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
... reason , we discover a mighty irregular power of reasoning , immethodized from the ordinary purposes of life , but exerting its powers , as the wind blows where it listeth , at will upon the corruptions and abuses of mankind . What have ...
... reason , we discover a mighty irregular power of reasoning , immethodized from the ordinary purposes of life , but exerting its powers , as the wind blows where it listeth , at will upon the corruptions and abuses of mankind . What have ...
Page xii
... reason rather than passion . But for the great sixteenth - century humanist Desiderius Erasmus in his Praise of Folly , there is inhumanity in the notion that to be wise you must suppress the emotions . The most important thing is to ...
... reason rather than passion . But for the great sixteenth - century humanist Desiderius Erasmus in his Praise of Folly , there is inhumanity in the notion that to be wise you must suppress the emotions . The most important thing is to ...
Page xv
... reason , no pattern of divine justice . Here again , Shakespeare departs strikingly from his source , the old anonymous play of King Leir , in which Christian providence prevails . Shakespeare reimagines his material in a bleak pagan ...
... reason , no pattern of divine justice . Here again , Shakespeare departs strikingly from his source , the old anonymous play of King Leir , in which Christian providence prevails . Shakespeare reimagines his material in a bleak pagan ...
Page xxi
... back , know you no reason ? GENTLEMAN Something he left imperfect in the state , which since his coming forth is thought of , which imports to the kingdom so much fear and danger that his personal return was ABOUT THE TEXT xxi.
... back , know you no reason ? GENTLEMAN Something he left imperfect in the state , which since his coming forth is thought of , which imports to the kingdom so much fear and danger that his personal return was ABOUT THE TEXT xxi.
Page xxiv
... reason , the RSC Shakespeare , in both Complete Works and individ- ual volumes , uses the Folio as base text wherever possible . Signifi- cant Quarto variants are , however , noted in the Textual Notes and Quarto - only passages are ...
... reason , the RSC Shakespeare , in both Complete Works and individ- ual volumes , uses the Folio as base text wherever possible . Signifi- cant Quarto variants are , however , noted in the Textual Notes and Quarto - only passages are ...
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