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
... role of Lear presents perhaps the greatest of all chal- lenges to the Shakespearean actor . There is a theater saying that by the time you're old enough to play it , you are too old to play it . A generation before the Romantics , Dr ...
... role of Lear presents perhaps the greatest of all chal- lenges to the Shakespearean actor . There is a theater saying that by the time you're old enough to play it , you are too old to play it . A generation before the Romantics , Dr ...
Page ix
... role at will ? If he does , he certainly should not expect to retain the trappings of power . Goneril and Regan have a case for stripping him of his rowdy , extravagant retinue of one hundred knights . Lear's mistake is to link the ...
... role at will ? If he does , he certainly should not expect to retain the trappings of power . Goneril and Regan have a case for stripping him of his rowdy , extravagant retinue of one hundred knights . Lear's mistake is to link the ...
Page x
... role in which he has cast her . Kings and earls do not necessarily have to be blind to true virtue - witness the examples of Kent and France - but Lear , too long used to having his own way and hearing only the words of flat- terers ...
... role in which he has cast her . Kings and earls do not necessarily have to be blind to true virtue - witness the examples of Kent and France - but Lear , too long used to having his own way and hearing only the words of flat- terers ...
Page xiii
... roles of which we are by no means in control . " All this life of mortal men , what is it else but a certain kind of stage play ? " asks Erasmus ' Folly . Lear echoes the sentiment : " When we are born , we cry that we are come / To ...
... roles of which we are by no means in control . " All this life of mortal men , what is it else but a certain kind of stage play ? " asks Erasmus ' Folly . Lear echoes the sentiment : " When we are born , we cry that we are come / To ...
Page xix
... role and , with astonishing stupidity given the chaos brought about by Lear's divi- sion of the kingdom at the ... roles of Albany and Edgar in his two versions of King Lear . We do not know exactly when the revision took place , but it ...
... role and , with astonishing stupidity given the chaos brought about by Lear's divi- sion of the kingdom at the ... roles of Albany and Edgar in his two versions of King Lear . We do not know exactly when the revision took place , but it ...
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