King Lear (Signet Classics) by
William Shakespeare
A Classroom Success Story
Newly revised, this edition of King Lear features an extensive overview of
Shakespeares life and world; an editors introduction; a note on the
sources; dramatic criticism from the past and present; a comprehensive
stage and screen history of notable actors, directors and productions; and
more.
Personal Review: King Lear (Signet Classics) by William
Shakespeare
"King Lear" is where Shakespeare takes off the gloves. He brings us right
to the edge of the abyss, then kicks us over that edge. This is the most
devastating by far of the Shakespeare tragedies -- a play which leaves the
reader shattered as the curtain falls.
I find it hard to explain where the visceral power of this play comes from.
The plot is fairly typically Shakespeare, perhaps a little more complicated
than usual, mixing elements taken from legend and from the historical
record. At the outset, Lear is a narcissistic, bullying despot. His two older
daughters, Regan and Goneril, are a couple of bad seed cougars, both of
whom lust after Edmund, an equally amoral hyena. Their goody-two-shoes
sister Cordelia behaves with such one-note pointless stubbornness, it
almost seems like she's not playing with a full deck. Over in the Gloucester
household, Edmund (the [...] hyena) is plotting against both his brother
Edgar and his father. Lear's court is filled with lickspittle sycophants. Only
two people have the guts to speak truth to power, and one of them wears
the costume of a Fool. There's a nasty storm brewing on the heath.
Fasten your seatbelts - it's going to be a bumpy ride.
Characters in "King Lear" pay dearly for their weaknesses. Gloucester is
blinded in order that he might see, but is denied any lasting happiness;
after reconciling with Edgar, he dies. Lear will be driven insane before he
finally learns to empathize with the poor and the meek. We watch him
return from the brink of madness only to discover that's not enough. Before
the curtain falls, Shakespeare gives us what is arguably the most brutal
scene in his entire work.
Enter Lear with Cordelia (dead) in his arms -

Howl, howl, howl! O, you are men of stone!
Had I your tongues and eyes, I'd use them so
That heavens vault should crack. She's gone forever.
Even if, like me, you find Cordelia a saccharine, two-dimensional
character, this scene is shattering. Two pages later, after learning that his
fool has hanged himself, Lear dies, broken-hearted. Edgar, Kent and
Albany - literally the only characters still standing - are left to bury the dead
and move on, as best they can.
Why do I find this the most affecting of Shakespeare's plays? (I've seen
seven different stage productions, and two on TV, and it only gets more
powerful upon repeated exposure.) I can't really pin it down - it's a
combination of various elements. The characters are idiosyncratic, fully
realised, and their behavior is highly relatable, so the play is convincing at
the level of the individual protagonists. But the fable-like nature of the
opening scene also confers a kind of universal quality to its message, and
the themes explored within the play - abuse of power, relationships within
families, responsibilities of parents and children, the breakdown of the
natural order and its consequences, the human capacity for enormous
cruelty - are no less relevant today than in Shakespeare's time. The
skillfully constructed parallel plotting of the Lear and Gloucester arcs adds
to the power of the story, the breakdown in natural human behavior is
further accentuated by the raw fury of the elements during the storm
scenes, where Nature echoes Lear's fury.
Ultimately, there's no getting away from the uncompromising bleakness of
the play's message. In Gloucester's words - "as flies to wanton boys, are
we to the gods; they kill us for their sport". The nihilism of "King Lear" has
always disturbed audiences, and it was common during the 18th and 19th
centuries to stage an altered version, in which Cordelia was allowed to live,
implying a more upbeat view of human nature. But, given what the events
of the last century demonstrate about mankind's vicious capacity for self-
destruction, one has to think that Shakespeare got it right first time. As
usual.
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