Das Leben und der Tod des Königs Lear

Von William Shakespeare

Die Shakespeare-Tragödie, übersetzt von Christoph Martin Wieland. Laut Wikipedia: "King Lear ist eine Tragödie von William Shakespeare. Der Titelheld kommt in den Wahnsinn, nachdem er törichterweise zwischen zwei seiner drei Töchter aufgrund seiner Schmeichelei seinen Nachlass verworfen hat, was tragische Folgen für alle hat. Das Stück basiert auf der Legende von Leir of Britain, einem mythologischen vorrömischen keltischen König, der für Bühnen- und Spielfilme weitgehend adaptiert wurde, und die Rolle von Lear wurde von vielen der besten Schauspieler der Welt begehrt und gespielt. "

• Sprache: Deutsch
• Herausgeber: Seltzer Books
• Erscheinungsdatum: 1. März 2018
• ISBN: 9781455344949

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare is the world's greatest ever playwright. Born in 1564, he split his time between Stratford-upon-Avon and London, where he worked as a playwright, poet and actor. In 1582 he married Anne Hathaway. Shakespeare died in 1616 at the age of fifty-two, leaving three children—Susanna, Hamnet and Judith. The rest is silence.

Buchvorschau

DAS LEBEN UND DER TOD DES KÖNIGS LEAR VON WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, ÜBERSETZT VON CHRISTOPH MARTIN WIELAND

published by Samizdat Express, Orange, CT, USA

established in 1974, offering over 14,000 books

Shakespeare tragedies in German translation:

Coriolanus (Tieck)

Hamlet (Wieland)

Julius Caesar (Schlegel)

Lear (Wieland)

Macbeth (Wieland)

Othello (Wieland)

Romeo und Juliette (Wieland)

Timon Von Athen (Wieland)

feedback welcome: [e-mail]

visit us at samizdat.com

Personen des Trauerspiels.

Erster Aufzug.

Erster Auftritt. (Der Königliche Palast.) (Kent, Gloster, und Edmund der Bastard, treten auf.)

Zweyter Auftritt. (König Lear, Cornwall, Albanien, Gonerill, Regan, Cordelia und  Gefolge.)

Fünfter Auftritt.

Sechster Auftritt. (Die Scene verändert sich in ein Schloß des Grafen von Gloster.)

Siebender Auftritt. (Gloster.  Edmund.)

Achter Auftritt.

Zehnter Auftritt.

Zwölfter Auftritt. (Die Scene verändert sich in einen offnen Plaz, vor dem Palast.)

Dreyzehnter Auftritt. (Der Narr kömmt zu ihnen.)

Vierzehnter Auftritt. (Die Vorigen.  Gonerill.)

Fünfzehnter Auftritt. (Zu ihnen, der Herzog von Albanien.)

Sechszehnter Auftritt.

Siebenzehnter Auftritt. (Ein Vorhof an des Herzogs von Albaniens Palast.) (Lear, Kent, Ritter und Narr treten wieder auf.)

Zweyter Aufzug.

Erster Auftritt. (Ein Schloß des Grafen von Gloster.) (Edmund und Curan treten von verschiedenen Seiten auf.)

Zweyter Auftritt.  Edmund.

Dritter Auftritt. (Gloster und Bediente mit Fakeln.)

Vierter Auftritt. (Cornwall, Regan und Gefolge.)

Fünfter Auftritt. (Kent und der Haushofmeister der Lady Gonerill treten von  verschiedenen Seiten auf.)

Sechster Auftritt. (Edmund, Cornwall, Regan, Gloster und Bediente.)

Siebender Auftritt.

Neunter Auftritt. (Die Scene verwandelt sich wieder in des Grafen von Gloster Schloß.) (Lear, Narr, und ein Ritter.)

Zehnter Auftritt. (Lear und Gloster treten auf.)

Eilfter Auftritt. (Cornwall, Regan, Gloster und Bediente, zu den vorigen.)

Zwölfter Auftritt. (Gonerill tritt auf.)

Dreyzehnter Auftritt.

Dritter Aufzug.

Erster Auftritt. (Eine Heyde.) (Man hört einen Sturm mit Donner und Blizen.) (Kent und ein Ritter treten von verschiedenen Seiten auf.)

Zweyter Auftritt. (Das Ungewitter daurt immer fort.) (Lear und der Narr treten auf.)

Dritter Auftritt. (Kent kommt zu ihnen.)

Vierter Auftritt. (Ein Zimmer in Glosters Schloß.) (Gloster und Edmund.)

Fünfter Auftritt. (Die Scene verwandelt sich in einen Theil der Heyde mit einer  Hütte.) (Lear, Kent und Narr.)

Sechster Auftritt. (Die vorigen, Edgar in einen tollen Menschen verkleidet.)

Siebender Auftritt. (Gloster kömmt mit einer Fakel.)

Achter Auftritt. (Die Scene verwandelt sich in Glosters Schloß.) (Cornwall.  Edmund.)

Neunter Auftritt. (Eine Stube in einem Meyer-Hofe.) (Kent und Gloster treten auf.)

Zehnter Auftritt. (Cornwall, Regan, Gonerill, Edmund und Bediente.)

Eilfter Auftritt. (Gloster wird von einigen Bedienten hereingebracht.)

Vierter Aufzug.

Erster Auftritt. (Ein freyes Feld.)

Zweyter Auftritt. (Des Herzogs von Albanien Palast.) (Gonerill und Edmund.)

Dritter Auftritt. (Dover.) (Kent und ein Edelmann treten auf.)

Vierter Auftritt. (Ein Lager.) (Cordelia, ein Medicus und Soldaten.)

Fünfter Auftritt. (Regans Pallast.) (Regan und der Hofmeister.)

Sechster Auftritt. (Die Gegend um Dover.) (Gloster, und Edgar als ein Bauer.)

Siebender Auftritt. (Lear, auf eine phantastische Art mit Blumen geziert, tritt auf.)

Achter Auftritt. (Ein Edelmann, und sein Begleit.)

Neunter Auftritt. (Der Haushofmeister mit einem Brief.)

Zehnter Auftritt. (Cordelia, Kent, ein Arzt.)

Fünfter Aufzug.

Erster Auftritt. (Ein Lager.) (Edmund, Regan, ein Edelmann und Soldaten.)

Zweyter Auftritt. (Indem sie hinausgehen, tritt Edgar verkleidet auf.)

Dritter Auftritt. Edmund

Vierter Auftritt. (Ein Getümmel und Trompeten-Stoß hinter der Schaubühne.) (Lear, Cordelia und Soldaten ziehen mit Trummeln und Fahnen über  die Scene, und gehen wieder ab.)

Fünfter Auftritt. (Edmund zieht mit Lear, und Cordelia, als Gefangenen im Triumph  auf.)

Sechster Auftritt. (Trompeten--Der Herzog von Albanien.) (Gonerill, Regan und Soldaten treten auf.)

Siebender Auftritt.

Achter Auftritt.

Neunter Auftritt. (Ein Edelmann zu den Vorigen.)

Zehnter Auftritt. (Lear tritt auf, Cordelia todt in seinen Armen tragend.)

Personen des Trauerspiels.

Lear, König von Brittannien.

König von Frankreich.

Herzog von Burgund.

Herzog von Cornwall.

Herzog von Albanien.

Graf von Gloster.

Graf von Kent.

Edgar, Glosters Sohn.

Edmund, Bastard von Gloster.

Curan, ein Höfling.

Medicus.

Narr.

Oswald, Gonerills Haushofmeister.

Ein Officier.

Ein Edelmann, der Cordelia begleitet.

Ein Herold.

Ein alter Mann von Glosters Unterthanen.

Ein Bedienter von Cornwall.

Zwey Bediente von Gloster.

Gonerill, Regan und Cordelia, Lears Töchter.

Ritter die dem König aufwarten, Officiers, Boten, Soldaten und

Bediente etc.

Der Schauplaz ligt in Brittannien.

Erster Aufzug.

Erster Auftritt. (Der Königliche Palast.) (Kent, Gloster, und Edmund der Bastard, treten auf.)

 Kent. Ich dachte, der König liebe den Herzog von Albanien mehr als den von Cornwall.

Gloster. So schien es uns allezeit; allein izt, bey der Theilung seiner Königreiche kan man nicht sehen, welchen von beyden er höher schäze; das schärfste Auge könnte nichts entdeken, das einem Theil vor dem andern den Vorzug gäbe; so genau sind sie nach ihren verschiedenen Beschaffenheiten und Vorzügen gegen einander abgewogen.

Kent. Ist dieses nicht euer Sohn, Mylord?

Gloster. Die Last seiner Erziehung fiel auf mich.  Ich habe schon so oft erröthet ihn für meinen Sohn zu erkennen, daß ich nicht mehr erröthen kan.

Kent. Ich begreiffe euch nicht.

Gloster. Die Mutter dieses jungen Menschen konnt' es; sie bekam davon eine gewisse Geschwulst, und zulezt, Sir, fand sich, daß sie einen Sohn für ihrer Wiege hatte, ehe sie einen Gemahl für ihr Bette hatte. Riechet ihr den Fehler?

Kent. Die Würkung dieses Fehlers ist so schön, daß ich nicht wünschen kan, er möchte unterblieben seyn.

Gloster. Ich habe zwar auch einen gesezmässigen Sohn, der etliche Jahre älter, aber mir nicht werther ist als dieser.  Wenn dieser lose Junge gleich ein wenig unverschämt auf die Welt kam, eh man ihn verlangte, so war doch seine Mutter schön; es gieng kurzweilig zu als er gemacht wurde, und der H** Sohn muß erkannt werden.  Kennst du diesen Edelmann, Edmund?

Edmund. Nein, Mylord.

Gloster. Es ist Mylord von Kent.  Erinnere dich künftig seiner als meines würdigen Freundes.

Edmund (zu Kent.) Ew.  Gnaden geruhen meine Dienste anzunehmen.

Kent. Ihr gefallet mir, wir müssen besser mit einander bekannt werden.

Edmund. Mylord, ich werde mich bestreben euere Gewogenheit zu verdienen.

Gloster. Er ist neun Jahre ausser Landes gewesen, und soll noch länger seyn.

(Man hört Trompeten, der König kömmt.)

Zweyter Auftritt. (König Lear, Cornwall, Albanien, Gonerill, Regan, Cordelia und  Gefolge.)

 Lear. Gloster, gehe denen Fürsten von Frankreich und Burgund Gesellschaft zu leisten.

Gloster. Ich gehe, mein Gebieter.

(Geht ab.)

Lear. Nunmehr ist es Zeit, unser geheimes Vorhaben zu entdeken--Gebet mir diese Land-Carte--Wisset, wir haben unser Königreich in drey Theile getheilt, und es ist unsre erste Absicht, unser Alter aller Regierungs-Sorgen und Geschäfte zu entladen, und solche jüngern Schultern aufzulegen, indeß daß wir unbelastet dem Tod entgegen kriechen--Unser Sohn von Cornwall, und ihr, nicht minder geliebter Sohn von Albanien, wir haben den standhaften Schluß gefaßt, in dieser Stunde die verschiedenen Morgengaben unsrer Töchter bekannt zu machen, damit allem künftigen Streit darüber vorgebogen werde. Die Fürsten von Frankreich und Burgund, ansehnliche Nebenbuler um die Liebe unsrer jüngern Tochter, haben schon lange ihren verliebten Aufenthalt an unserm Hofe gemacht, und sollen izt ihre Antworten erhalten.  Saget mir, meine Töchter, (da wir uns nun der obersten Gewalt, der Landesherrschaft und der Sorge des Staats zu begeben willens sind,) von welcher unter euch sollen wir sagen, daß sie uns am meisten liebe?  damit wir unsre freygebigste Huld dahin ergiessen, wo die Natur für das gröste Verdienst Ansprüche macht. Gonerill, unsre Erstgebohrne, rede zuerst.

Gonerill. Sire, ich liebe euch mehr als Augenlicht, Raum und Freyheit; mehr als alles was theuer und selten geschäzt werden mag; nicht minder als Leben, Gesundheit, Schönheit und Ehre; so sehr als jemals ein Kind geliebt, oder ein Vater geliebt zu seyn verdient hat--mit einer Liebe, die den Athem arm, und die Sprache unzulänglich macht, die über allen Ausdruk ist, liebe ich euch.

Cordelia (beyseite.) Was soll Cordelia thun?  Lieben und schweigen.

Lear. Von allen diesen Ländereyen, (von dieser Linie bis zu jener,) mit schattichten Wäldern und offnen Ebnen, mit fruchtbaren Strömen und weit verbreiteten Matten bereichert, machen wir dich zur Beherrscherin.  Deiner und Albaniens Nachkommenschaft sollen sie auf ewig eigen seyn!--Was sagt unsre zweyte Tochter, unsre geliebteste Regan, Cornwalls Gemahlin?  Rede!

Regan. Ich bin von eben dem Metall gemacht wie meine Schwester, und schäze mein getreues Herz nach dem Werth des ihrigen.  Ich finde, daß sie das wahre Wesen meiner Liebe ausgedrükt hat; nur darinn fällt sie zu kurz, daß ich mich selbst eine Feindin aller andern Freuden erkläre, welche die vier* edelsten Sinnen uns zu geben vermögend sind, und finde, daß Eurer Majestät Liebe meine einzige Glükseligkeit macht.

{ed.-* Durch diese vier edelsten Sinne sind hier Gesicht, Gehör, Geruch, und Geschmak zu verstehen; denn eine junge Dame konnte mit Anständigkeit nicht zu verstehen geben, daß sie die Vergnügungen des fünften kenne.  Warbürton.

Der Übersetzer überläßt dieses dem Ausspruch der jungen Damen, und wagt nur die Vermuthung, ob es nicht weit natürlicher sey zu denken, Regan nenne eben darum die vier edelsten Sinne, weil sie dem fünften nicht entsagen will.}

Cordelia (beyseite.) Arme Cordelia!--und doch nicht arm, denn ich bin gewiß, daß meine Liebe gewichtiger ist als ihre Zunge.

Lear. Dir und den Deinigen bleibe zum ewigen Erbtheil dieser ansehnliche Drittheil unsers schönen Königreichs, nicht geringer an Grösse, Werth und Schönheit, als derjenige, den wir an Gonerill übertragen haben--Nun du, unsre Freude, nicht die geringste, obgleich die lezte, deren jugendliche Liebe das weinvolle Frankreich, und das milchtrieffende Burgund zu gewinnen streben,

Rezensionen für Das Leben und der Tod des Königs Lear

[jfoster_sf · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

Classic Shakespeare tragedy.

[takeitorleaveit_1 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

another play. another dreary subject. another tragic ending.

[angelarenea-1 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

A fairly quick read. I didn't love it as much as I remember. Lear was way obsessed with 'nature' and the whole thing was so pompous. But not as bad as some of his other stuff.

[jwhenderson_1 · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

The division of the Kingdom begins the play with first, the Earls of Kent and Gloucester speculating on the basis for the division and second, the actual division by Lear based on professions of love requested from his three daughters. When this event goes not as planned the action of the play ensues and the reader is in for a wild ride, much as Lear himself.The play provides one of Shakespeare's most thoroughly evil characters in Edmund while much of the rest of the cast is aligned against each other with Lear the outcast suffering along with the Earl of Gloucester who is tricked by his bastard son Edmund into believing that his other son Edgar is plotting against him. While there are some lighter moments the play is generally very dark filled with the bitter results of Lear's poor decisions at the outset. Interestingly we do not get much of a back story and find, other than his age of four score years, little else to suggest why Lear would surrender his power and his Kingdom at the outset. The play is certainly powerful and maintains your interest through dramatic scenes, while it also provides for many questions - some of which remain unanswered.

[bookomaniac-1 · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

Een van de krachtigste stukken van Shakespeare; een confrontatie van extremen.

[meditationesmartini · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

This is especially devastating because (sorry, Aristotle's Poetics, but indeed because) it departs from the conventions of good Greek tragedy. Nobody's led astray slickly by their tragic flaw;* Lear's ennobled by suffering perhaps but at the start he's no philosopher king (as I'd envisioned) but a belching, beer can crushing Dark Ages thug lord who definitely brings it on himself, but not in any exquisite "his virtue was his fall" way. Cordelia is, not an ungrateful, but an ungracious child whose tongue is a fat slab of ham and who can't even manage the basic level of social graces to not spark a family feud that leaves everyone killed (surely a low bar!!). Goneril and Regan are straight-up venial malice, Shakespeare's Pardoner and Summoner; Edmund, obviously, charismatic, but a baaaad man; and the default good guys, the ones with the chance to win the day and transform this blood-filled torture show into two hours' pleasing traffic of the stage, obviously fumble it bigly (Albany, unbrave and too subtle; Kent, brave and too unsubtle; Gloucester, a spineless joke; and what is Edgar doing out in that wilderness when he should be teaming up with Cordelia and Kent to plan an invasion that's a MacArthuresque comeback and not a disaster, to go down as the plucky band of good friends who renewed the social compact with their steel and founded a second Camelot, a new England). They're not all monsters, and there are frequent glimmers of greatness, but they fuck it all up; in other words, they're us.And then Lear's madness has much too much of, like, an MRA drum circle meeting, with the Fool and Kent and Edgar/John o'Bedlam (that's a name, that) farting around the wastes going "Fuckin' bitches, can't live with em, can't smack em one like they deserve" (though of course this is a Shakespearean tragedy, so everyone pretty much gonna get smacked one sooner or later). Not tragic flaws, in other words, but just flaws, with only glimmers of the good, and all the more devastating for that because all the more real. It's haaard to keep it together for a whole lifetime and not degenerate into a sad caricature of you at your best, or you as you could have been, and I wonder how many families start out full of love and functional relations and wind up kind of hating each other in a low key way just because of the accretion of mental abrasions plus the occasional big wound and because life is long.This seems like a family that just got tired of not hating each other, standing in for a social order that's gotten tired of basically working from day to day, and everyone's just itching to flip the table and ruin Thanksgiving. I have little faith, post-play, that Edgar or Albany in charge will salvage the day--historically, of course, their analogues did not--and it's gonna be a long hard road to a fresh start (we don't of course try to find one such in the actual history--I mean, 1066?--pretty sure fresh starts don't happen in actual history--but I trust the general point is clear). This seems like the most plausible/least arbitrary of Shakespeare's tragedies, I am saying here, and thus also the most desolate, and one with lessons for any family (cf., say, Hamlet, with its very important lessons for families where the mother kills the dad and marries his brother and the dad's ghost comes back to tell the son to kill his uncle, a niche market to say the least), and one that I'll revisit again and again.*Side note, my friend Dan calls me "My favourite Hamartian," and I'm recording that here because we may grow apart and I may forget that but I never want to forget really and so, hope to find it here once more

[karl6steel · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

Teaching it for the second time. The Folger edition is okay, but it badly needs to be updated; and the illustrations in the facing page are, to my mind, badly chosen, unless they're meant only to promote the grandeur of the Folger library. I think they would have done much better to provide photos of scenes taken from various productions/films/adaptations of Lear; no doubt the students would pay more attention to such things, to say nothing of nonexpert instructors like me.

Oh, the play: certainly very good at cutting the legs out from under the notion that suffering can be redemptive. Lear discovers compassion and love, Gloucester grows up, but what do they get? Death. And what are we left with? The two appalling milquetoast prigs, Albany and Edgar,* perhaps the two characters in Lear who understand least well what the whole thing is about. At least Kent has the grace to go off and wait to die.

* Hilarious: I just googled these names and the second hit is some plagiarism mill that's selling an essay that reads "Albany and Edgar both possess honest and kind characters." You have got to be kidding me! Please, please, please let someone try to get this paper past me. How stupid or desperate would someone have to be to pay for a paper that's, at best, a B-?

[alcracka · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

My absolute favorite Shakespeare play. Extra love for the fact that this came up when I searched for Stephen King.

[shanaqui_1 · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

Fourth book of the readathon. Read in snatches during a car journey and between acts in a concert! Which is probably not the best way to experience Shakespeare, laying aside the issue that I think the best way to experience it is by watching it, but I enjoyed it. I've always rather liked Cordelia, with her steadfast truthfulness, and I do remember some very vivid mental images regarding eyes being put out when, at the age of nine, I read a children's version of the story.

And of course, Shakespeare's use of language, his sense of timing, his grasp of what will look good on stage -- that's as expected: he was a master.

[worldincolour · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

There is an abundance of reviews, essays, opinions and prejudicial comments available when talking about Shakespeare. It would seem that the man was incapable of jotting down a bad sentence, let alone a bad story, at least, that's the veil they hand you when calling Shakespeare, morbidly referred to as 'Willy' by those who know the first three lines of Hamlet's 'to be or not to be'-speech, 'the greatest writer of all time'.

In this review, I shall not beshame my opinion by calling anyone Willy, Shakey, Quilly or by using the word 'Shakespearean'. 'King Lear' is not the strongest play in the exuberant repertoire of Shakespeare. It is, however, one of the more reader-friendly ones, which means you don't need a detailed map of familial relations to follow the plot. The story of King Lear relies heavily on stories that already existed at the time, but had only served as traditional folk tales or as long forgotten myths. For those who are oblivious to the plot - King Lear wants to divide his kingdom between his three daughters, Goneril, Regan and Cordelia. Whereas Goneril and Regan go out of their proverbial ways to flatter their father, Cordelia remains reticent (but honest). Which, of course, is not much appreciated. What follows resembles the story of Oedipus, that other Blind King who slowly wandered into his own destruction. Gloucester, one of the side characters, actually does lose his eyes.

'King Lear', in the end, is a reflection on power and what one will do to achieve it. Even though it might be a bit stale nowadays, it still holds true to its message, and for those who enjoy Shakespeare's husky metaphor, this play will provide you with all the ammunition needed.

[bradgers-1 · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

When people want to rank Shakespeare's plays, usually Hamlet comes out as number one. This, in my experience, is the only other of his plays that I have seen mentioned as his greatest. If I were to rank his plays solely based upon their impact upon the world, I would probably agree with the usual placement of Hamlet as number one. However, were I to rank them based upon their impact on me, Lear gets the nod. Lear accurately and horrifyingly portrays the primal nature of man like few other works of literature; the only other to come to my mind is Lord of the Flies. Yet it's more than that; Lord of the Flies can afford to ignore the effects of sexual attraction and familial ties upon our nature, but Lear (the work, not the character) meets these head-on and uses them to devastating effect. This play alone would guarantee Shakespeare a place as one of the greatest English authors. With the rest of his body of work, there's no question that he is the greatest.

[neurodrew · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

King LearWilliam ShakespeareThursday, March 27, 2014 In my Shakespeare class, senior year of college, the professor thought this was the play central to understanding Shakespeare. The tale is familiar; Lear gives up his Kingdom to avoid the cares of ruling, dividing it among his daughters. Cordelia, the most honest, points out that she owes him a duty but also owes her fiancé, the King of France, love and affection. Lear casts her out, because she is not as effusive as her sisters, Regan and Goneril. Goneril, hosts the King first, instructs her servants to ignore his knights, and when he goes to Regan, she sends a letter to ensure he is cast out there as well. Lear goes mad in a storm, succored by Kent, a loyal knight whose advice was unwelcome in the initial scene, and by Edgar, the son of the Earl of Gloucester, who has been usurped by the machinations of Edmund, a bastard son, and who is the lover of Regan and Goneril. Cordelia brings an army to rescue Lear, but is defeated, and in the schemes of Edmund is killed in captivity. Regan dies, poisoned by Goneril jealous of Edmund, Goneril dies by suicide after Edmund is killed by Edgar, Gloucester dies after a blinding, and Lear dies of heart attack. Lear's speeches while mad are the essence of the mature understanding of the human situation "Striving to better, oft' we mar what's well""Let me kiss your hand!" Lear, in response "Let me wipe it first, it smells of mortality"Leather bound, Franklin Library, Tragedies of Shakespeare ($34.60 4/28/2012)

[jmcgarry2011 · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

Excellent work. I saw this performed at the Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona, MN. Very powerful performance. I liked this edition in particular because it explained the nuances of the language right next to the original text. That plus the performance made this easier to understand.

[ron_peters-1 · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

I enjoy the Folger editions of Shakespeare - to each his own in this matter. Some find Lear to be overblown, I am tremendously moved by it, and haunted by the image of the old man howling across the barren heaths with his dead daughter in his arms. 'I am bound upon a wheel of fire, that mine own tears Do scald like molten lead.' Lear 4.7.52-54

[leslie398 · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

Thoughts on the play: -A classic tragedy in which almost everyone dies at the end. -I really didn't have much sympathy for Lear. He acted incredibly foolishly, not just once in turning his back on Cordelia, but many times. -At first, Goneral seemed to be acting reasonably. If Lear had restrained his knights, much of the tragedy would have been lessened. (This was one of the foolish actions of Lear's I mentioned above.) However, as the plot moves on, she is revealed as being more and more terrible. -Edmund struck me as the villain, and he also acted as a catalyst for villainy. So I found the scene at near the end after he & Edgar had dueled a bit hard to believe - after everything, Edgar just forgives him!?! -I was shocked when Cornwall plucks out Gloucester's eyes. I didn't know that was going to happen! Gloucester struck me as the true tragic hero, rather than Lear. Both of them cast off deserving children, but Gloucester realized his error and suffered for it. It wasn't clear to me that Lear recognized his own faults the way Gloucester did.

[alanwpowers · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

Maybe the fifteenth time I've read Lear (this time in the tiny red-leather RSC edition). Always impressed, especially with the curses and curse-like screeds. I can't stand Lear onstage, particularly the blinding of Gloster (so spelled in this edition). How sharper than a serpants teeth it is / to have a thankless child--though having a thankless parent like Lear, Act I Sc I, ain't so great either. I do love the Russian film Lear with music by Shostakovich, and the King's grand route through his bestiary of hawks and eagles.I suppose this is Shakespeare's great (that's redundant, since "Sh" is mostly "great") assessment of homelessness. The undeservingly roofless. it is also his only play on retirement, which he recommends against. Or perhaps Lear should have had a condo in Florida? Of course, his hundred knights, a problem for the condominium board, as it was for his daughters. And Shakespeare, who says in a sonnet he was "lame by fortune's despite" also addresses the handicapped here, recommending tripping blind persons to cheer them up.Of course, Lear has his personal Letterman-Colbert, the Fool, so he doesn't need a TV in the electrical storm on the heath. That's fortunate, because it would have been dangerous to turn on a TV with all that lightening. The play seems also to recommend serious disguises like Kent's dialects and Edgar's mud. Next time I go to a party I'll think about some mud, which reduces Edgar's likelihood of being killed by his former friends.And finally, the play touches on senility, where Lear cannot be sure at first Cordelia is his daughter.I'm not sure, but the author may be recommending senility as a palliative to tragedy--and to aging. A friend of mine once put it, "Who's to say the senile's not having the time of his life?"

[kant1066 · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

I don’t really know what to say about King Lear, or anything by Shakespeare, really. A summary would be redundant and out of place. So would gushing about the stunning beauty of the poetry, or how this is some of the greatest writing in the history of the English language, or any language.Only one thing comes to mind when I think of Shakespeare’s greatest plays. Think what you will of Harold Bloom (and there are certainly many opinions about him), I always think, more than anything else, of the title of his book of essays on the plays: “Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human.” Is the title a typically hyperbolic publishing stunt? The more I read and re-read the plays, the less I’m starting to think so. Words simply fail me. They really do. The wonderful things about Modern Library/RSC edition are the introduction, critically informed notes on the text, folio notes, and a sizeable section on historically important performances of “King Lear.” These do a superb job of contextualizing the play, especially in how it performed on stage.

[othemts · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

This is my favorite Shakespeare tragedy. The plot, language, and characterization show the dramatist at his mature best.

[dirkjohnson_1 · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

I'm somewhat biased: Lear is my favorite play written since the time of Euripides (who wrote later than my absolute favorites Aeschylus and Sophocles).The cast and execution of the Naxos audiobook are also excellent. I would list the cast, but the combination of blurred lines between book and performance and my own laziness and busy schedule prohibit me.

[jpsnow · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

Compare to his other masterpieces, this was for me too wide in character and at the same time lacking the intimacy of baseline human feelings or experience. "Thy truth be thy dower."

[kettle666 · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

The writer I feel most in awe of, by a mile, is Shakespeare. I'm not going to say anything much about him because it's all been said, so I'll just say he's the boss, and the play that most shocks and thrills and saddens me is King Lear. But I could almost have said exactly the same about most of the plays he wrote. Every time I experience him in performance I feel overwhelmed by his brilliance, and I just have to shut up before I get too sycophantic.

[thatsfresh_1 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

Another great tragic tale as told my Shakespeare. Like all his plays, you're able to dig deep into this story and draw out tons of stories, themes and hidden meanings out of all its layers. An enjoyable read for any Shakespeare enthusiast.

[briandewey · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

Shakespeare, William. King Lear. University of Virginia Electronic Text Center, 15XX. This is my favorite Shakespeare play. I don't know if I would have re-read it now if I hadn't had a copy on my iPaq and needed something to read at night without disturbing Molly and Tony on our trip to Madrid. I like Lear for its apocalyptic vision and because I think the transition from one generation to the next is an interesting topic. The paper I wrote on this play in college, which compares Edgar to the Fool, is one of my favorites.

[therebelprince · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

A very enjoyable edition. Unlike most of the Arden editions, Foakes comes across more as an educator than an academic-among-friends. This does mean occasionally that he'll cover ground most professional-level readers already understand, but it makes this a really well-rounded introduction to the play.

The decision here is to incorporate both Quarto and Folio texts in one, with the differences clearly delineated. It's probably the best possible option for this play, and well done.

[deckla_1 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

The illustrations are unremarkable.

[eustaciatan · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

There's probably nothing more I can say about this book, since it's been studied for a long time. But although this was a school book, for my Independent Oral Commentary, I really grew to love this book. Shakespeare's mastery of the English language is obvious here. From the truncated but meaningful dialogue, with the most famous probably being "Nothing my Lord". These three words manage to express love, and I have the utmost respect for Shakespeare for writing this. Even after our IOC, we are still influenced by this wonderful play. One friend proceeded to enact the storm scene in the rain (from sheer joy), and this was one of the most quoted books in our inscriptions to our Teacher on Teacher's Day. I could go on and on, but "no, let me shun that. That way madness lies" (Too much of a good thing can be bad after all)

[scott_hercher · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

At the risk of sounding flippant, I realized that there are two productions of King Lear that need to be done: one set in the Klingon Empire, and the other performed by Monty Python. Go ahead, I dare you, read Poor Tom's lines like Eric Idle and try not to laugh!

[jaelmore · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

If I could only recommend one Shakespeare Play it would be King Lear.

[cheme2005 · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

This is my favorite of all of Shakespeare's works. Blood, death, and treachery. Who could ask for more!

[m2gilbert · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

The proud King Lear disowns his most dutiful daughter and is consequently betrayed by his other two. A bastard son betrays both his brother and father out of jealousy and malice. I think it is the saddest of his tragedies, and it moves very quickly to me (though not as quickly as Macbeth). It is also really one of the most profound expressions of human suffering ever written in the English language. The play sees deeply into the soul, and so I would often linger a bit on a line or speech with a quiet awe. The actions pierce its characters with a sad, penetrating irony. The eyes will eventually see in their blindness. The heart bleeds and the storm rages. It is depressing, yes. But in all, as depraved as its villains are, I also read in King Lear what is very beautiful about humanity and kinship, however frail it may appear teetering on the edge of a cliff: compassion, loyalty, charity, and mercy.