King Lear (Shakespeare Made Easy)
by William Shakespeare

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Book Summary Information

• Othello (Shakespeare Made Easy)
• Macbeth (Shakespeare Made Easy)
• Hamlet (Shakespeare Made Easy)

Book Reviews of King Lear (Shakespeare Made Easy)

Book Review: Thou Shalt Honor Thy Parents
Summary: 4 Stars

But desiring to become more cultured, I have always wanted to "conquer" Shakespheare, not so much because I liked him but because he was important. This version of King Lear is quite understandable in the modern language and I even read the original text to become more familiar with the older language. After a couple reads I had the plot and characters down and the book is helpful with its suggestions of where the characters are going, or what they're holding, or how they are saying a certain thing, or what letter they are refering to, which isn't listed in the original and causes you to miss the meaning.

As for the play itself, King Lear is a vain old man who falls for the flattery of two of his daughters Regan and Goneril, who prove false and he scorns and disinherits the third daughter, Cordelia, who will not flatter him, but only says that taking care of him and honoring him is merely her duty. Appearances are not what they seem; who acts noble is often scorned for being honest and truthful and those who are ignoble may act noble at times but ultimately are not. Even the king is not noble in his wanting to be flattered while his fool says many wise things about the king being a fool.

All of nature is in discord as King Lear descends from his vaunted heights to become a homeless man thrown out into a terrible storm by his false daughters, Regan and Goneril, who unnaturally betray their progenitor and benefactor once he has given away his inheritance. The play gives insight into how children may act when it comes time to receive their inheritance. And in the case of Generil, there is some gender bending, in which she seems to be more strong and aggressive than her husband, Albany, who sees her husband as a prig and a wimp. Or you could say that this is just traditional female conniving in case of Regan and Goneril.

There is a subplot that has similar themes regarding which child is true or false to their father. The Earl of Gloucester has two sons one the "bastard" Edmund who tries to usurp the inheritance of the legitimate son Edgar. Edmund acts as if Edgar is going to betray Gloucester and tells his father so, but actually Edmund is the one who will betray them both and will attempt to marry either Regan or Goneril who are already married to secure his pre-eminence of position. As usual in Shakespheare, the "bastard" is evil and ignoble whose pretense of nobility is a sham. Edgar goes in disguise as a lowly beggar who ultimately proves that he is noble even though he is not well-dressed.

Another character, the earl of Kent, also goes in disguise as a lowly servant and proves true to King Lear, even though Lear banished him for siding with the noble daughter Cordelia.

Oswald is an unfaithful servant to the king and makes an allegance with the false daughters to better his position.

Shakespheare moralistically explores noble virtues and he seems old-fashioned since our modern plays are much more morally ambivalent-- because we're immoral modern degenerates, I guess.

Summary of King Lear (Shakespeare Made Easy)

Drama Books

• Subjects > Literature & Fiction > Drama
• British
• Education & Reference > Education