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
Results 1-5 of 32
Page xiii
... kind of stage play ? " asks Erasmus ' Folly . Lear echoes the sentiment : " When we are born , we cry that we are come / To this great stage of fools . " In the great theater of the world , with the gods as audience , we are the fools ...
... kind of stage play ? " asks Erasmus ' Folly . Lear echoes the sentiment : " When we are born , we cry that we are come / To this great stage of fools . " In the great theater of the world , with the gods as audience , we are the fools ...
Page xiv
... kind . Little things show us this : in Act 1 , he's still always giving orders . Even in the storm he continues to make demands : " Come , unbutton here . " But in the end he learns to say " please " and " thank you " : " Pray you undo ...
... kind . Little things show us this : in Act 1 , he's still always giving orders . Even in the storm he continues to make demands : " Come , unbutton here . " But in the end he learns to say " please " and " thank you " : " Pray you undo ...
Page xv
... kind of action that is of vital importance on the bare boards of the Shakespearean theater . The play ends on a note of apocalypse , millennial doom . A trum- pet sounds three times to announce the final showdown . Then when Lear enters ...
... kind of action that is of vital importance on the bare boards of the Shakespearean theater . The play ends on a note of apocalypse , millennial doom . A trum- pet sounds three times to announce the final showdown . Then when Lear enters ...
Page xvi
... kind of image ( the glorious trappings of monarchy ) and instead confronts another : the image of raw human being , of a fool and a Bedlam beggar , of poor naked wretches . Come the last trump , the play tells us , we will be judged by ...
... kind of image ( the glorious trappings of monarchy ) and instead confronts another : the image of raw human being , of a fool and a Bedlam beggar , of poor naked wretches . Come the last trump , the play tells us , we will be judged by ...
Page xx
... kind of " Bad Quarto , ” that is to say a text based on memorial reconstruction by actors , not on Shakespeare's own script ( his " foul papers " ) or the playhouse script ( the " promptbook " ) . It was , however , a difficult position ...
... kind of " Bad Quarto , ” that is to say a text based on memorial reconstruction by actors , not on Shakespeare's own script ( his " foul papers " ) or the playhouse script ( the " promptbook " ) . It was , however , a difficult position ...
Contents
Textual Notes | 122 |
ScenebyScene Analysis | 142 |
The RSC and Beyond | 156 |
Shakespeares Career in the Theater | 203 |
A Chronology | 218 |
References | 226 |
Other editions - View all
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