"'All's Well that Ends Well,' unlike other Shakespearian plays, has been given no historical framework in which director, critic, or student, may examine the play. The purpose of this study is to provide that framework through an exhaustive review of the stage of history, and a survey of the criticism from the beginning down to the present time, and to suggest an interpretation which is attentive to that framework. This is the first book-length study of 'All's Well that Ends Well,' the bulk of the study being the well-informed and clearly-constructed account of the play's theatrical and critical interpretation of the play in the final chapter. " -Publisher.