精神的「傳奇故事圖案」與悖離理想精神的「寫實干擾」相互拉鋸的張力；（二）把厚重的「心理寫實」塞進單薄的「傳奇故事」模子裡──運用高度逼真的心理刻畫突顯男女主角「根本上的不相配」；（三）讓背景圖案呼應主情節故事的訊息──嚮往無盡，圓滿難期。配角人物有關「人性缺陷」的嘲謔、感嘆此起彼落；主角人物的偏執與脆弱不再只是特例，戲劇主體的陰影隱然融入外圍一個普遍不完滿世界。

The epithet ''the unfortunate comedy," though first attached to All's Well That Ends Well through some superstitious associations, quite aptly sums up the worrying impressions of dissonances haunting the play's happy end. This paper proposes to examine the care that goes into Shakespeare's rendering of the dark shades and worrying impressions which give ''the unfortunate comedy" its distinctive flavor. Attention will be given to at least three sorts of off-notes Shakespeare highlights in the play. Specifically, the paper will illustrate how Shakespeare brings about ambivalent feelings about Helena's final triumph by (1) enhancing the clashes between the play's "romantic patterns" and "anti-romantic preoccupations," (2)foregrounding the intractability of human wills and conflicting needs by the play's strikingly realistic characterization and, (3) through ironic syncopations of the main motif in the background, deepening the impression that "misjudgment and the misprizing of true values" are universal human flaws. For a play sometimes called "Shakespeare's most thorough experiment with comic form," the dark shades of strain should be deemed its definitive quality－and a fully intended effect.