King Lear
William Shakespeare
King Lear was the very first piece of classical English literature that I ever studied. The play is cited as one of the Bard’s supreme achievements and is considered one of the greatest works of literature ever written. And despite Shakespeare’s use of a very unfamiliar Elizabethan English, I loved every page of the play.
King Lear is a classic tragedy full of all sorts of internecine familial and courtier feuding that results in the death of many of the main characters.
In short, it is a tale of how King Lear gets old and decides to retire and divide up his power and his land between two of his evil, sycophantic daughters. Meanwhile, a third daughter, Cordelia, is mercilessly banished and made penniless for her truthfulness and sincerity.
King Lear’s ill-advised, benevolent generosity on the one hand, and his malevolent meanness on the other, ultimately leads to the disintegration of his family, and his and Cordelia’s premature death.
Mirroring this sorry tale is a subplot about the Earl of Gloucester and his two warring sons, Edgar his legitimate son, and Edmund the illegitimate younger brother. Edmund plots to get rid of his elder brother, and then his father, so that he may become the new Earl. This does not end well for anybody.
