CRITICISM

Buechner, Frederick. “King Lear.” Speak What We Feel (Not What We Ought to Say): Reflections on Literature and Faith, pp. 125-54. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2001.

Provides an overview of the principal themes in King Lear, focusing on its mix of tragic and comic elements.

Conrad, Peter. “Expatriating Lear.” In To Be Continued: Four Stories and Their Survival, pp. 95-152. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995.

Investigates the influence of King Lear on seventeenth- and eighteenth-century works of literature and film.

Craig, Leon Harold. “The Perils of Political Improvisation.” In Of Philosophers and Kings: Political Philosophy in Shakespeare's Macbeth and King Lear, pp. 113-33. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2001.

Analyzes the political implications of Lear's decision to divide his kingdom.

Halio, Jay L. Introduction to The Tragedy of King Lear, edited by Jay L. Halio, pp. 1-89. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.

Overview of King Lear that discusses its sources and themes and compares passages from the Quarto and Folio versions of the play.

Hamilton, Sharon. “Plighted Cunning, Playing the Good Girl Role: The Taming of the Shrew and King Lear.” In Shakespeare's Daughters, pp. 93-124. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company Inc., 2003.

Examines the role of the daughters in both King Lear and The Taming of the Shrew, contending that their fathers prefer daughters who are compliant, or at least appear to be so.

———. “Daughters Who Forgive and Heal: Marina (Pericles), Perdita (The Winter's Tale), and Cordelia (King Lear).” In Shakespeare's Daughters, pp. 151-77. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company Inc., 2003.

Focuses on the nurturing, guiding qualities of the daughters in Pericles, The Winter's Tale, and King Lear, particularly Cordelia's “prescience, compassion, and courage.”

Kronenfeld, Judy. “I'll Teach You Differences: Hierarchy, Pomp, Service, Authority.” In King Lear and the Naked Truth: Rethinking the Language of Religion and Resistance, pp. 123-69. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1998.

Examines the representation of social hierarchy in King Lear and compares the play with religious writings by Shakespeare's contemporaries.

Rutter, Carol. “Eel Pie and Ugly Sisters in King Lear.” In Lear from Study to Stage: Essays in Criticism, edited by James Ogden and Arthur H. Scouten, pp. 172-225. Cranbury, N.J.: Associated University Presses, 1997.

Feminist critique that explores the portrayal of Lear's daughters on stage, contrasting their roles in the play's original productions with several contemporary presentations.

Stuart, Betty Kantor. “Truth and Tragedy in King Lear.” Shakespeare Quarterly 18, no. 2 (spring 1967): 167-80.

Contrasts Shakespeare's King Lear with his source, The True Chronicle Historie of King Leir.