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King Lear (Wordsworth Classics) [Paperback]

William Shakespeare (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
Price: £1.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Book Description

Publication Date: 7 Mar 1994 | ISBN-10: 1853260959 | ISBN-13: 978-1853260957 | Edition: New Ed

Edited, introduced and annotated by Cedric Watts, Research 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 account of recent scholarship while giving the material a careful reappraisal.

King Lear has been widely acclaimed as Shakespeare's most powerful tragedy. Elemental and passionate, it encompasses the horrific and the heart-rending. Love and hate, loyalty and treachery, cruelty and self-sacrifice: all these contend in a tempestuous drama which has become an enduring classic of the world's literature. In the theatre and on screen King Lear continues to challenge and enthral.

This Wordsworth edition of King Lear provides a comprehensive, integrated text of the play.

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King Lear (Wordsworth Classics) + York Notes on William Shakespeare's "King Lear": (Advanced) (York Notes Advanced)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 176 pages
  • Publisher: Wordsworth Editions Ltd; New Ed edition (7 Mar 1994)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1853260959
  • ISBN-13: 978-1853260957
  • Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 0.9 x 19.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 6,148 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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More About the Authors

Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Terence Hawkes
Paul Werstine
Harley Granville-Baker
A. L. Rowse
Kenneth Muir
Philip Edwards
Roma Gill
Stephen Orgel
Barbara A. Mowat
William Shakespeare
Corinna Ruth
David M. Bevington
John Russell Brown
Horace Howard Furness
Arthur S. Rosenblatt
John F. Andrews

Product Description

Amazon Review

King Lear stands alongside Hamlet as one of the most profound expressions of tragic drama in literature. Written between 1604 and 1605, it represents Shakespeare at the height of his dramatic power. Drawing on ancient British history, Shakespeare constructs a plot that reads like a fable in its clear-sighted but terrifying simplicity. The ageing King Lear calls his daughters, Goneril, Regan and Cordelia to witness that he wishes "to shake all cares and business from our age" and divide his kingdom between his three children. When Cordelia refuses to flatter her father with sycophantic words of love, her banishment leads to chaos and civil war as Lear's disastrous "division of the kingdom" gives free reign to the greed and ambition of his two remaining daughters.

As Lear sinks into rage and madness he is deserted by everyone except his "bitter" Fool, the loyal Kent and the exiled Cordelia. The play descends into a nighmarish theatre of cruelty and absurdity as Lear realises he has "ta'en / Too little care" of the poverty and corruption of his kingdom, and his loyal but foolish friend Gloucester has his eyes gouged out. Metaphors of monstrosity and perversions of nature structure the dramatic action, and the play's ending remains one of the most harrowing in all of Shakespeare. Many see a profound despair and nihilism in King Lear, and would agree with Kent's conclusion that "All's cheerless, dark and deadly". Other writers have identified a radical but pessimistic critique of contemporary conceptions of kingship and absolutist authority, yet it remains a remarkable tragedy of public misjudgement and intensely private grief and anguish. --Jerry Brotton

Review

"...an exemplary consideration of all the new bibliographic explication...Halio has done an admirable job. If all editions of Shakespeare and his contemporaries were similarly conceived and presented, study and understanding of Elizabethan-Jacobean-Caroline drama would be greatly improved." William B. Long, TEXT: Transactions of the Society for Textual Scholarship --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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King Lear is widely regarded as Shakespeare's most intense, profound and powerful tragedy. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Dreams and Nightmares 10 Jun 2012
By Ms. Sarahjane Mackenzie
Format:Paperback
I had a nightmare the other night where King Lear's kingdom was Great Britain, and that splitting it back and parcelling it back into separate areas like Scotland, England and Wales led to a load of in-fighting and ravid competition between us all - and that we all found ourselves stuck in King Lear's world. I'm sorry to have to admit to that, but I really did have that nightmare...
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, Excellent Excellent!!! Great intro to Shakespeare 5 Mar 1999
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I am a theatre arts instructor and I feel that this book is an excellent introduction to Shakespeare's plays. I feel, as do many other people in my field, that the plays of William Shakespeare are meant to be seen as opposed to read. The comic book format gives you the best of both worlds. I have given this book to students who claim not to be able to understand Shakespeare and they literally tear through this book. Very high marks as far as this Professor is concerned!!!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Illustrators vison attracts children to Shakespear 23 July 1997
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
In translating Shakespeare to comic book form Ian Pollock must interpet stage direction and consider character development as a director might. To read Shakespeare is to miss both the aural experience and the visual, and necessaraly each players interpretation of his/her role. This comic book format helps replace some of that which is lost. Pollock's interpretation is excellent, and his illustrative style captures the ugliness of Lear very well. One does long for beauty in his illustrations from time to time, but on the whole his interpretation works. What is most facinating perhaps is pollock's appeal to children. The visual ellement helps illucidate the text and make difficult scenes intelligable to children. Middle School aged children will have little difficulty understanding and being facinated by this rich and wonderful play.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars King Lear - text only
I had hoped that this would include J Bratton's introduction as she is mentioned in connection with this edition. But there is nothing apart from a text. Very disappointing.
Published 29 days ago by Ginnie Redston
5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant
it's perfect for the use of a student, it has the play, a glossary of words, an explanation of words alongside the play, context, and themes and ideas on the play. Read more
Published 1 month ago by jacqueline
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding
I am quite fussy when it comes to an edition of a Shakespeare text, due to the modern language translations. Read more
Published 1 month ago by TB2
4.0 out of 5 stars LIKED IT
I LOVED THE BOOK AND ITS STATE. VERY CLEAN AND NEW, AND WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR BASICALLY FOR MY STUDY.
Published 2 months ago by SHAWBO
1.0 out of 5 stars Replacement?
Sorry not sure what King Lear edition I am supposed to review here: the first order (which I have already given a one star rating for awful condition); or the replacement that I... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mrs susan a watkins
5.0 out of 5 stars GET THIS!!
King Lear is an awesome play with such a gripping plot! If you are studying King Lear for English Literature A-Level (or GCSE) then you should definitely get this publication. Read more
Published 6 months ago by RWills
5.0 out of 5 stars Cool. Thanks.
Came in good time and in good shape. Light and portable like a Penguin Classic. New. Thanks. It's a book like the picture shows. From Wordsworth. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Spicewire
3.0 out of 5 stars King Lear review
Very good condition for a used book. Notes written with pen are present in few pages and that's why my rate is 3 out of 5.
Published 6 months ago by Robert
4.0 out of 5 stars good
Good simple book that consists of the whole original (slightly edited) play without any annotations. Cheap price tag which is always a bonus! Read more
Published 13 months ago by del
5.0 out of 5 stars stunning piece of art
I rate this as an artwork in its own right - independent of educational value etc. Ian Pollock's illustrations are equal to the extraordinary language of this play - every line is... Read more
Published 21 months ago by DJ
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