King LearStandard Ebooks King Lear is a tragedy by Shakespeare, written about 1605 or 1606. Shakespeare based it on the legendary King Leir of the Britons, whose story is outlined in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s pseudohistorical History of the Kings of Britain (written in about 1136). The play tells the tale of the aged King Lear who is passing on the control of his kingdom to his three daughters. He asks each of them to express their love for him, and the first two, Goneril and Regan do so effusively, saying they love him above all things. But his youngest daughter, Cordelia, is compelled to be truthful and says that she must reserve some love for her future husband. Lear, enraged, cuts her off without any inheritance. The secondary plot deals with the machinations of Edmund, the bastard son of the Earl of Gloucester, who manages to convince his father that his legitimate son Edgar is plotting against him. After Lear steps down from power, he finds that his elder daughters have no real respect or love for him, and treat him and his followers as a nuisance. They allow the raging Lear to wander out into a storm, hoping to be rid of him, and conspire with Edmund to overthrow the Earl of Gloucester. The play is a moving study of the perils of old age and the true meaning of filial love. It ends tragically with the deaths of both Cordelia and Lear—so tragically, in fact, that performances during the Restoration period sometimes substituted a happy ending. In modern times, though, King Lear is performed as written and generally regarded as one of Shakespeare’s best plays. This Standard Ebooks edition is based on William George Clark and William Aldis Wright’s 1887 Victoria edition, which is taken from the Globe edition. This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks. |
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... hither . ( Exit an Attendant . ) ( Enter OSWALD . ) You , you , sirrah , where's my daughter ? So please you- ( Exit . ) What says the fellow there ? Call the clotpoll back . ( Exit a Knight . ) Where's my fool , ho ? I think the ...
... hither my fool. (Exit an Attendant.) (Re-enter OSWALD .) O, you sir, you, come you hither, sir: who am I, sir? OSWALD My lady's father. KING LEAR “My lady's father”! my lord's knave: your whoreson dog! you slave! you cur! OSWALD KING ...
... hither: now, i' the night, i' the haste, And Regan with him: have you nothing said Upon his party 'gainst the Duke of Albany? Advise yourself. I am sure on't, not a word. I hear my father coming: pardon me: In cunning I must draw my ...
... hither , Which I can call but now , I have heard strange news . If it be true , all vengeance comes too short Which can pursue the offender . How dost , my lord ? O , madam , my old heart is crack'd , it's crack'd ! What , did my ...
... hither , mistress . Is your name Goneril ? She cannot deny it . FOOL Cry you mercy , I took you for a joint - stool . KING LEAR EDGAR KENT EDGAR KING LEAR EDGAR KING LEAR And here's another , whose warp'd looks proclaim What store her ...