"Cliff Notes - King Lear" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cliff Notes)

Shakespeare continued to write tragedies--Coriolanus, Macbeth,
Antony and Cleopatra--but he found the world of myth a better
setting for his developing interests. A new type of play, the
romantic tragicomedy, began to appear--The Winter's Tale, The
Tempest, Cymbeline.

Shakespeare's involvement with a theatrical company called the
King's Men--both as actor and playwright--kept him active until
1613, when the Globe Theatre in which the company performed
burned down. Perhaps he took it as an omen, but Shakespeare
returned at about that time to Stratford, where he spent his
final years. He died on April 23, 1616, at the age of 52.

William Shakespeare never lived to be as old as Lear. Nor was
he ever a king. But his rich imagination and talent enabled him
to create a world so true that we can enter it even today.

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KING LEAR: THE PLOT

There are really two plots in King Lear, a main plot and a fully
developed subplot. Each has its own set of characters.

In the main plot, there is the head of the family, the
80-plus-year-old king of Britain, Lear. He has three daughters,
Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia. The Duke of Albany is married to
the oldest, Goneril, and the Duke of Cornwall is married to
Regan, the middle daughter. Cordelia has two suitors, the Duke
of Burgundy and the King of France. The court jester, the Fool,
is by extension a member of the Lear family and part of the main
plot, as is the Earl of Kent, Lear's loyal follower.

The Earl of Gloucester, also a member of Lear's court, is the
head of another family and the focus of the subplot. He has two
offspring, an older, legitimate son named Edgar and a younger,
illegitimate or bastard son named Edmund.

Various minor characters appear from time to time. They are
easily identified by their connections with whatever main
character they serve or speak of.

As the play opens, Lear has decided to retire and divide his
kingdom among his three daughters. Cordelia's husband will be
chosen for her immediately after Lear executes this "living
will." Before he allots the shares, Lear asks each daughter to
make a profession of her love for him in order to receive her
entitlement. Goneril and Regan waste no time professing love
for their father, but Cordelia is speechless. She loves her
father as any daughter should, no more and no less. Lear is