All Formats & Editions

Read Shakespeare's plays in all their brilliance--and understand what every word means

'By far the best edition of King Lear - in respect of both textual and other matters - that we now have.'John Lyon, English Language Notes'This volume is a treasure-trove of precise information and stimulating comments on practically every aspect of the Lear-universe. I know... Read Full Overview

The authoritative edition of King Lear from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers.Shakespeare's King Lear challenges us with the magnitude, intensity, and sheer duration of the pain that it represents... Read Full Overview

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

'By far the best edition of King Lear - in respect of both textual and other matters - that we now have.'John Lyon, English Language Notes'This volume is a treasure-trove of precise information and stimulating comments on practically every aspect of the Lear-universe. I know... 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

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

King Lear tells the tale of a King in pre-Roman Britain. Lear transfers his holdings and power to two of his three daughters after the two profess their affection for him. His third daughter refuses to fawn over him and gets nothing.Once the two daughters have power, they treat... 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

King Lear has ruled for many years. As age overtakes him, he divides his kingdom amongst his children. Misjudging their loyalty, he soon finds himself stripped of all the trappings of state, wealth and power that had defined him. Arden Performance Editions are ideal for anyone... 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

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

The Annotated Shakespeare series allows readers to fully understand and enjoy the rich plays of the world's greatest dramatist

Edited, introduced and annotated by Cedric Watts, M.A., Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of English, University of Sussex.

The Wordsworth Classics' Shakespeare Series presents a newly-edited sequence of William Shakespeare's works. The textual editing takes... 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

In King Lear, one of Shakespeare's greatest and most enduring plays, an aging father's demand that his daughters publicly declare their love for him triggers a reaction that involves nations and brings suffering and death to his entire family. The play takes ordinary jealousies,... Read Full Overview

Includes the unabridged text of Shakespeare's classic play plus a complete study guide that helps readers gain a thorough understanding of the work's content and context. The comprehensive guide includes scene-by-scene summaries, explanations and discussions of the plot, question-and-answer... Read Full Overview

"No man will ever write a better tragedy than Lear" wrote once George Bernard Shaw.King Lear is to our days one of the most intense representations of human suffering and kinship and one of the most staged plays.