All Formats & Editions

First performed about 1805, King Lear is one of the most relentlessly bleak of Shakespeare's tragedies. Probably written between Othello and Macbeth, when the playwright was at the peak of his tragic power, Lear's themes of filial ingratitude, injustice,... Read Full Overview

The acclaimed Pelican Shakespeare series, now in a dazzling new series design

King Lear, widely considered Shakespeare's most deeply moving, passionately expressed, and intellectually ambitious play, has almost always been edited from the revised version printed in the First Folio of 1623, with additions from the quarto of 1608. Now for the first time,... Read Full Overview

In the CliffsComplete guides, the play's complete text and a glossary appear side-by-side with coordinating numbered lines to help you understand unusual words and phrasing. You'll also find all the commentary and resources of a standard CliffsNotes for Literature.

In... Read Full Overview

This edition of King Lear is especially designed for students, with accessible on-page notes and explanatory illustrations, clear background information, and rigorous but accessible scholarly credentials. This edition includes illustrations, preliminary notes, reading lists (including... Read Full Overview

"Sources" helps readers navigate King Lear's rich history and includes the nine essential primary sources from which Shakespeare borrowed significantly in creating his play, along with two additional likely sources.

"Criticism"provides thirteen major critical interpretations... Read Full Overview

The Signet Classics edition of one of William Shakespeare's greatest tragedies. Full of cruelty and betrayal, King Lear is the timeless and timely story of a kingdom held in the thrall of an aging ruler's descent into madness. Desperate for praise, he banishes those who would... Read Full Overview

William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer of the English language. Works of Romeo and Juliet, Othello, A Mid Summer's Night Dream and The Taming of the Shrew have been taught and been on stage since they were written. His influence on culture is far more reaching... Read Full Overview

King Lear, widely considered Shakespeare's most deeply moving, passionately expressed, and intellectually ambitious play, has almost always been edited from the revised version printed in the First Folio of 1623, with additions from the quarto of 1608. Now for the first time,... Read Full Overview

John Dover Wilson's New Shakespeare, published between 1921 and 1966, became the classic Cambridge edition of Shakespeare's plays and poems until the 1980s. The series, long since out-of-print, is now reissued. Each work is available both individually and as a set, and each contains... Read Full Overview

For this updated critical edition of King Lear, Lois Potter has written a completely new introduction, taking account of recent productions and reinterpretations of the play, with particular emphasis on its afterlife in global performance and adaptation. The edition retains the... Read Full Overview