King LearSimon and Schuster, 2011 M08 23 - 384 pages 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. The authoritative edition of King Lear from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes: -The exact text of the printed book for easy cross-reference -Hundreds of hypertext links for instant navigation -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
Results 1-5 of 36
Page xxvi
... fortune (often the surfeits of our own behavior) we make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon, and stars,” just under the surface of his language is a metaphor in which bad luck is imaged as a sickness caused by our own “surfeits ...
... fortune (often the surfeits of our own behavior) we make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon, and stars,” just under the surface of his language is a metaphor in which bad luck is imaged as a sickness caused by our own “surfeits ...
Page xlii
... Fortune (both also built north of the city), the Rose, the Swan, the Globe, and the Hope (all located on the Bankside, a region just across the Thames south of the city of London). All these playhouses had to be built outside the ...
... Fortune (both also built north of the city), the Rose, the Swan, the Globe, and the Hope (all located on the Bankside, a region just across the Thames south of the city of London). All these playhouses had to be built outside the ...
Page xliii
... Fortune, was also a partner in a monopoly on baiting. All these forms of entertainment were easily accessible to Londoners by boat across the Thames or over London Bridge. Evidently Shakespeare's company prospered on the Bankside. They ...
... Fortune, was also a partner in a monopoly on baiting. All these forms of entertainment were easily accessible to Londoners by boat across the Thames or over London Bridge. Evidently Shakespeare's company prospered on the Bankside. They ...
Page xlv
... Fortune, however, was square. The most recent estimates of their size put the diameter of these buildings at 72 feet (the Rose) to 100 feet (the Globe), but we know that they held vast audiences of two or three thousand, who must have ...
... Fortune, however, was square. The most recent estimates of their size put the diameter of these buildings at 72 feet (the Rose) to 100 feet (the Globe), but we know that they held vast audiences of two or three thousand, who must have ...
Page xlvi
... Fortune, has led scholars to conjecture that the stage on which Shakespeare's plays were performed must have measured approximately 43 feet in width and 27 feet in depth, a vast acting area. But the digging up of a large part of the ...
... Fortune, has led scholars to conjecture that the stage on which Shakespeare's plays were performed must have measured approximately 43 feet in width and 27 feet in depth, a vast acting area. But the digging up of a large part of the ...
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
action actors ALBANY answer appear arms attend bear begin bring comes Cordelia CORNWALL course daughter death dost Dover Draw Duke earlier EDGAR edition Edmund Enter example exits eyes F corr father fear Folio follow Fool fortune France further give GLOUCESTER Gloucester’s gods Goneril grace hand hast hath head hear heart hold honor keep KENT kind King Lear ACT language Lear’s less letter lines live London look lord madam master means messenger nature never night notes OSWALD perhaps plays poor Pray present printed Q1 corr Q1 uncorr quartos readers reading REGAN scene SD F seek seems sentence servant Shakespeare’s shows sister speak speech stage stand suffering tell theater thee thing thou thought true turn wind