But in fact the story of King Lear was originally a happy one, when it first appeared in the chronicles of Geoffrey of Monmouth in the twelfth century.

Less than a hundred years after Shakespeare wrote the play, in the 1680s, King Lear was given a rather dramatic (as it were) rewrite by the Poet Laureate, Nahum Tate. Thematically, these various strands work together to reinforce the play’s central concern with madness and reason, blindness and seeing.Īnd Shakespeare cleverly sets up the characters as doubles, opposites, and complements: as Harold Bloom notes in a persuasive analysis of King Lear (in his book Shakespeare: The Invention Of The Human), in a play where so many of the major characters speak to each other at some point, it was canny of Shakespeare never to have Lear and Edmund speak a word to each other throughout the entire play, because they are complete antitheses: where Lear is all feeling, Edmund is ‘ice-cold’ and emotionless. Meanwhile, the Earl of Gloucester’s bastard son, Edmund, attempts to usurp his father and elder brother Edgar, plotting to kill his father and have Edgar banished from their home.Part of the artistic triumph of the play is the way Shakespeare brings all of these apparent contradictions together to create a piece of compelling drama that is moving without being sentimental, despairing but also illuminating. They send him out of their houses in a state of half-madness with only his most loyal servants to protect him. Cordelia is clearly the daughter who loves him the most, and yet she is banished Regan and Goneril, meanwhile, quickly reveal they despise him. When he asks them to prove their love for him in exchange for one third of his kingdom, all but Cordelia manage to flatter him enough. King Lear is the story of the ageing king of Britain, Lear, and his three daughters, Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia. Shakespeare’s heartbreaking ending was criticized by many less disposed towards tragedy. Fun Fact: In the myth of King Leir, which inspired Shakespeare’s play, Lear and Cordelia both survive and Lear even returns to the throne.Notable Adaptations: Ran, legendary Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa.

Main Characters: Lear, Cordelia, Edmund, Earl of Gloucester, Earl of Kent, Edgar, Regan, Goneril.Themes: Nature versus culture, family roles, hierarchy, language, action, legitimacy, and perception.

William shakespeare lear