Abstract

King Lear is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It depicts the gradual descent
into madness of the title character, after he disposes of his kingdom giving bequest to two of his
three daughters based on their flattery of him, bringing tragic consequences for all. Derived from
the legend of Lear of Britain, a mythological pre-Roman Celtic king, the play has been widely
adapted for the stage and motion pictures, with the little role coveted by many of the world’s
most accomplished actors.

Originally drafted in 1605 or 1606, with its first known performance on St. Stephen’s
Day in 1606, the first attribution to Shakespeare was a 1608 publication in a quarto of uncertain
provenance; it may be an early draft or simply reflect the first performance text. The Tragedy of
King Lear, a more theatrical revision, was included in the 1623 First Folio. Modern editors
usually conflate the two, though some insist that each version has its own individual integrity
that should be preserved.

After the English Restoration, the play was often revised with a happy, non tragic ending
for audiences who disliked its dark and depressing tone, but since the 19thcentury Shakespeare’s
original version has been regarded as one of his supreme achievements. The tragedy is
particularly noted for its probing observation on the nature of human suffering and kinship.

Introduction of William Shakespeare

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 William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as the
greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called
England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His extant works, including collaborations,
consist of approximately 39 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems and a few other verses,
some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language
and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.
Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age
of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna and twins Hamnet
and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an
actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later
known as the King's Men. At age 49 around 1613, he appears to have retired to Stratford, where
he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive, which has stimulated
considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, sexuality, religious
beliefs and whether the works attributed to him were written by others. These speculations are
often criticized for failing to point out the fact that few records survive of most commoners of his
period.
Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays
were primarily comedies and histories, which are regarded as some of the best work ever
produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet,
Othello, King Lear and Macbeth, considered some of the finest works in the English language. In
his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances and collaborated with other
playwrights.
In the 20th and 21st centuries, his works have been repeatedly adapted and rediscovered
by new movements in scholarship and performance. His plays remain highly popular and are
constantly studied, performed, and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts
throughout the world.

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Synopsis
King Lear of Britain, elderly and wanting to retire from the duties of the monarchy,
decides to divide his realm among his three daughters, and declares he will offer the largest share
to the one who loves him most. The eldest, Goneril, speaks first, declaring her love for her father
in fulsome terms. Moved by her flattery Lear proceeds to grant to Goneril her share as soon as
she has finished her declaration, before Regan and Cordelia have a chance to speak. He then
awards to Regan her share as soon as she has spoken. When it is finally the turn of his youngest
and favourite daughter, Cordelia, at first she refuses to say anything ("Nothing, my Lord") and
then declares there is nothing to compare her love to, nor words to properly express it; she speaks
honestly but bluntly, that she loves him according to her bond, no more and no less. Infuriated,
Lear disinherits Cordelia and divides her share between her elder sisters.

The Earl of Gloucester and the Earl of Kent observe that, by dividing his realm between
Goneril and Regan, Lear has awarded his realm in equal shares to the peerages of the Duke of
Albany (Goneril's husband) and the Duke of Cornwall (Regan's husband). Kent objects to Lear's
unfair treatment of Cordelia; enraged by Kent's protests, Lear banishes him from the country.
Lear then summons the Duke of Burgundy and the King of France, who have both proposed
marriage to Cordelia. Learning that Cordelia has been disinherited, the Duke
of Burgundy withdraws his suit, but the King of France is impressed by her honesty and marries
her nonetheless. The King of France is shocked by Lear's decision because up until this time
Lear has only praised and favoured Cordelia (". . . she, who even but now was your best object,
the argument of your praise, balm of your age . . . "). Meanwhile, Gloucester has introduced his
illegitimate son Edmund to Kent.

Lear announces he will live alternately with Goneril and Regan, and their husbands. He
reserves to himself a retinue of one hundred knights, to be supported by his daughters. Goneril
and Regan speak privately, revealing that their declarations of love were fake, and that they view
Lear as a foolish old man.

Gloucester's bastard son Edmund resents his illegitimate status, and plots to dispose of
his legitimate older brother Edgar. He tricks his father with a forged letter, making him think that
Edgar plans to usurp the estate. Kent returns from exile in disguise (calling himself Caius), and

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Lear hires him as a servant. At Albany and Goneril's house, Lear and Kent quarrel with Oswald,
Goneril's steward. Lear discovers that now that Goneril has power, she no longer respects him.
She orders him to reduce the number of his disorderly retinue. Enraged, Lear departs for Regan's
home. The Fool reproaches Lear with his foolishness in giving everything to Regan and Goneril,
and predicts that Regan will treat him no better.

Edmund learns from Curan, a courtier, that there is likely to be war between Albany and
Cornwall, and that Regan and Cornwall are to arrive at Gloucester's house that evening. Taking
advantage of the arrival of the duke and Regan, Edmund fakes an attack by Edgar, and
Gloucester is completely taken in. He disinherits Edgar and proclaims him an outlaw.

Bearing Lear's message to Regan, Kent meets Oswald again at Gloucester's home,
quarrels with him again, and is put in the stocks by Regan and her husband Cornwall. When Lear
arrives, he objects to the mistreatment of his messenger, but Regan is as dismissive of her father
as Goneril was. Lear is enraged but impotent. Goneril arrives and supports Regan's argument
against him. Lear yields completely to his rage. He rushes out into a storm to rant against his
ungrateful daughters, accompanied by the mocking Fool. Kent later follows to protect him.
Gloucester protests against Lear's mistreatment. With Lear's retinue of a hundred knights
dissolved, the only companions he has left are his Fool and Kent. Wandering on the heath after
the storm, Edgar, in the guise of a madman named Tom o' Bedlam, meets Lear. Edgar babbles
madly while Lear denounces his daughters. Kent leads them all to shelter.

Edmund betrays Gloucester to Cornwall, Regan and Goneril. He reveals evidence that his
father knows of an impending French invasion designed to reinstate Lear to the throne; and in
fact a French army has landed in Britain. Once Edmund leaves with Goneril to warn Albany
about the invasion, Gloucester is arrested, and Regan and Cornwall gouge out Gloucester's eyes.
As he is doing so, a servant is overcome with rage by what he is witnessing and attacks
Cornwall, mortally wounding him. Regan kills the servant, and tells Gloucester that Edmund
betrayed him; then she turns him out to wander the heath, too.

Edgar, in his madman's guise, meets his blinded father on the heath. Gloucester, sightless
and failing to recognise Edgar's voice, begs Tom to lead him to a cliff at Dover so that he may
jump to his death. Goneril discovers that she finds Edmund more attractive than her honest
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husband Albany, whom she regards as cowardly. Albany has developed a conscience — he is
disgusted by the sisters' treatment of Lear and Gloucester -- and denounces his wife. Goneril
sends Edmund back to Regan. After receiving news of Cornwall's death, she fears her newly
widowed sister may steal Edmund and sends him a letter through Oswald. Now alone with Lear,
Kent leads him to the French army, which is commanded by Cordelia. But Lear is half-mad and
terribly embarrassed by his earlier follies. At Regan's instigation, Albany joins his forces with
hers against the French. Goneril's suspicions about Regan's motives are confirmed and returned,
as Regan rightly guesses the meaning of her letter and declares to Oswald that she is a more
appropriate match for Edmund. Edgar pretends to lead Gloucester to a cliff, then changes his
voice and tells Gloucester he has miraculously survived a great fall. Lear appears, by now
completely mad. He rants that the whole world is corrupt and runs off.

Oswald appears, still looking for Edmund. On Regan's orders, he tries to kill Gloucester
but is killed by Edgar. In Oswald's pocket, Edgar finds Goneril's letter, in which she encourages
Edmund to kill her husband and take her as his wife. Kent and Cordelia take charge of Lear,
whose madness quickly passes. Regan, Goneril, Albany, and Edmund meet with their forces.
Albany insists that they fight the French invaders but not harm Lear or Cordelia. The two sisters
lust for Edmund, who has made promises to both. He considers the dilemma and plots the deaths
of Albany, Lear, and Cordelia. Edgar gives Goneril's letter to Albany. The armies meet in battle,
the British defeat the French, and Lear and Cordelia are captured. Edmund sends Lear and
Cordelia off with secret-joint orders from him (representing Regan and her forces) and Goneril
(representing the forces of her estranged husband, Albany) for the execution of Cordelia.

The victorious British leaders meet, and the recently widowed Regan now declares she
will marry Edmund. But Albany exposes the intrigues of Edmund and Goneril and proclaims
Edmund a traitor. Regan falls ill, having been poisoned by Goneril, and is escorted offstage,
where she dies. Edmund defies Albany, who calls for a trial by combat. Edgar appears masked
and in armour, and challenges Edmund to a duel. No one knows who he is. Edgar wounds
Edmund fatally, though he does not die immediately. Albany confronts Goneril with the letter
which was intended to be his death warrant; she flees in shame and rage. Edgar reveals himself,
and reports that Gloucester died offstage from the shock and joy of learning that Edgar is alive,
after Edgar revealed himself to his father.
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 Offstage, Goneril, her plans thwarted, commits suicide. The dying Edmund decides,
though he admits it is against his own character, to try to save Lear and Cordelia; however, his
confession comes too late. Soon after, Albany sends men to countermand Edmund's orders, Lear
enters bearing Cordelia's corpse in his arms, having survived by killing the executioner. Kent
appears and Lear now recognises him. Albany urges Lear to resume his throne, but as with
Gloucester, the trials Lear has been through have finally overwhelmed him, and he dies. Albany
then asks Kent and Edgar to take charge of the throne. Kent declines, explaining that his master
is calling him on a journey and he must follow. Finally, Albany (in the Quarto version) or Edgar
(in the Folio version) implies that he will now become king.

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Sources
Shakespeare's play is based on various accounts of the semi-
legendary Brythonic figure Leir of Britain, whose name has been linked by some scholars to the
Brythonic god Lir though in actuality the names are not etymologically related. [3][4]
[5]
 Shakespeare's most important source is probably the second edition of The Chronicles of
England, Scotlande, and Irelande by Raphael Holinshed, published in 1587. Holinshed himself
found the story in the earlier Historia Regum Britanniae by Geoffrey of Monmouth, which was
written in the 12th century. Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene, published 1590, also contains
a character named Cordelia, who also dies from hanging, as in King Lear

Other possible sources are the anonymous play King Leir (published in 1605); The

Mirror for Magistrates (1574), by John Higgins; The Malcontent (1604), by John Marston;The
London Prodigal (1605); Montaigne's Essays, which were translated into English by John
Florio in 1603; An Historical Description of Iland of Britaine (1577), by William
Harrison; Remaines Concerning Britaine (1606), by William Camden; Albion's England (1589),
by William Warner; and A Declaration of egregious Popish Impostures(1603), by Samuel
Harsnett, which provided some of the language used by Edgar while he feigns madness. King
Lear is also a literary variant of a common fairy tale, Love Like Salt, Aarne–Thompson type 923,
in which a father rejects his youngest daughter for a statement of her love that does not please
him.

The source of the subplot involving Gloucester, Edgar, and Edmund is a tale in Philip
Sidney's Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia (1580–90), with a blind Paphlagonian king and his two
sons, Leonatus and Plexitrus.

Changes from source material

Besides the subplot involving the Earl of Gloucester and his sons, the principal
innovation Shakespeare made to this story was the death of Cordelia and Lear at the end; in the
account by Geoffrey of Monmouth, Cordelia restores Lear to the throne, and succeeds him as
ruler after his death. During the 17th century, Shakespeare's tragic ending was much criticised
and alternative versions were written by Nahum Tate, in which the leading characters survived
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and Edgar and Cordelia were married (despite the fact that Cordelia was previously betrothed to
the King of France). As Harold Bloom states: "Tate's version held the stage for almost 150 years,
until Edmund Kean reinstated the play's tragic ending in 1823.

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Date and text
Although an exact date of composition cannot be given, many academic editors of the
play date King Lear between 1603 and 1606. The latest it could have been written is 1606, as
the Stationers' Register notes a performance on 26 December 1606. The 1603 date originates
from words in Edgar's speeches which may derive from Samuel Harsnett'sDeclaration of
Egregious Popish Impostures (1603). In his Arden edition, R. A. Foakes argues for a date of
1605–6, because one of Shakespeare's sources, The True Chronicle History of King Leir, was not
published until 1605; close correspondences between that play and Shakespeare's suggest that he
may have been working from a text (rather than from recollections of a
performance). Conversely, Frank Kermode, in the Riverside Shakespeare, considers the
publication of Leir to have been a response to performances of Shakespeare's already-written
play; noting a sonnet by William Strachey that may have verbal resemblances with Lear,
Kermode concludes that "1604-5 seems the best compromise". Dr. Naseeb Shaheen dates the
play c1605-6 per line 1.2.103 "These late eclipses in the sun and moon" which relates to the
lunar eclipse of 27 September 1605 and the solar eclipse of 2 October 1605

The modern text of King Lear derives from three sources: two quartos, published in 1608
(Q1) and 1619 (Q2) respectively, and the version in the First Folio of 1623 (F 1). The differences
between these versions are significant. Q1 contains 285 lines not in F1; F1 contains around 100
lines not in Q1. Also, at least a thousand individual words are changed between the two texts,
each text has a completely different style of punctuation, and about half the verse lines in the
F1 are either printed as prose or differently divided in the Q 1. The early editors, beginning
with Alexander Pope, simply conflated the two texts, creating the modern version that has
remained nearly universal for centuries. The conflated version is born from the hypothesis that
Shakespeare wrote only one original manuscript, now unfortunately lost, and that the Quarto and
Folio versions are distortions of that original. Others, such as Nuttall and Bloom, have identified
Shakespeare himself as having been involved in reworking passages in the play to accommodate
performances and other textual requirements of the play

As early as 1931, Madeleine Doran suggested that the two texts had basically different
provenances, and that these differences between them were critically interesting. This argument,

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however, was not widely discussed until the late 1970s, when it was revived, principally by
Michael Warren and Gary Taylor. Their thesis, while controversial, has gained significant
acceptance. It posits, essentially, that the Quarto derives from something close to
Shakespeare's foul papers, and the Folio is drawn in some way from a promptbook, prepared for
production by Shakespeare's company or someone else. In short, Q 1 is "authorial"; F1 is
"theatrical". In criticism, the rise of "revision criticism" has been part of the pronounced trend
away from mid-century formalism

The New Cambridge Shakespeare has published separate editions of Q and F; the most
recent Pelican Shakespeare edition contains both the 1608 Quarto and the 1623 Folio text as well
as a conflated version; the New Arden edition edited by R. A. Foakes is the only recent edition to
offer the traditional conflated text. Both Anthony Nuttall of Oxford University and Harold
Bloom of Yale University have endorsed the view of Shakespeare having revised the tragedy at
least once during his lifetime. As Bloom indicates: "At the close of Shakespeare's revised King
Lear, a reluctant Edgar becomes King of Britain, accepting his destiny but in the accents of
despair. Nuttall speculates that Edgar, like Shakespeare himself, usurps the power of
manipulating the audience by deceiving poor Gloucester

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Analysis and criticism
Analysis and criticism of King Lear over the centuries has been extensive

What we know of Shakespeare's wide reading and powers of assimilation seems to show
that he made use of all kinds of material, absorbing contradictory viewpoints, positive and
negative, religious and secular, as if to ensure that King Lear would offer no single controlling
perspective, but be open to, indeed demand, multiple interpretations.
R. A. Foakes

Historicist interpretations
John F. Danby, in his Shakespeare's Doctrine of Nature – A Study of King Lear (1949),
argues that Lear dramatizes, among other things, the current meanings of "Nature". The words
"nature," "natural" and "unnatural" occur over forty times in the play, reflecting a debate in
Shakespeare's time about what nature really was like; this debate pervades the play and finds
symbolic expression in Lear's changing attitude to Thunder. There are two strongly contrasting
views of human nature in the play: that of the Lear party (Lear, Gloucester, Albany, Kent),
exemplifying the philosophy of Bacon and Hooker, and that of the Edmund party (Edmund,
Cornwall, Goneril, Regan), akin to the views later formulated by Hobbes. Along with the two
views of Nature, Lear contains two views of Reason, brought out in Gloucester and Edmund's
speeches on astrology (1.2). The rationality of the Edmund party is one with which a modern
audience more readily identifies. But the Edmund party carries bold rationalism to such extremes
that it becomes madness: a madness-in-reason, the ironic counterpart of Lear's "reason in
madness" (IV.6.190) and the Fool's wisdom-in-folly. This betrayal of reason lies behind the
play's later emphasis on feeling.

The two Natures and the two Reasons imply two societies. Edmund is the New Man, a
member of an age of competition, suspicion, glory, in contrast with the older society which has
come down from the Middle Ages, with its belief in co-operation, reasonable decency, and
respect for the whole as greater than the part. King Lear is thus an allegory. The older society,
that of the medieval vision, with its doting king, falls into error, and is threatened by the
new Machiavellianism; it is regenerated and saved by a vision of a new order, embodied in the

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king's rejected daughter. Cordelia, in the allegorical scheme, is threefold: a person; an ethical
principle (love); and a community. Nevertheless, Shakespeare's understanding of the New Man is
so extensive as to amount almost to sympathy. Edmund is the last great expression in
Shakespeare of that side of Renaissance individualism – the energy, the emancipation, the
courage – which has made a positive contribution to the heritage of the West. "He embodies
something vital which a final synthesis must reaffirm. But he makes an absolute claim which
Shakespeare will not support. It is right for man to feel, as Edmund does, that society exists for
man, not man for society. It is not right to assert the kind of man Edmund would erect to this
supremacy.

The play offers an alternative to the feudal-Machiavellian polarity, an alternative

foreshadowed in France's speech (I.1.245–256), in Lear and Gloucester's prayers (III.4. 28–36;
IV.1.61–66), and in the figure of Cordelia. Until the decent society is achieved, we are meant to
take as role-model (though qualified by Shakespearean ironies) Edgar, "the machiavel of
goodness", endurance, courage and "ripeness"

Psychoanalytic and psychosocial interpretation

King Lear provides a basis for "the primary enactment of psychic breakdown in English
literary history". The play begins with Lear's "near-fairytale narcissism".

Given the absence of legitimate mothers in King Lear, Cordelia Kahn provides
a psychoanalytic interpretation of the "maternal subtext" found in the play. According to Kahn,
Lear's old age forces him to regress into an infantile disposition, and he now seeks a love that is
traditionally satisfied by a mothering woman, but in the absence of a real mother, his daughters
become the mother figures. Lear's contest of love between Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia serves
as the binding agreement; his daughters will get their inheritance provided that they care for him,
especially Cordelia, on whose "kind nursery" he will greatly depend.

Cordelia's refusal to dedicate herself to him and love him as more than a father has been
interpreted by some as a resistance to incest, but Kahn also inserts the image of a rejecting
mother. The situation is now a reversal of parent-child roles, in which Lear's madness is a

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childlike rage due to his deprivation of filial/maternal care. Even when Lear and Cordelia are
captured together, his madness persists as Lear envisions a nursery in prison, where Cordelia's
sole existence is for him. It is only with Cordelia's death that his fantasy of a daughter-mother
ultimately diminishes, as King Lear concludes with only male characters living.

Sigmund Freud asserted that Cordelia symbolises Death. Therefore, when the play begins
with Lear rejecting his daughter, it can be interpreted as him rejecting death; Lear is unwilling to
face the finitude of his being. The play's poignant ending scene, wherein Lear carries the body of
his beloved Cordelia, was of great importance to Freud. In this scene, Cordelia forces the
realization of his finitude, or as Freud put it, she causes him to "make friends with the necessity
of dying". Shakespeare had particular intentions with Cordelia's death, and was the only writer to
have Cordelia killed (in the version by the Nahum Tate, she continues to live happily, and in
Holinshed's, she restores her father and succeeds him).

Alternatively, an analysis based on Adlerian theory suggests that the King's contest

among his daughters in Act I has more to do with his control over the unmarried Cordelia. This
theory indicates that the King's "dethronement" might have led him to seek control that he lost
after he divided his land.

In his study of the character-portrayal of Edmund, Harold Bloom refers to him as

"Shakespeare's most original character"

"As Hazlitt pointed out", writes Bloom, "Edmund does not share in the hypocrisy of
Goneril and Regan: his Machiavellianism is absolutely pure, and lacks an Oedipal motive.
Freud's vision of family romances simply does not apply to Edmund. Iago is free to reinvent
himself every minute, yet Iago has strong passions, however negative. Edmund has no passions
whatsoever; he has never loved anyone, and he never will. In that respect, he is Shakespeare's
most original character."

The tragedy of Lear's lack of understanding of the consequences of his demands and
actions is often observed to be like that of a spoiled child, but it has also been noted that his
behaviour is equally likely to be seen in parents who have never adjusted to their children having
grown up.

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Christianity
Critics are divided on the question of whether or not King Lear represents an affirmation
of a particular Christian doctrine. Among those who argue that Lear is redeemed in the Christian
sense through suffering are A. C. Bradley and John Reibetanz, who has written: "through his
sufferings, Lear has won an enlightened soul". Other critics who find no evidence of redemption
and emphasise the horrors of the final act include John Holloway and Marvin Rosenberg.
William R. Elton stresses the pre-Christian setting of the play, writing that, "Lear fulfills the
criteria for pagan behavior in life," falling "into total blasphemy at the moment of his
irredeemable loss"

Fairy tales
In the first edition of Kinder- und Hausmarchen by the Brothers Grimm, the Anhang
(appendix) entry to No. 71 Princess Mouse-skin included a note: "as the father here, so asks King
Lear his daughter". The English translation of this story by Oliver Loo begins as follows: "A
king had three daughters; thereon he wanted to know, which loved him most, let them come in
front of him and asked them. The eldest spoke, she loved him more, than the whole kingdom; the
second, more than all the precious stones and pearls in the world; but the third said, she loved
him more than salt. The king was so upset, that she compared her love of him with such a small
thing, gave her to a servant and commanded, he should take her into the forest and kill her."

Rex Warner
Rex Warner’s book “Man of Stones; A melodrama” (1949), written in the aftermath of
the Greek Civil War, depicts imprisoned Greek leftists presenting “ King Lear” in their prison
camp, and has various allusion and comparisons between the protagonists situation and the
play’s plot and characters.

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Performance history
King Lear has been performed by esteemed actors since the 17th century, when men
played all the roles. From the 20th century, a number of women have played male roles in the
play; most commonly the Fool, who has been played (among others) by Judy Davis, Emma
Thompson and Robyn Nevin. Lear himself has been played by Marianne Hoppe in 1990,
by Janet Wright in 1995, by Kathryn Hunter in 1996–67, by Clare Coulter in 2013, by Glenda
Jackson in 2016, and by Diane D'Aquila in 2017. Marcia Gay Harden plays Lear in a few scenes
from the play in the 2012 Canadian film If I Were You.

17th century
Shakespeare wrote the role of Lear for his company's chief tragedian, Richard Burbage,
for whom Shakespeare was writing incrementally older characters as their careers progressed. It
has been speculated either that the role of the Fool was written for the company's clown Robert
Armin, or that it was written for performance by one of the company's boys, doubling the role of
Cordelia. Only one specific performance of the play during Shakespeare's lifetime is known:
before the court of King James I at Whitehall on 26 December 1606. Its original performances
would have been at The Globe, where there were no sets in the modern sense, and characters
would have signified their roles visually with props and costumes: Lear's costume, for example,
would have changed in the course of the play as his status diminished: commencing in crown and
regalia; then as a huntsman; raging bareheaded in the storm scene; and finally crowned with
flowers in parody of his original status.

All theatres were closed down by the Puritan government on 6 September 1642. Upon

the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, two patent companies (the King's Company and
the Duke's Company) were established, and the existing theatrical repertoire divided between
them. And from the restoration until the mid-19th century the performance history of King
Lear is not the story of Shakespeare's version, but instead of The History of King Lear, a popular
adaptation by Nahum Tate. Its most significant deviations from Shakespeare were to omit the
Fool entirely, to introduce a happy ending in which Lear and Cordelia survive, and to develop a
love story between Cordelia and Edgar (two characters who never interact in Shakespeare) which
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ends with their marriage. Like most Restoration adapters of Shakespeare, Tate admired
Shakespeare's natural genius but saw fit to augment his work with contemporary standards of art
(which were largely guided by the neoclassical unities of time, place, and action). Tate's struggle
to strike a balance between raw nature and refined art is apparent in his description of the
tragedy: "a heap of jewels, unstrung and unpolish't; yet so dazzling in their disorder, that I soon
perceiv'd I had seiz'd a treasure." Other changes included giving Cordelia a confidante named
Arante, bringing the play closer to contemporary notions of poetic justice, and adding titilating
material such as amorous encounters between Edmund and both Regan and Goneril, a scene in
which Edgar rescues Cordelia from Edmund's attempted kidnap and rape, and a scene in which
Cordelia wears men's pants that would reveal the actress's ankles. The play ends with a
celebration of "the King's blest Restauration", an obvious reference to Charles II.

18th century
In the early 18th century, some writers began to express objections to this (and other)
Restoration adaptations of Shakespeare. For example, in The Spectator on 16 April 1711 Joseph
Addison wrote "King Lear is an admirable Tragedy ... as Shakespeare wrote it; but as it is
reformed according to the chymerical Notion of poetical Justice in my humble Opinion it hath
lost half its Beauty." Yet on the stage, Tate's version prevailed.

David Garrick was the first actor-manager to begin to cut back on elements of Tate's
adaptation in favour of Shakespeare's original: he retained Tate's major changes, including the
happy ending, but removed many of Tate's lines, including Edgar's closing speech. He also
reduced the prominence of the Edgar-Cordelia love story, in order to focus more on the
relationship between Lear and his daughters. His version had a powerful emotional impact: Lear
driven to madness by his daughters was (in the words of one spectator, Arthur Murphy) "the
finest tragic distress ever seen on any stage" and, in contrast, the devotion shown to Lear by
Cordelia (a mix of Shakespeare's, Tate's and Garrick's contributions to the part) moved the
audience to tears.

The first professional performances of King Lear in North America are likely to have
been those of the Hallam Company

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 Conclusion
The tragedy of King Lear revolves around the imperfect relationship between father and
child due to misunderstandings and personal greed.

In Act 1 we see these imperfections when Lear judges the value of his daughters through
materialistic words rather than their actual feelings. This is reflected upon Gloucester’s family in
Act 2 when Gloucester blindly puts his trust in Edmund without consulting with Edgar to find
the truth. In Act 3, we see that as a result of these imperfect relationships between kin causes the
younger generation to take advantage of the older generation. Act 4 – 5 concludes this tragedy by
the repentance of the fathers. Through suffering and despair both fathers have opened their eyes
to the truth of their family affairs.

Thus, King Lear brings us back to where we started. The play still holds true to its
traditional values such as inheritance, patriarchal societies, and the monarch. Yet, it perhaps
raises new questions on topics such as favoritism, and the importance of communication in a
father-child relationship.

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M.A. SEM 4
 Bibliography
 Armstrong, Alan Unfamiliar Shakespeare in Wells and Orlin pp. 

 Bradley, Lynne (2010). Adapting King Lear for the Stage. Ashgate. .

 Brode, Douglas (2001). Shakespeare in the Movies: From the Silent Era to Today.
Berkley Boulevard.

 Burnett, Mark Thornton; Ramona Wray (2006). Screening Shakespeare in the Twenty-

First Century. Edinburgh University Press. 

 Chauhan, Abnish Singh (2016). William Shakespeare King Lear. Bhavdiya Prakashan,

Ayodhya, India.

 Dawson, Anthony B. International Shakespeare in Wells and Stanton pp.

 De Grazia, Margreta; Stanley Wells (2001). The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare.

Cambridge University Press. 

 Gay, Penny Women and Shakespearean Performance in Wells and Stanton pp. 

 Jackson, Russell (a) (2000). The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Film.

Cambridge University Press.

 Shakespeare, William (1997). R. A. Foakes, ed. King Lear. The Arden Shakespeare

(Third Series) Methuen Drama.

 Shakespeare, William (1972–1996). G. K. Hunter, ed. King Lear. New Penguin

Shakespeare.

 Wells, Stanley (a) (1986). The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare Studies.

Cambridge University Press.

 Wells, Stanley; Lena Cowen Orlin (2003). Shakespeare: An Oxford Guide. Oxford

University Press.

 Wells, Stanley; Sarah Stanton (2002). The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on

Stage. Cambridge University Press.

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