Sep 7, 2008

Shakespeare A to Z | King Lear

Many critics, particularly in recent decades, consider King Lear Shakespeare’s masterpiece. Compared with Hamlet, a fascinating tragedy that was viewed for many years to be the greatest of Shakespeare’s plays, King Lear is a more completely realized, artistic whole. Its two plots, paralleling and contrasting with each other, brilliantly develop the dramatist’s themes as they carry the action forward. The characters are vividly portrayed, and when the play is performed competently, it transmits the majesty and vigor of Shakespeare’s art at the height of his...