All's Well Ends Well

Usually classified as a `problem comedy', All's Well that Ends Wellinvites a fresh assessment. Its psychologically disturbingpresentation of an aggressive, designing woman and a reluctant husband wooed by trickery won it little favour in earlier centuries, and both directors and critics have frequently tried to avoid or simplify itsuncomfortable elements. More recently, several distinguishedproductions have revealed it as an exceptionally penetrating study ofboth personal and social issues. In her introduction Susan Snydermakes the play's clashing ideologies of class and gender newlyaccessible. She explains how the very discords of style can be seen as a source of theatrical power and complexity, and offers a fullyreconsidered, helpfully annotated text for both readers and actors.