King LearSimon and Schuster, 2015 M10 20 - 384 pages The authoritative edition of King Lear from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers. Shakespeare’s King Lear challenges us with the magnitude, intensity, and sheer duration of the pain that it represents. Its figures harden their hearts, engage in violence, or try to alleviate the suffering of others. Lear himself rages until his sanity cracks. What, then, keeps bringing us back to King Lear? For all the force of its language, King Lear is almost equally powerful when translated, suggesting that it is the story, in large part, that draws us to the play. The play tells us about families struggling between greed and cruelty, on the one hand, and support and consolation, on the other. Emotions are extreme, magnified to gigantic proportions. We also see old age portrayed in all its vulnerability, pride, and, perhaps, wisdom—one reason this most devastating of Shakespeare’s tragedies is also perhaps his most moving. This edition includes: -Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play -Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play -Scene-by-scene plot summaries -A key to the play’s famous lines and phrases -An introduction to reading Shakespeare’s language -An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play -Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books -An annotated guide to further reading Essay by Susan Snyder The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit Folger.edu. |
From inside the book
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Page v
... what they do: they allow readers not simply to keep up, but to engage deeply with a writer whose works invite us to think, and think again. These New Folger Editions of Shakespeare's plays are also special because of where they come ...
... what they do: they allow readers not simply to keep up, but to engage deeply with a writer whose works invite us to think, and think again. These New Folger Editions of Shakespeare's plays are also special because of where they come ...
Page ix
... what we consider the best early printed version of a particular play (explaining our rationale in a section called “An Introduction to This Text”) and have marked our changes in the text—unobtrusively, we hope, but in such a way that ...
... what we consider the best early printed version of a particular play (explaining our rationale in a section called “An Introduction to This Text”) and have marked our changes in the text—unobtrusively, we hope, but in such a way that ...
Page xi
... what is wanted by college and highschool teachers of Shakespeare today. In preparing this preface for the publication of King Lear in 1993, we wrote: “Our biggest debt is to the Folger Shakespeare Library: to Werner Gundersheimer ...
... what is wanted by college and highschool teachers of Shakespeare today. In preparing this preface for the publication of King Lear in 1993, we wrote: “Our biggest debt is to the Folger Shakespeare Library: to Werner Gundersheimer ...
Page xv
... what each actor does: go over the lines (often with a dictionary close at hand) until the puzzles are solved and the lines yield up their poetry and the characters speak in words and phrases that are, suddenly, rewarding and wonderfully ...
... what each actor does: go over the lines (often with a dictionary close at hand) until the puzzles are solved and the lines yield up their poetry and the characters speak in words and phrases that are, suddenly, rewarding and wonderfully ...
Page xxiii
... what may be sophisticated courtly wit or may be somewhat crass double entendre. For example, in the opening lines of the play, Gloucester responds to Kent's question “Is not this your son, my lord?” with the statement “His breeding, sir ...
... what may be sophisticated courtly wit or may be somewhat crass double entendre. For example, in the opening lines of the play, Gloucester responds to Kent's question “Is not this your son, my lord?” with the statement “His breeding, sir ...
Contents
ix | |
xxix | |
xxxix | |
The Publication of Shakespeares Plays | xlviii |
Textual Notes | 263 |
1 2146 | 287 |
A Modern Perspective | 293 |
Further Reading | 305 |
Key to Famous Lines and Phrases | 337 |
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Common terms and phrases
acting action actors ALBANY answer appear arms attend bear begin bring comes Cordelia CORNWALL course daughter death Dover Draw Duke earlier early EDGAR edition Edmund Enter example exits eyes father fear Folio follow Fool Fortune France GENTLEMAN give GLOUCESTER Gloucester’s gods Goneril grace hand hath head hear heart hold honor keep KENT kind King Lear language Lear’s less letter lines live London look lord madam master means messenger nature never night notes offer OSWALD perhaps play poor Pray present printed Q1 corr Q1 uncorr quarto readers REGAN scene SD F seek servant Shake Shakespeare shows sister sound speak speech stage stand suffering tell theater thee thing thou thought true turn University versions