King Lear (Modern Library Classics)

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 the Paperback edition.

King Lear is Shakespeare's bleakest and profoundest tragedy, a searing dramatization of humankind at the edge of apocalypse that explores the family and the nature of being with passion, poetry, and dark humor.

Under the editorial supervision of Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen, two of today's most accomplished Shakespearean scholars, this Modern Library series incorporates definitive texts and authoritative notes from William Shakespeare: Complete Works. Each play includes an Introduction as well as an overview of Shakespeare's theatrical career; commentary on past and current productions based on interviews with leading directors, actors, and designers; scene-by-scene analysis; key facts about the work; a chronology of Shakespeare's life and times; and black-and-white illustrations.

Ideal for students, theater professionals, and general readers, these modern and accessible editions set a new standard in Shakespearean literature for the twenty-first century.

Content: Introduction. An old man tottering about the stage? The division of the kingdom Ripeness is all? This great stage of fools -- About the text -- Key facts -- The tragedy of King Lear -- Textual notes -- Quarto passages that do not appear in the folio -- Scene-by-scene analysis -- King Lear in performance : the RSC and beyond. Four centuries of King Lear : an overview At the RSC The director's cut : interviews with Adrian Noble, Deborah Warner, and Trevor Nunn -- Shakespeare's career in the theater. Beginnings Playhouses The ensemble at work The king's man -- Shakespeare's works : a chronology -- The history behind the tragedies : a chronology -- Further reading and viewing. King Lear divides his kingdom among the two daughters who flatter him and banishes the third one who loves him. His eldest daughters both then reject him at their homes, so Lear goes mad and wanders through a storm. His banished daughter returns with an army, but they lose the battle and Lear, all his daughters and more, die. ([source][1]) [1]: https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/shakespedia/shakespeares-plays/king-lear/ The tragic drama of an old king's foolishness is accompanied by a scene-by-scene analysis, commentary on past and current productions, and an overview of Shakespeare's theatrical career. Abstract: The tragic drama of an old king's foolishness is accompanied by a scene-by-scene analysis, commentary on past and current productions, and an overview of Shakespeare's theatrical career King Lear is widely regarded as Shakespeare's most intense, profound and powerful tragedy.