King Lear (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: William Shakespeare
- First Published: 1608
- Type of Work: Drama
- Type of Plot: Tragedy
- Time of Work: First century
- Setting: Britain
- Principal Characters: King Lear of Britain, King of France, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Albany, Earl of Kent, Earl of Gloucester, Edgar, Edmund, Goneril, Regan, Cordelia
- Genres: Drama, History play, Tragedy
- Subjects: Parents and children, Blindness or blind persons, Betrayal, Mental illness, Fathers, Sisters, Kings, queens, or royalty, Greed, Cruelty, Great Britain, First century
- Locales: England
The Story:
King Lear, in foolish fondness for his children, decided to divide his kingdom among his three daughters. Grown senile, he scoffed at the foresight of his advisers and declared that each girl’s statement of her love for him would determine the portion of the kingdom she received as her dowry. Goneril, his oldest daughter and the duchess of Albany, spoke first. She said that she loved her father more than eyesight, space, liberty, or life itself. Regan, the duchess of Cornwall, announced that the sentiment of her love had been expressed by Goneril, but that Goneril...
[The entire page is 2710 words long]
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