King Lear

by William Shakespeare
List(s):"Racine Library List"
"Carp 500"
Category: "Drama"
Pages:118
Year of Publication:1606
Date Read:12/31/1996
Notes:The transformation of a demanding and majestic father/king to a solitary, lunatic soul on a stormy mountain.

COMMENTS — Famous quotes to watch for:
• How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child!
• I have seen better faces in my time than stands on any shoulder that I see before me at this instant.
• The wheel is come full circle.
My Rating: 4

Reviews for King Lear

Review - King Lear

I’m developing an opinion about Shakespeare that goes somewhat against the grain. I have no problem understanding his works. I do, however, have a problem LIKING his works. Some of his comedies are OK (although THE TEMPEST was awful). Some of his characters are pretty good. As a rule, I like his histories, especially RICHARD III. But the tragedies are pathetic, and KING LEAR is the worst. Lear is getting old so he decides to divide his kingdom among his three daughters. Two of them tell him how wonderful he is, but the third is honest and calls the first two hypocrites. So Lear kicks her out of the kingdom and divides things in half for the other two. These two daughters proceed to kick Lear out of his own kingdom. They then fall in love with the same man (although both are married) and kill each other in a quarrel over him. This man is then killed by his brother. In fact, instead of resolving anything, Shakespeare just has everybody conveniently die off. Nice story.
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