King Lear (Cambridge School Shakespeare)
by William Shakespeare
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List Price: ££6.25
Our Price: ££3.12
Your Save: £ 0.00 ( % )
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 822.33
EAN: 9780521466974
ISBN: 0521466970
Label: Cambridge University Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 240
Publication Date: 1996-08-22
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Studio: Cambridge University Press
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Death, madness and fear- Shakespeare's best
Comment: I studied this play years ago for A-level and even flogging its themes and plot to death didn't detract from its brilliance. Taking away its dubious misogynies (which, of course, are a sign of the time it was written) we are left with a work of brilliance.
The pain Lear goes through to be betrayed by two of his daughters after his own lack of foresight is heartbreaking- as is the climax. This is a truly dark and disturbing work but never was Shakespeare so powerful and provocative in his treatment of realtionships and human evil.
Read it, watch it or act it- and shudder
Customer Rating:
Summary: Powerful and Everlasting
Comment: The tale of Lear's betrayal by his family and subsequent tragic descent into madness is powerfully gripping. Shakespeare keeps the plot simple, but ensures that the undertones are remarkably complex. In Lear's most poignant speech, when he begins the journey to insanity, he demands that we "allow not nature more than nature needs" and forewarns that his heart will "break into a hundred thousand flaws". These predictions unfold in vivid and dramatic style throughout a play laced with reference to nature's omnipotence. The ending shatters your heart.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Amazingly Tragic!
Comment: I am not an intellectual by no means. I am just a regular young adult studying 'A' Level English Literature, so when told I would be studying King Lear, probably the most dark and tragic of all Shakepeare's plays, you can imagine.... I paniced!! I saw a video version of King Lear and read the play in progression to the video. It is a fantastic play that kept me intrigued the whole way through. Yes, ok, this can be quite a heavy going play; It certainly makes you wonder about the purpose of life, but let me tell you, I don't think you would regret reading it. Even if your afraid you won't understand, this version comes with a few notes guiding you through any bits that may cause problems. Go on, read this play. Its amazingly tragic!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: A great read... and very educational too!
Comment: To be honest with you, I never really liked Shakespeare books, I never could understand it. Then I was told I had to buy a King Lear book and study it for my A levels. I searched high and low for a book I thought I could understand and get into, then came this marvellous book. It comes complete with a huge introduction about the play and (lo and behold)it also includes pictures of the marvellous play and how it was performed. It basically, is in script form but for the casual reader it also has definitions on the bottom of the page. A Shakespearean play has never been edited so good! I do understand the play now and thanks to R.A Foakes, I might even get a decent grade. For you people out there who don't understand Shakespeare but are curious about it, I recommend this book as it is a great read. But I warn you now, you might not be able to put it down!
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Editorial Reviews: |
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Death, madness and fear- Shakespeare's best
Comment: I studied this play years ago for A-level and even flogging its themes and plot to death didn't detract from its brilliance. Taking away its dubious misogynies (which, of course, are a sign of the time it was written) we are left with a work of brilliance.
The pain Lear goes through to be betrayed by two of his daughters after his own lack of foresight is heartbreaking- as is the climax. This is a truly dark and disturbing work but never was Shakespeare so powerful and provocative in his treatment of realtionships and human evil.
Read it, watch it or act it- and shudder
Customer Rating:
Summary: Powerful and Everlasting
Comment: The tale of Lear's betrayal by his family and subsequent tragic descent into madness is powerfully gripping. Shakespeare keeps the plot simple, but ensures that the undertones are remarkably complex. In Lear's most poignant speech, when he begins the journey to insanity, he demands that we "allow not nature more than nature needs" and forewarns that his heart will "break into a hundred thousand flaws". These predictions unfold in vivid and dramatic style throughout a play laced with reference to nature's omnipotence. The ending shatters your heart.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Amazingly Tragic!
Comment: I am not an intellectual by no means. I am just a regular young adult studying 'A' Level English Literature, so when told I would be studying King Lear, probably the most dark and tragic of all Shakepeare's plays, you can imagine.... I paniced!! I saw a video version of King Lear and read the play in progression to the video. It is a fantastic play that kept me intrigued the whole way through. Yes, ok, this can be quite a heavy going play; It certainly makes you wonder about the purpose of life, but let me tell you, I don't think you would regret reading it. Even if your afraid you won't understand, this version comes with a few notes guiding you through any bits that may cause problems. Go on, read this play. Its amazingly tragic!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: A great read... and very educational too!
Comment: To be honest with you, I never really liked Shakespeare books, I never could understand it. Then I was told I had to buy a King Lear book and study it for my A levels. I searched high and low for a book I thought I could understand and get into, then came this marvellous book. It comes complete with a huge introduction about the play and (lo and behold)it also includes pictures of the marvellous play and how it was performed. It basically, is in script form but for the casual reader it also has definitions on the bottom of the page. A Shakespearean play has never been edited so good! I do understand the play now and thanks to R.A Foakes, I might even get a decent grade. For you people out there who don't understand Shakespeare but are curious about it, I recommend this book as it is a great read. But I warn you now, you might not be able to put it down!
King Lear stands alongside Hamlet as one of the most profound expressions of tragic drama in literature. Written between 1604 and 1605, it represents Shakespeare at the height of his dramatic power. Drawing on ancient British history, Shakespeare constructs a plot that reads like a fable in its clear-sighted but terrifying simplicity. The ageing King Lear calls his daughters, Goneril, Regan and Cordelia to witness that he wishes "to shake all cares and business from our age" and divide his kingdom between his three children. When Cordelia refuses to flatter her father with sycophantic words of love, her banishment leads to chaos and civil war as Lear's disastrous "division of the kingdom" gives free reign to the greed and ambition of his two remaining daughters. As Lear sinks into rage and madness he is deserted by everyone except his "bitter" Fool, the loyal Kent and the exiled Cordelia. The play descends into a nighmarish theatre of cruelty and absurdity as Lear realises he has "ta'en / Too little care" of the poverty and corruption of his kingdom, and his loyal but foolish friend Gloucester has his eyes gouged out. Metaphors of monstrosity and perversions of nature structure the dramatic action, and the play's ending remains one of the most harrowing in all of Shakespeare. Many see a profound despair and nihilism in King Lear, and would agree with Kent's conclusion that "All's cheerless, dark and deadly". Other writers have identified a radical but pessimistic critique of contemporary conceptions of kingship and absolutist authority, yet it remains a remarkable tragedy of public misjudgement and intensely private grief and anguish. --Jerry Brotton
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