King LearPenguin, 1998 M06 1 - 352 pages The Signet Classics edition of one of William Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies. Full of cruelty and betrayal, King Lear is the timeless and tragic story of a kingdom held in the thrall of an aging ruler’s descent into madness. Desperate for praise, he banishes those who would guide him with honesty and surrounds himself with sycophants—an action that leads to his ultimate downfall.... This revised Signet Classics edition includes unique features such as: • An overview of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater • A special introduction to the play by the editor, Russell Fraser • Selections from Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia, and The True Chronicle History of King Lear, the sources from which Shakespeare derived King Lear • Dramatic criticism from Samuel Johnson, A. C. Bradley, John Russell Brown, and others • A comprehensive stage and screen history of notable actors, directors, and productions • Text, notes, and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable text • And more... |
From inside the book
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... Cordelia: “The gods defend her!” (258) The stage direction follows, enforcing the most monstrous conjunction in the play: “Enter Lear with Cordelia in his arms.” The gods do not defend us. Perhaps they are unable to. “The gods reward ...
... Cordelia: “The gods defend her!” (258) The stage direction follows, enforcing the most monstrous conjunction in the play: “Enter Lear with Cordelia in his arms.” The gods do not defend us. Perhaps they are unable to. “The gods reward ...
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... Cordelia loves only according to her bond. Failing to please, her price is fallen. Goneril pleases, in that she is taken as permitting to her father twice the retinue permitted by Regan. Her devotion may therefore be measured. She is ...
... Cordelia loves only according to her bond. Failing to please, her price is fallen. Goneril pleases, in that she is taken as permitting to her father twice the retinue permitted by Regan. Her devotion may therefore be measured. She is ...
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... Cordelia: Nor are those empty-hearted whose low sounds Reverb no hollowness. (1.1.155-56) Gloucester discerns it ... Cordelia is, conversely, a little-seeming substance. But Cordelia is rendered also in nonhuman terms: her love, a ...
... Cordelia: Nor are those empty-hearted whose low sounds Reverb no hollowness. (1.1.155-56) Gloucester discerns it ... Cordelia is, conversely, a little-seeming substance. But Cordelia is rendered also in nonhuman terms: her love, a ...
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... Cordelia typifies this failure to come to terms with the symbolic. Cordelia is, of old, a deeply disquieting figure. Why does she love, and yet remain silent? The question has engendered a little galaxy of answers. It is a question not ...
... Cordelia typifies this failure to come to terms with the symbolic. Cordelia is, of old, a deeply disquieting figure. Why does she love, and yet remain silent? The question has engendered a little galaxy of answers. It is a question not ...
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action actors Albany audience better characters comedy Cordelia Cornwall costumes daughters death dost doth drama Duke Duke of Cornwall Edmund Elizabethan Enter Edgar Enter Lear evil Exeunt Exit eyes F omits F prints father feel Folio follow Fool fortune Gentleman give Gloucester’s gods Goneril Hamlet hast hath heart heavens honor i’th Kent King Lear king’s knave lady Lear’s Leir lines look lord Macbeth madam man’s master Merchant of Venice Midsummer Night’s Dream mind nature never night noble Nuncle o’th Oswald Othello performance perhaps Perillus pity play’s playwright poor pray prose Q corrected Quarto Regan roles Romeo and Juliet s.d. Enter Scena scene seems servant Shakespeare Shakespeare’s plays sister speak speech stage direction storm tell theater theatrical thee there’s thine things thought tragedy trumpet Twelfth Night villain William Shakespeare words