King Lear Thrift Study Edition

By William Shakespeare

Includes the unabridged text of Shakespeare's classic play plus a complete study guide that helps readers gain a thorough understanding of the work's content and context. The comprehensive guide includes scene-by-scene summaries, explanations and discussions of the plot, question-and-answer sections, author biography, analytical paper topics, list of characters, bibliography, and more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Release date: Apr 19, 2012
• ISBN: 9780486115658

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon".

Book preview

EDITIONS

King Lear

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Dramatis Personæ

LEAR, King of Britain.

KING OF FRANCE.

DUKE OF BURGUNDY.

DUKE OF CORNWALL.

DUKE OF ALBANY.

EARL OF KENT.

EARL OF GLOUCESTER.

EDGAR, son to Gloucester.

EDMUND, bastard son to Gloucester.

CURAN, a courtier.

Old Man, tenant to Gloucester.

Doctor.

Fool.

OSWALD, steward to Goneril.

A Captain employed by Edmund.

Gentleman attendant on Cordelia.

A Herald.

Servants to Cornwall.

Knights of Lear’s train, Captains,

Messengers, Soldiers, and Attendants.

ACT I

SCENEI—King Lear’s Palace

Enter KENT, GLOUCESTER, and EDMUND

KENT. I thought the king had more affected¹ the Duke of Albany than Cornwall.

GLOU. It did always seem so to us: but now, in the division of the

kingdom, it appears not which of the dukes he values most; for equalities are so weighed that curiosity in neither can make choice of either’s moiety.²

KENT. Is not this your son, my lord?

GLOU. His breeding, sir, hath been at my charge: I have so often

blushed to acknowledge him that now I am brazed³ to it.

KENT. I cannot conceive⁴ you.

GLOU. Sir, this young fellow’s mother could: whereupon she grew

round-wombed, and had indeed, sir, a son for her cradle ere she had a husband for her bed. Do you smell a fault?

KENT. I cannot wish the fault undone, the issue of it being so proper. ⁵

GLOU. But I have, sir, a son by order of law, some year elder than

this, who yet is no dearer in my account: though this knave came something saucily into the world before he was sent for, yet was his mother fair; there was good sport at his making, and the whoreson must be acknowledged. Do you know this noble gentleman, Edmund?

EDM. No, my lord.

GLOU. My lord of Kent: remember him hereafter as my honourable friend.

EDM. My services to your lordship.

KENT. I must love you, and sue⁶ to know you better.

EDM. Sir, I shall study deserving.⁷

GLOU. He hath been out nine years, and away he shall again. The king is coming.

Sennet.⁸ Enter one bearing a coronet, KING LEAR, CORNWALL, ALBANY,

GONERIL, REGAN, CORDELIA, and Attendants

LEAR. Attend the lords of France and Burgundy, Gloucester.

GLOU. I shall, my liege. [Exeunt Gloucester and Edmund.]

LEAR. Meantime we shall express our darker purpose.

Give me the map there. Know we have divided

In three our kingdom: and ’t is our fast⁹ intent

To shake all cares and business from our age,

Conferring them on younger strengths, while we

Unburthen’d crawl toward death. Our son of Cornwall,

And you, our no less loving son of Albany,

We have this hour a constant will to publish

Our daughters’ several dowers, that future strife

May be prevented now. The princes, France and Burgundy,

Great rivals in our youngest daughter’s love,

Long in our court have made their amorous sojourn,

And here are to be answer’d. Tell me, my daughters,

Since now we will divest us both of rule,

Interest of territory,¹⁰ cares of state,

Which of you shall we say doth love us most?

That we our largest bounty may extend

Where nature doth with merit challenge.¹¹ Goneril,

Our eldest-born, speak first.

GON. Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter,

Dearer than eye-sight, space and liberty,

Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare,

No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honour,

As much as child e‘er loved or father found;

A love that makes breath poor and speech unable;

Beyond all manner of so much I love you.

COR. [Aside] What shall Cordelia do? Love, and be silent.

LEAR. Of all these bounds, even from this line to this,

With shadowy forests and with champains¹² rich’d,

With plenteous rivers and wide-skirted meads,

We make thee lady. To thine and Albany’s issue

Be this perpetual. What says our second daughter,

Our dearest Regan, wife to Cornwall? Speak.

REG. I am made of that self¹³ metal as my sister,

And prize me at her worth. In my true heart

I find she names my very deed of love;

Only she comes too short: that I profess

Myself an enemy to all other joys

Which the most precious square of sense possesses,¹⁴

And find I am alone felicitate¹⁵

In your dear highness’ love.

COR. [Aside] Then poor Cordelia!

And yet not so, since I am sure my love’s More ponderous than my tongue.

LEAR. To thee and thine hereditary ever

Remain this ample third of our fair kingdom,

No less in space, validity and pleasure,

Than that conferr’d on Goneril. Now, our joy,

Although the last, not least, to whose young love

The vines of France and milk of Burgundy

Strive to be interess’d,¹⁶ what can you say to draw

A third more opulent than your sisters? Speak.

COR. Nothing, my lord.

LEAR. Nothing!

COR. Nothing.

LEAR. Nothing will come of nothing: speak again.

COR. Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave My heart into my mouth: I love your majesty According to my bond;¹⁷ nor more nor less.

LEAR. How, how, Cordelia! mend your speech a little, Lest it mar your fortunes.

COR. Good my lord,

You have begot me, bred me, loved me: I

Return those duties back as are right fit,

Obey you, love you, and most honour you.

Why have my sisters husbands, if they say

They love you all? Haply, when I shall wed,

That lord whose hand must take my plight shall carry

Half my love with him, half my care and duty:

Sure, I shall never marry like my sisters,

To love my father all.

LEAR. But goes thy heart with this?

COR. Ay, good my lord.

LEAR. So young, and so untender?

COR. So young, my lord, and true.

LEAR. Let it be so; thy truth then be thy dower:

For, by the sacred radiance of the sun,

The mysteries of Hecate, and the night;

By all the operation of the orbs

From whom we do exist and cease to be;

Here I disclaim all my paternal care,

Propinquity and property of blood,

And as a stranger to my heart and me

Hold thee from this for ever. The barbarous Scythian,¹⁸

Or he that makes his generation messes¹⁹

To gorge his appetite, shall to my bosom

Be as well neighbour’d, pitied and relieved,

As thou my sometime daughter.

KENT. Good my liege,—

LEAR. Peace, Kent!

Come not between the dragon and his wrath.

I loved her most, and thought to set my rest

On her kind nursery. Hence, and avoid my sight!

So be my grave my peace, as here I give

Her father’s heart from her! Call France. Who stirs?

Call Burgundy. Cornwall and Albany.

With my two daughters’ dowers digest²⁰ this third:

Let pride, which she calls plainness, marry her.

I do invest you jointly with my power,

Pre-eminence and all the large effects²¹

That troop with majesty. Ourself, by monthly course,

With reservation of an hundred knights

By you to be sustain’d, shall our abode

Make with you by due turns. Only we still retain

The name and all the additions to a king;²²

The sway, revenue, execution of the rest,

Beloved sons, be yours: which to confirm,

This coronet part betwixt you.

KENT. Royal Lear,

Whom I have ever honour’d as my king,

Loved as my father, as my master follow’d,

As my great patron thought on in my prayers,—

LEAR. The bow is bent and drawn; make from the shaft.²³

KENT. Let it fall rather, though the fork²⁴ invade

The region of my heart: be Kent unmannerly,

When Lear is mad. What wouldst thou do, old man?

Think‘st thou that duty shall have dread to speak,

When power to flattery bows? To plainness honour’s bound,

When majesty stoops to folly. Reverse thy doom,

And in thy best consideration check

This hideous rashness: answer my life my judgement,

Thy youngest daughter does not love thee least;

Nor are those empty-hearted whose low sound

Reverbs no hollowness.²⁵

LEAR. Kent, on thy life, no more.

KENT. My life I never held but as a pawn

To wage against thy enemies, nor fear to lose it,

Thy safety being the motive.

LEAR. Out of my sight!

KENT. See better, Lear, and let me still remain

The true blank²⁶ of thine eye.

LEAR. Now, by Apollo,—

KENT. Now, by Apollo, king,

Thou swear‘st thy gods in vain.

LEAR. O, vassal! miscreant!

[Laying his hand on his sword.]

KENT. Do;

Kill thy physician, and the fee bestow

Upon the foul disease. Revoke thy doom;

Or, whilst I can vent clamour from my throat,

I’ll tell thee thou dost evil.

LEAR. Hear me, recreant!

On thy allegiance, hear me!

Since thou hast sought to make us break our vow,

Which we durst never yet, and with strain’d pride

To come between our sentence and our power,

Which nor our nature nor our place can bear,

Our potency made good, take thy reward.

Five days we do allot thee, for provision

To shield thee from diseases²⁷ of the world,

And on the sixth to turn thy hated back

Upon our kingdom: if on the tenth day following

Thy banish’d trunk be found in our dominions,

The moment is thy death. Away! By Jupiter,

This shall not be revoked.

KENT. Fare thee well, king: sixth²⁸ thus thou wilt appear,

Freedom lives hence,²⁹ and banishment is here.

[To Cordelia] The gods to their dear shelter take thee, maid,

That justly think‘st and hast most rightly said!

[To Regan and Goneril] And your large speeches may your

deeds approve,

That good effects may spring from words of love.

Thus Kent, O princes, bids you all adieu;

He’ll shape his old course in a country new. [Exit.]

Flourish. Re-enter GLOUCESTER, with FRANCE, BURGUNDY, and Attendants

GLOU. Here’s France and Burgundy, my noble lord.

LEAR. My lord of Burgundy,

We first address towards you, who with this king

Hath rivall’d for our daughter: what, in the least,

Will you require in present dower with her,

Or cease your quest of love?

BUR. Most royal majesty,

I crave no more than what your highness offer’d,

Nor will you tender less.

LEAR. Right noble Burgundy,

When she was dear to us, we did hold her so;

But now her price is fall’n. Sir, there she stands:

If aught within that little seeming substance,

Or all of it, with our displeasure pieced,³⁰

And nothing more, may fitly like your grace,

She’s there, and she is yours.

BUR. I know no answer.

LEAR. Will you, with those infirmities she owes,³¹

Unfriended, new adopted to our hate,

Dower’d with our curse and stranger’d with our oath,³²

Take her, or leave her?

BUR. Pardon me, royal sir;

Election makes not up on³³ such conditions.

LEAR. Then leave her, sir; for, by the power that made me,

I tell you all her wealth. [To France] For you, great king,

I would not from your love make such a stray,

To match³⁴ you where I hate; therefore beseech you

To avert your liking a more worthier way

Than on a wretch whom nature is ashamed

Almost to acknowledge hers.

FRANCE. This is most strange,

That she, that even but now was your best object,

The argument of your praise, balm of your age,

Most best, most dearest, should in this trice of time

Commit a thing so monstrous, to dismantle

So many folds of favour. Sure, her offence

Must be of such unnatural degree

That monsters it, or your fore-vouch’d affection

Fall’n into taint:³⁵ which to believe of her,

Must be a faith that reason without miracle

Could never plant in me.

COR. I yet beseech your majesty,—

If for I want that glib and oily art,

To speak and purpose not, since what I well intend,

I’ll do’t before I speak,—that you make known

It is no vicious blot, murder, or foulness,

No unchaste action, or dishonour’d step,

That hath deprived me of your grace and favour;

But even for want of that for which I am richer,

A still-soliciting eye,³⁶ and such a tongue

As I am glad I have not, though not to have it

Hath lost me in your liking.

LEAR. Better thou

Hadst not been born than not to have pleased me better.

FRANCE. Is it but this? a tardiness in nature

Which often leaves the history unspoke

That it intends to do? My lord of Burgundy,

What say you to the lady? Love’s not love

When it is mingled with regards that stand

Aloof from the entire point.³⁷ Will you have her?

She is herself a dowry.

BUR. Royal Lear,

Give but that portion which yourself proposed,

And here I take Cordelia by the hand,

Duchess of Burgundy.

LEAR. Nothing: I have sworn; I am firm.

BUR. I am sorry then you have so lost a father

That you must lose a husband.

COR. Peace be with Burgundy!

Since that respects³⁸ of fortune are his love,

I shall not be his wife.

FRANCE. Fairest Cordelia, that art most rich being poor,

Most choice forsaken, and most loved despised,

Thee and thy virtues here I seize upon:

Be it lawful I take up what’s cast away.

Gods, gods! ’t is strange that from their cold‘st neglect

My love should kindle to inflamed respect.

Thy dowerless daughter, king, thrown to my chance,

Is queen of us, of ours, and our fair France:

Not all the dukes of waterish³⁹ Burgundy

Can buy this unprized⁴⁰ precious maid of me.

Bid them farewell, Cordelia, though unkind:

Thou losest here, a better where to find.

LEAR. Thou hast her, France: let her be thine, for we

Have no such daughter, nor shall ever see

That face of hers again. Therefore be gone

Without our grace, our love, our benison.⁴¹

Come, noble Burgundy.

[Flourish. Exeunt all but France, Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia.]

FRANCE. Bid farewell to your sisters.

COR. The jewels of our father, with wash’d eyes

Cordelia leaves you: I know you what you are;

And, like a sister, am most loath to call

Your faults as they are named. Use well our father:

To your professed bosoms I commit him:

But yet, alas, stood I within his grace,

I would prefer him to a better place.

So farewell to you both.

REG. Prescribe not us our duties.

CON. Let your study

Be to content your lord, who hath received you

At fortune’s alms. You have obedience scanted,

And well are worth the want that you have wanted.⁴²

COR. Time shall unfold what plaited cunning hides:

Who cover faults, at last shame them derides.⁴³

Well may you prosper!

FRANCE. Come, my fair Cordelia.

[Exeunt France and Cordelia.]

GON. Sister, it is not a little I have to say of what most nearly appertains to us both. I think our father will hence to-night.

REG. That’s most certain, and with you; next month with us.

GON. You see how full of changes his age is; the observation we have made of it hath not been little: he always loved our sister most; and with what poor judgement he hath now cast her off appears too grossly.

REG. ’T is the infirmity of his age: yet he hath ever but slenderly known himself.

GON. The best and soundest of his time hath been but rash; then must we look to receive from his age, not alone the imperfections of long ingrafted condition, but therewithal the unruly waywardness that infirm and choleric years bring with them.

REG. Such unconstant starts are we like to have from him as this of Kent’s banishment.

GON. There is further compliment of leave-taking between France and him. Pray you, let’s hit together: if our father carry authority with such dispositions as he bears, this last surrender of his will but offend us.⁴⁴

REG. We shall further think on ’t.

GON. We must do something, and i‘ the heat.⁴⁵ [Exeunt.]

SCENE II—The Earl of Gloucester’s Castle

Enter EDMUND, with a letter

EDM. Thou, nature, art my goddess; to thy law

My services are bound. Wherefore should I

Stand in the plague of custom, and permit

The curiosity of nations to deprive me,

For that I am some twelve or fourteen moonshines

Lag of a brother? Why bastard? wherefore base?⁴⁶

When my dimensions are as well compact,⁴⁷

My mind as generous and my shape as true,

As honest madam’s issue? Why brand they us

With base? with baseness? bastardy? base, base?

Who in the lusty stealth of nature take

More composition⁴⁸ and fierce quality

Than doth, within a dull, stale, tired bed,

Go to the creating a whole tribe of fops,

Got ‘tween asleep and wake? Well then,

Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land:

Our father’s love is to the bastard Edmund

As to the legitimate: fine word, legitimate!

Well, my legitimate, if this letter speed

And my invention thrive, Edmund the base

Shall top the legitimate. I grow; I prosper:

Now, gods, stand up for bastards!

Enter GLOUCESTER

GLOU. Kent banish’d thus! and France in choler parted!

And the king gone to-night! subscribed⁴⁹ his power!

Confined to exhibition!⁵⁰ All this done

Upon the gad! Edmund, how now! what news?

EDM. So please your lordship, none. [Putting up the letter.]

GLOU. Why so earnestly seek you to put up that letter?

EDM. I know no news, my lord.

GLOU. What paper were you reading?

EDM. Nothing, my lord.

GLOU. No? What needed then that terrible dispatch of it into your pocket? the quality of nothing hath not such need to hide itself. Let’s see: come, if it be nothing, I shall not need spectacles.

EDM. I beseech you, sir, pardon me: it is a letter from my brother, that I have not all o‘er-read; and for so much as I have perused, I find it not fit for your o’er-looking.

GLOU. Give me the letter, sir.

EDM. I shall offend, either to detain or give it. The contents, as in part I understand them, are to blame.

GLOU. Let’s see, let’s see.

EDM. I hope, for my brother’s justification, he wrote this but as an essay or taste⁵¹ of my virtue.

GLOU. [Reads]:

"This policy and reverence of age makes the world bitter to the best of our times; keeps our fortunes from us till our oldness cannot relish them. I begin to find an idle and fond⁵² bondage in the oppression of aged tyranny; who sways, not as it hath power, but as it is suffered. Come to me, that of this I may speak more. If our father would sleep till I waked him, you should enjoy half his revenue for ever, and live the beloved of your brother,

EDGAR.

Hum! Conspiracy!—Sleep till I waked him, you should enjoy half his revenue!—My son Edgar! Had he a hand to write this? a heart and brain to breed it in? When came this to you? who brought it?

EDM. It was not brought me, my lord; there’s the cunning of it; I

found it thrown in at the casement of my closet.

GLOU. You know the character⁵³ to be your brother’s?

EDM. If the matter were good, my lord, I durst swear it were his; but,

in respect of that, I would fain think it were not.

GLOU. It is his.

EDM. It is his hand, my lord; but I hope his heart is not in the contents.

GLOU. Hath he never heretofore sounded you in this business?

EDM. Never, my lord: but I have heard him oft maintain it to be fit,

that, sons at perfect age, and fathers declining, the father should be as ward to the son, and the son manage his revenue.

GLOU. O villain, villain! His very opinion in the letter! Abhorred

villain! Unnatural, detested, brutish villain! worse than brutish! Go, sirrah, seek him; ay, apprehend him: abominable villain! Where is he?

EDM. I do not well know, my lord. If it shall please you to suspend

your indignation against my brother till you can derive from him

better testimony of his intent, you should run a certain course; where, if you violently proceed against him, mistaking his purpose, it would make a great gap in your own honour and shake in pieces the heart of his obedience. I dare pawn down my life for him that he hath wrote this to feel my affection to your honour and to no further pretence of danger.

GLOU. Think you so?

EDM. If your honour judge it meet, I will place you where you

shall hear us confer of this, and by an auricular assurance have your satisfaction, and that without any further delay than this very evening.

GLOU. He cannot be such a monster—

EDM. Nor is not, sure.

Reviews for King Lear Thrift Study Edition

[jfoster_sf · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Classic Shakespeare tragedy.

[takeitorleaveit_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

another play. another dreary subject. another tragic ending.

[angelarenea-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A fairly quick read. I didn't love it as much as I remember. Lear was way obsessed with 'nature' and the whole thing was so pompous. But not as bad as some of his other stuff.

[jwhenderson_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The division of the Kingdom begins the play with first, the Earls of Kent and Gloucester speculating on the basis for the division and second, the actual division by Lear based on professions of love requested from his three daughters. When this event goes not as planned the action of the play ensues and the reader is in for a wild ride, much as Lear himself.The play provides one of Shakespeare's most thoroughly evil characters in Edmund while much of the rest of the cast is aligned against each other with Lear the outcast suffering along with the Earl of Gloucester who is tricked by his bastard son Edmund into believing that his other son Edgar is plotting against him. While there are some lighter moments the play is generally very dark filled with the bitter results of Lear's poor decisions at the outset. Interestingly we do not get much of a back story and find, other than his age of four score years, little else to suggest why Lear would surrender his power and his Kingdom at the outset. The play is certainly powerful and maintains your interest through dramatic scenes, while it also provides for many questions - some of which remain unanswered.

[therebelprince · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A very enjoyable edition. Unlike most of the Arden editions, Foakes comes across more as an educator than an academic-among-friends. This does mean occasionally that he'll cover ground most professional-level readers already understand, but it makes this a really well-rounded introduction to the play.

The decision here is to incorporate both Quarto and Folio texts in one, with the differences clearly delineated. It's probably the best possible option for this play, and well done.

[seriousgrace · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

To sum up the play in one sentence: this is the story of a king seeking to divide his kingdom among his three daughters based on who could articulate her love for him the best. Beyond that it is the tragedy of emotional greed - of wanting to be loved at any cost. It is the tragedy of politics and family dynamics. Youngest daughter Cordelia is unwilling to conform to her father's wishes of exaggerated devotion. Isn't the last born always the rebel in the family? As a result Cordelia's portion of the kingdom is divided among her two sisters, Goneril and Regan. The story goes on to ooze betrayal and madness. Lear is trapped by his own ego and made foolish by his hubris.

[othemts · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is my favorite Shakespeare tragedy. The plot, language, and characterization show the dramatist at his mature best.

[jscape2000 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The version of Lear I saw in 2012 too closely matched the texted: too many story lines, too many gag scenes, and too much talking about how hard it is to be king. The tragedy of Lear is that he gets exactly what he deserved. For me, it lacks much of the intrigue of Macbeth or the poetry of Hamlet or Othello.

[hahnasay · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Its Shakespeare! What more do you want me to say. He's wonderful!

[xshyx · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Let me talk about this specific edition of the book first. I have to read this edition for my creative writing class. At first, it can be so hard to read, but once you put your heart reading it, it is an easy read. This is also because the translation of the words are on the other side of the page. Unlike the other King Lear edition where you need to go to the back of the and check what those words mean. It's also affordable. The play itself is really good - not too depressing or cheesy for me compare to Hamlet. Even though this is about a royal family, anyone can relate it directly or indirectly whether they have rivalry with their siblings or a loyal assistant or having problems with their parents.

[deckla_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The illustrations are unremarkable.

[scott_hercher · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

At the risk of sounding flippant, I realized that there are two productions of King Lear that need to be done: one set in the Klingon Empire, and the other performed by Monty Python. Go ahead, I dare you, read Poor Tom's lines like Eric Idle and try not to laugh!

[eustaciatan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

There's probably nothing more I can say about this book, since it's been studied for a long time. But although this was a school book, for my Independent Oral Commentary, I really grew to love this book. Shakespeare's mastery of the English language is obvious here. From the truncated but meaningful dialogue, with the most famous probably being "Nothing my Lord". These three words manage to express love, and I have the utmost respect for Shakespeare for writing this. Even after our IOC, we are still influenced by this wonderful play. One friend proceeded to enact the storm scene in the rain (from sheer joy), and this was one of the most quoted books in our inscriptions to our Teacher on Teacher's Day. I could go on and on, but "no, let me shun that. That way madness lies" (Too much of a good thing can be bad after all)

[alanwpowers · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Maybe the fifteenth time I've read Lear (this time in the tiny red-leather RSC edition). Always impressed, especially with the curses and curse-like screeds. I can't stand Lear onstage, particularly the blinding of Gloster (so spelled in this edition). How sharper than a serpants teeth it is / to have a thankless child--though having a thankless parent like Lear, Act I Sc I, ain't so great either. I do love the Russian film Lear with music by Shostakovich, and the King's grand route through his bestiary of hawks and eagles.I suppose this is Shakespeare's great (that's redundant, since "Sh" is mostly "great") assessment of homelessness. The undeservingly roofless. it is also his only play on retirement, which he recommends against. Or perhaps Lear should have had a condo in Florida? Of course, his hundred knights, a problem for the condominium board, as it was for his daughters. And Shakespeare, who says in a sonnet he was "lame by fortune's despite" also addresses the handicapped here, recommending tripping blind persons to cheer them up.Of course, Lear has his personal Letterman-Colbert, the Fool, so he doesn't need a TV in the electrical storm on the heath. That's fortunate, because it would have been dangerous to turn on a TV with all that lightening. The play seems also to recommend serious disguises like Kent's dialects and Edgar's mud. Next time I go to a party I'll think about some mud, which reduces Edgar's likelihood of being killed by his former friends.And finally, the play touches on senility, where Lear cannot be sure at first Cordelia is his daughter.I'm not sure, but the author may be recommending senility as a palliative to tragedy--and to aging. A friend of mine once put it, "Who's to say the senile's not having the time of his life?"

[rbeene-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Shakespeare but I have not read it in a long time and I do not think that I have ever seen it.

[mais3477 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What can I say about Shakespeare. He wrote a tragedy and I lived it through this book. Though reading such complicated manner of writing was a difficult task, I did not disturb my understanding of the story line. Since it is a tragedy, I was not a surprise to me that people died at the end, but the reason for which they died made me almost cry. One of the main themes of this tragedy is the bond between a father and a his offspring: King Lear and his daughters and Gloucester and his sons. Honesty and betrayal play an important role in the plot. I was socked by the behavior of the two daughters towards their father. They were mean to his just so they can get his kingdom. Although, Lear only wanted their love. I was a good read for sure and I can't wait until I will be able to discuss it with my classmates.

[wubsy_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I recently read this for the Shakespeare module on my degree, and was a little disappointed. Having been told it was the Bard's masterpiece, I perhaps came to it with rather high expectations, but then doesn't everyone with Shakespeare? In my own opinion I feel that it falls short of Hamlet, though is superior to Othello, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet in Shakespeare's line-up of 'famous tragedies' in terms of reading; on performance I cannot comment having seen only Hamlet and R&J. The Fool is an excellent character, and his relationship with Cordelia perhaps the most interesting in the drama. Edmond is also a good dramatic character, but the sisters Regan and Gonerill were flat. Lear's language is itself at times brilliant, but something left me wanting the dexterity of Hamlet. Cordelia is powerful in her absence, and really dominates the final act through her own speech, and that of Lear. The play is undoubtedly infused with some magical moments, but as a text to read, it does not, for me, inspire or humor as Hamlet manages.

[jpsnow · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Compare to his other masterpieces, this was for me too wide in character and at the same time lacking the intimacy of baseline human feelings or experience. "Thy truth be thy dower."

[bookomaniac-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Een van de krachtigste stukken van Shakespeare; een confrontatie van extremen.

[worldincolour · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

There is an abundance of reviews, essays, opinions and prejudicial comments available when talking about Shakespeare. It would seem that the man was incapable of jotting down a bad sentence, let alone a bad story, at least, that's the veil they hand you when calling Shakespeare, morbidly referred to as 'Willy' by those who know the first three lines of Hamlet's 'to be or not to be'-speech, 'the greatest writer of all time'.

In this review, I shall not beshame my opinion by calling anyone Willy, Shakey, Quilly or by using the word 'Shakespearean'. 'King Lear' is not the strongest play in the exuberant repertoire of Shakespeare. It is, however, one of the more reader-friendly ones, which means you don't need a detailed map of familial relations to follow the plot. The story of King Lear relies heavily on stories that already existed at the time, but had only served as traditional folk tales or as long forgotten myths. For those who are oblivious to the plot - King Lear wants to divide his kingdom between his three daughters, Goneril, Regan and Cordelia. Whereas Goneril and Regan go out of their proverbial ways to flatter their father, Cordelia remains reticent (but honest). Which, of course, is not much appreciated. What follows resembles the story of Oedipus, that other Blind King who slowly wandered into his own destruction. Gloucester, one of the side characters, actually does lose his eyes.

'King Lear', in the end, is a reflection on power and what one will do to achieve it. Even though it might be a bit stale nowadays, it still holds true to its message, and for those who enjoy Shakespeare's husky metaphor, this play will provide you with all the ammunition needed.

[nicolesch-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

There are three main reasons for the disorder already occurring by the end of Act I. The first and most obvious is Lear's madness. He certain seems to be loosing it a bit, and his crazed banishment of Cordelia and Kent couldn't possibly have done anything but harm to him. The second reason is Cordelia's sister's treachery. It could be argued that they appear to be trying to protect him and their people by taking away his knights, he is crazy after all, if it weren't for Cordelia's parting words to them; "I know you what you are;/And, like a sister, am most loth to call/Your faults as they are nam'd. Love well our father:/To your professed bosoms I commit him:/But yet, alas, stood I within his grace, I would prefer him to a better place." And a few lines later; "Time shall unfold what plighted cunning/Who cover faults, at last shame them derides." These lines seem to indicate that Cordelia knows that Goneril and Regan are not only flattering Lear for gain, but also that they hold him in contempt, and will likely do him harm, and revealing the second harbinger of disorder.

The third indicator of the chaos to come is Edmund. I feel bad for him, for the contempt others hold him in because of the doings of his parents, but he quickly does what he can to dispel my pity for him with his evil attitudes as he works to turn his father and brother against one another. I find it ironic that he distains his father's belief in fate through astrology, yet confesses that because of when he was born he was supposed to be 'rough and lecherous,' yet doesn't believe himself to have those traits he was just showing.

Shakespeare's purpose in showing this disorder seems to come from the idea of dividing his kingdom. A divided kingdom would often lead to civil war and chaos, so Lear's deliberate dividing of the kingdom would probably have been viewed as deliberately inviting disorder.

Power in England was structured in a pyramid. The king on top, and wealth and power went to a few nobles who had all the money. Lear was trying to disrupt that structure in a way that would have alarmed the people watching the play. Cordelia took a great risk in not bowing to her father's wishes, as his denying her dowry could have driven away both her suitors, leaving her alone and destitute in a world that didn't favor lone women. In her case, however Cordelia's suitor from France still marries her, which would be very unusual since she had no dowry, and she wouldn't gain him an alliance with England.

Family dynamics can change depending on the health of a person, as others may come into their lives and as children grow up. Cordelia was Lear's favorite child, yet when she would not lie to him with flattery, he cast her off. Why? Did he not realize that her impending marriage would change is relationship with her? She would still love him, of course, but even with the play being in pre-Christian era, the belief would probably have been that the wife's foremost alliegence should be to her husband, and Lear should have understood this. In fact, it seems strange that he would have even questioned this part of the structure of society at all.

No one has a perfect family. This is shown in Edgar and Edmund's family. Gloster (or Gloucester as some versions call him) may have been unfaithful to his wife, it's never stated whether she was alive at the time of Edmund's conception. If Gloster was unfaithful to his wife than he was dishonest and breaking one of the oldest understandings of marriage. If Edgar's mother had already died, that Gloster was not responsible enough to remarry, and to marry Edmund's mother, or at least admit himself Edmund's father when the boy was a child, instead of waiting until Edmund was old enough to distinguish himself, and in doing so, add to Gloster's reputation. It seems very unfair that Edmund, and almost any other illigitmate child born until the the late 1900s should be punished for something that their parents did. Yet neither should Edmund take out his misfortunes on his brother, who was, in all probability, guiltless in tormenting him. After all, Edgar trusts Edmund completely, which does not seem like an attitude he would hold had he tormented Edmund before. I think that Gloster could have stopped his fate had he treated Edmund with kindness from the beginning of his life, rather than waiting until Edmund could add to his reputation to acknowledge him.

I don't actually seem him mocking Edmund, so much as simply being ashamed of his illegitimacy because it was Gloster's own act that was the cause of Edmund's bastardy. As Gloster was speaking to Kent, he was very frank about the manner of Edmund's conception, to the point that we would say he was being rude to Edmund, but really, for the time, the fact that he had acknowledged Edmund as his son at all was better than many bastards would have gotten. For this reason I think that more than anything it was the fact that he took so long to acknowledge Edmund, that led to Edmund's bitterness and Gloster's downfall.

(This review is patched up from posts I made on an online Shakespeare class)

[dirkjohnson_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm somewhat biased: Lear is my favorite play written since the time of Euripides (who wrote later than my absolute favorites Aeschylus and Sophocles).The cast and execution of the Naxos audiobook are also excellent. I would list the cast, but the combination of blurred lines between book and performance and my own laziness and busy schedule prohibit me.

[m2gilbert · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The proud King Lear disowns his most dutiful daughter and is consequently betrayed by his other two. A bastard son betrays both his brother and father out of jealousy and malice. I think it is the saddest of his tragedies, and it moves very quickly to me (though not as quickly as Macbeth). It is also really one of the most profound expressions of human suffering ever written in the English language. The play sees deeply into the soul, and so I would often linger a bit on a line or speech with a quiet awe. The actions pierce its characters with a sad, penetrating irony. The eyes will eventually see in their blindness. The heart bleeds and the storm rages. It is depressing, yes. But in all, as depraved as its villains are, I also read in King Lear what is very beautiful about humanity and kinship, however frail it may appear teetering on the edge of a cliff: compassion, loyalty, charity, and mercy.

[cheme2005 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is my favorite of all of Shakespeare's works. Blood, death, and treachery. Who could ask for more!

[cbl_tn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

King Lear makes a fateful decision to divide his kingdom between his three daughters. The reaction of one daughter, Cordelia, displeases the king so much that he cuts her out of any inheritance. The kingdom will be divided between the other two daughters, Goneril and Regan. His plan is that they will take care of him in his old age. They soon decide that they don't want to use their inheritance to support their father, and the king finds himself with nowhere to shelter in a violent storm. Meanwhile, the Earl of Gloucester's illegitimate son plots to usurp his legitimate brother's place as their father's heir. As in many of Shakespeare's plays, there are characters in disguise. It's filled with violence and cruelty without comic relief like the gravedigger scene in Hamlet. The family conflict at its heart will continue to resonate with audiences and readers as long as there are families.

[ron_peters-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I enjoy the Folger editions of Shakespeare - to each his own in this matter. Some find Lear to be overblown, I am tremendously moved by it, and haunted by the image of the old man howling across the barren heaths with his dead daughter in his arms. 'I am bound upon a wheel of fire, that mine own tears Do scald like molten lead.' Lear 4.7.52-54

[kettle666 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The writer I feel most in awe of, by a mile, is Shakespeare. I'm not going to say anything much about him because it's all been said, so I'll just say he's the boss, and the play that most shocks and thrills and saddens me is King Lear. But I could almost have said exactly the same about most of the plays he wrote. Every time I experience him in performance I feel overwhelmed by his brilliance, and I just have to shut up before I get too sycophantic.

[jaelmore · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If I could only recommend one Shakespeare Play it would be King Lear.

[katieloucks · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not my cup of tea, but it was nice to read it because I haven't before.

[briandewey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Shakespeare, William. King Lear. University of Virginia Electronic Text Center, 15XX. This is my favorite Shakespeare play. I don't know if I would have re-read it now if I hadn't had a copy on my iPaq and needed something to read at night without disturbing Molly and Tony on our trip to Madrid. I like Lear for its apocalyptic vision and because I think the transition from one generation to the next is an interesting topic. The paper I wrote on this play in college, which compares Edgar to the Fool, is one of my favorites.