This book chronicles the evolution of stage swordplay from the time of Shakespeare to the birth of film in America. Through period documents personal accounts and extant works on the subject, the author has pieced together the system of how swordfights on stage were executed since the late sixteenth century. The book details the relationship between the style of fencing used in personal combat and the swordplay exhibited onstage in dramatic works between the late sixteenth and early twentieth centuries, documenting how similar stage fencing was in appearance to actual personal combat from the late sixteenth century until the early nineteenth century. The reasoning for the evolution of stage combat which took place in the early twentieth century is delineated, and an outlook toward the future of the art is proposed.