King Lear
Tags
Summary
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Literature lovers who want to read Shakespeare's four great tragedies systematically
- English literature students who need the original English text for close reading
- Serious readers interested in themes of power, family, and human nature
- Readers who want to read classics at low cost using public-domain ebooks
Not a good fit for
- Beginner readers who want a Chinese translation or a bilingual edition
- Readers who need detailed annotations and introductions to understand early modern English
- Readers who prefer light entertainment and are unaccustomed to drama as a genre
Reading tips
- Start with the plot summary and the main character relationships before entering the English text, so reading is not interrupted by language barriers.
- Read in act and scene order, pausing briefly after each act to sort out character motives and plot progression.
- When encountering difficult archaic expressions or allusions, read alongside an annotated edition or reliable reference materials.
- After finishing, revisit the dialogue passages between Lear and his daughters to grasp the shifts in attitude and the causes of the tragedy.
About the publisher
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.
Contents
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FAQ
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About the author
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.
