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 viii
... death , that I know not whether I ever endured to read again the last scenes of the play till I undertook to revise them as an editor . " The shock for Johnson was both emo- tional and moral . The death of Cordelia - Shakespeare's ...
... death , that I know not whether I ever endured to read again the last scenes of the play till I undertook to revise them as an editor . " The shock for Johnson was both emo- tional and moral . The death of Cordelia - Shakespeare's ...
Page xi
... death that " Edmund was beloved " is curiously touching . He is not , then , an uncomplicated stage " Machiavel , " an embodiment of pure , unmotivated evil . Astrology and astronomy were synonymous in the Elizabethan age : the signs of ...
... death that " Edmund was beloved " is curiously touching . He is not , then , an uncomplicated stage " Machiavel , " an embodiment of pure , unmotivated evil . Astrology and astronomy were synonymous in the Elizabethan age : the signs of ...
Page xii
... death , then the news of the two queens ' deaths ; then Kent comes on , dying ; then in response to the news that Cordelia is to be hanged , Albany says " The gods defend her !, " only for Lear to enter with her in his arms already ...
... death , then the news of the two queens ' deaths ; then Kent comes on , dying ; then in response to the news that Cordelia is to be hanged , Albany says " The gods defend her !, " only for Lear to enter with her in his arms already ...
Page xv
... death of Cordelia is all the more painful because it is not the end " promised " by previous literary and theatrical tradition . King Lear is a play full of questions . The big ones go unanswered . The biggest of all is Lear's " Why ...
... death of Cordelia is all the more painful because it is not the end " promised " by previous literary and theatrical tradition . King Lear is a play full of questions . The big ones go unanswered . The biggest of all is Lear's " Why ...
Page xxx
... death of King LEAR and his three Daughters . With the vnfortunate life of Edgar , sonne and heire to the Earle of Gloster , and his sullen and assumed humor of TOM of Bedlam : As it was played before the Kings Maiestie at Whitehall vpon ...
... death of King LEAR and his three Daughters . With the vnfortunate life of Edgar , sonne and heire to the Earle of Gloster , and his sullen and assumed humor of TOM of Bedlam : As it was played before the Kings Maiestie at Whitehall vpon ...
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