King LearRandom House Publishing Group, 2009 M08 4 - 272 pages A king foolishly divides his kingdom between his scheming two oldest daughters and estranges himself from the daughter who loves him. So begins this profoundly moving and disturbing tragedy that, perhaps more than any other work in literature, challenges the notion of a coherent and just universe. The king and others pay dearly for their shortcomings–as madness, murder, and the anguish of insight and forgiveness that arrive too late combine to make this an all-embracing tragedy of evil and suffering. Each Edition Includes: • Comprehensive explanatory notes • Vivid introductions and the most up-to-date scholarship • Clear, modernized spelling and punctuation, enabling contemporary readers to understand the Elizabethan English • Completely updated, detailed bibliographies and performance histories • An interpretive essay on film adaptations of the play, along with an extensive filmography |
From inside the book
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Page x
... line , the action of Lear greatly extends the technique of parallel plot- ting with which Shakespeare had ... lines of the play we discover that it is Edmund who has previously been unjustly exiled from home and excluded from ...
... line , the action of Lear greatly extends the technique of parallel plot- ting with which Shakespeare had ... lines of the play we discover that it is Edmund who has previously been unjustly exiled from home and excluded from ...
Page xii
... lines of the play - given to different speakers in the Quarto and Folio versions of the text - suggest that the lesson has been learned that Stoic comfort will not do , that it is better to speak what we feel than what we ought to say ...
... lines of the play - given to different speakers in the Quarto and Folio versions of the text - suggest that the lesson has been learned that Stoic comfort will not do , that it is better to speak what we feel than what we ought to say ...
Page xiii
... Lines such as that bring a smile to our faces , not least because the mouse isn't really there . Lear repeats his " look , look " at the end of his life . Cordelia is dead , but he deceives himself into the belief that she lives that ...
... Lines such as that bring a smile to our faces , not least because the mouse isn't really there . Lear repeats his " look , look " at the end of his life . Cordelia is dead , but he deceives himself into the belief that she lives that ...
Page xv
... line is also a sly allusion on Shakespeare's part : in all previous ver- sions of the Lear story , several of which would have been familiar to members of his audience , Cordelia survives and Lear is restored to the throne . The death ...
... line is also a sly allusion on Shakespeare's part : in all previous ver- sions of the Lear story , several of which would have been familiar to members of his audience , Cordelia survives and Lear is restored to the throne . The death ...
Contents
Textual Notes | 122 |
ScenebyScene Analysis | 142 |
The RSC and Beyond | 156 |
Shakespeares Career in the Theater | 203 |
A Chronology | 218 |
References | 226 |
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Common terms and phrases
Act 4 Scene actor Adrian Noble Alack Albany Albany's Antony Antony Sher audience bastard beggar blind Brian Cox Burgundy Cordelia Corin Redgrave CORNWALL daughters death disguised dost Dover Duke Duke of Cornwall Edgar editors Edmund Enter Lear Exeunt Exit eyes father feel Following fortune France GENTLEMAN give gods Goneril Goneril and Regan grace hath heart human Ian McKellen Jonathan Bate KENT KENT LEAR King Lear kingdom knave LEAR FOOL LEAR KENT Lear's letter Lines look lord madam messenger Michael Gambon nature night nuncle performance Peter Brook pity played Lear poor Pray production Q corrected Q uncorrected Quarto text Regan role Royal Shakespeare Company running scene sense servant Shake Shakespeare sister speak speech stage storm tell theater thee there's thine things Tragedy traitor Trevor Nunn trumpet villain