King Lear

William ShakespeareProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.9

Word count: 139K words
Chapters: 14

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.King Lear by William ShakespeareAuthor: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jul 1, 2000

Editor's review

King Lear is one of Shakespeare's four great tragedies, unfolding around an aged British king's division of his kingdom and his struggle to tell true loyalty from false, a process that drives him toward madness and destruction, interwoven with themes of filial betrayal, the transfer of power, and the collapse of identity. The play uses a double plot to set the tragedies of Lear's and Gloucester's families side by side; its language slides from courtly rhetoric into madness and a bare interrogation of human nature, with the storm scenes especially powerful. This public-domain Project Gutenberg electronic edition preserves the original play text, making it convenient for comparing lines and searching imagery, and suitable as a base text for close reading and performance study. It provides no modern annotations or performance introduction, so readers should have an annotated edition or reference materials at hand. Overall, this is essential reading for understanding Shakespeare's late tragic vision and the achievements of English verse drama, and it also suits book-club discussion around "power and family."

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students in English literature courses, for close reading of the tragic text and analysis of its lines
Theater enthusiasts and actors, for studying character monologues and scene staging
Book-club members discussing themes of power, family, and madness
Advanced readers who wish to read Shakespeare's original play and practice English verse

Not a good fit for

First-time Shakespeare readers who need modern annotations, introductions, and vocabulary explanations
Readers expecting novel-like flowing narrative who are uncomfortable with verse-drama dialogue
Readers who only want a plot summary and do not wish to engage with textual details

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the plot, then return to close-read the lines of the storm and madness scenes.
Prepare an annotated edition or online notes, and resolve archaic words and allusions as you read.
Read the dialogue aloud by scene to feel the rhythm of the verse lines and shifts in characters' tones.
After reading, compare the structural echoes between the Lear and Gloucester plots and write down what you discover.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this edition suitable for someone reading Shakespeare for the first time?

The original play text has no modern annotations or introduction, so first-time readers can easily get stuck on names, archaic words, and allusions. If this is your first encounter, it is best to have an annotated edition on hand, or to read a plot summary and character list before entering the original text.

What themes does King Lear mainly address?

Its core revolves around the transfer of power, parent-child relationships, and the collapse of identity: Lear misjudges his daughters' loyalty, and Gloucester misplaces trust in his illegitimate son; together the two plots present betrayal, madness, and late-arriving recognition. The play also asks whether justice and suffering are proportionate.

Why does the play have two parallel family plots?

The Lear and Gloucester plots mirror each other: both elders misjudge their children, endure severe physical and emotional pain after betrayal, and gradually come to see the truth. This juxtaposition strengthens the universality of the tragedy and lets the audience see, through comparison, how different characters make different choices.

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About the author

William Shakespeare Author · English · 1564–1616

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) was the greatest playwright, poet and actor of the English Renaissance. Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, he is known as the "Bard of Avon." He wrote roughly thirty-seven to thirty-nine plays, one hundred and fifty-four sonnets and narrative poems. His representative works include Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet. His works span tragedy, comedy and history play, distinguished by rich, poetic language and profound characterization. His explorations of human nature, power, love and fate have had a lasting influence, and his works have been translated into many languages and circulated widely around the world.