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
Results 1-5 of 28
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... live to please, must please to live. The audience—the public taste as understood by the playwright—helps to determine what the play is. Moreover, even members of the public who are not part of the playwright's immediate audience may ...
... live to please, must please to live. The audience—the public taste as understood by the playwright—helps to determine what the play is. Moreover, even members of the public who are not part of the playwright's immediate audience may ...
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... lives within it begins to emerge. This emergent, or renascent, action is a condition of the hero's loss of the world. The play fools us. Its primary story is not the descent of the King into Hell, but the ascent of the King as he climbs ...
... lives within it begins to emerge. This emergent, or renascent, action is a condition of the hero's loss of the world. The play fools us. Its primary story is not the descent of the King into Hell, but the ascent of the King as he climbs ...
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... lives hence, 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 ...
... lives hence, 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 ...
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... 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 you to this? Who brought it ...
... 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 you to this? Who brought it ...
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... lives (i.e., our youth) 51 relish enjoy 51-52 idle and fond foolish 53-54 who ... suffered which rules, not from its own strength, but from our allowance 56 revenue income 64-65 casement of my closet window of my room Gloucester. You ...
... lives (i.e., our youth) 51 relish enjoy 51-52 idle and fond foolish 53-54 who ... suffered which rules, not from its own strength, but from our allowance 56 revenue income 64-65 casement of my closet window of my room Gloucester. You ...
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Common terms and phrases
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