Editions

King Lear

  • Imprint: Penguin Classics

  • ISBN: 9780141396460

  • Length: 368  Pages

  • Dimensions: 198mm x 21mm x 129mm

  • Weight: 269g

  • RRP: £7.99

King Lear

'The most perfect specimen of the dramatic art existing in the world' Percy Bysshe Shelley

Shakespeare's bleak and brutal tragedy begins when an ageing king, seeking a successor, rejects the young daughter who loves him and misplaces his trust in her malevolent sisters. In return they strip him of his power and condemn him to a wretched wasteland of horror and insanity. Set in a pitiless universe, King Lear is a towering, elemental masterpiece of fierce poetry and vast imaginative scope.

Used and Recommended by the National Theatre

General Editor Stanley Wells
Edited by George Hunter
Introduction by Kiernan Ryan

  • Imprint: Penguin Classics

  • ISBN: 9780141396460

  • Length: 368  Pages

  • Dimensions: 198mm x 21mm x 129mm

  • Weight: 269g

  • RRP: £7.99

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About the Author

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He wrote about 38 plays (the precise number is uncertain), many of which are regarded as the most exceptional works of drama ever produced, including Romeo and Juliet (1595), Henry V (1599), Hamlet (1601), Othello (1604), King Lear (1606) and Macbeth (1606), as well as a collection of 154 sonnets, which number among the most profound and influential love poetry in English. Shakespeare died in Stratford in 1616.

William Shakespeare

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Six iconic moments of Shakespeare you should hear

Listen to iconic moments from some of our favourite Shakespeare plays hand-picked from the Classic BBC Radio Shakespeare series, featuring performers such as Ian McKellen

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