3 h 11 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when a king gives away his power but still demands unquestioning love?
King Lear is tired of ruling Britain. He plans to divide his kingdom among Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia, turning a question of love into a contest for land. Goneril and Regan flatter him. Cordelia refuses. Her honesty meets his anger, and a family begins to break.
In William Shakespeare's tragedy, another father makes a similar mistake. The Earl of Gloucester trusts the wrong son, while the ambitious Edmund schemes for his brother's place and his father's lands. Across both households, plain speech carries a cost. Lear wants to keep a king's honours, but the power to demand them is slipping away.
What you’ll discover
- A kingdom for flattery Enter the opening court scene, where a father's hunger for praise puts a kingdom at stake.
- The cost of honesty Meet Cordelia and Kent, whose loyalty means speaking truths Lear does not want to hear.
- Two fathers misled Follow Lear and Gloucester as each mistakes a child's intentions, with painful consequences for both families.
- Out on the heath Face wind, rain, and thunder beside Lear, the Fool, and Kent in the storm scene.
- Truth in riddles Listen to the Fool's songs and riddles as he stays beside a king whose world falls apart.
Is it for you?
This is for anyone who wants the full shape of Shakespeare's darkest family drama, whether before reading it, before seeing it staged, or for study. It may suit you less if you want a light story with a comforting mood.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A king trades his crown for flattery
- Truth-tellers are punished, flatterers rewarded
- A second family breaks in parallel
- Lear learns what his daughters really are
- The storm on the heath strips everyone bare
- What the play is about and how it is told
Who’s who
- King LearThe aging king of Britain, proud and quick to anger, who gives up his crown and wants to be loved without question.
- CordeliaLear's youngest daughter, honest and loyal, who refuses to flatter her father even when it costs her a kingdom.
- GonerilLear's eldest daughter, married to the Duke of Albany, who flatters him for land and soon grows hard and impatient with him.
- ReganLear's second daughter, married to the Duke of Cornwall, who echoes her sister's flattery and is as ready to turn against her father.
- Earl of KentLear's loyal nobleman, banished for speaking plainly, who returns in disguise to serve his king.
- FoolLear's jester, who tells the king hard truths in riddles and songs and stays with him as his world falls apart.
- Earl of GloucesterA nobleman who is deceived by one son and trusts the wrong child, much as Lear does.
- EdmundGloucester's illegitimate son, clever and ambitious, who schemes to take his brother's place and his father's lands.
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- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read or to hear.
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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König Lear
by William Shakespeare· 1608
An aging king divides his kingdom and loses his authority.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
A king trades his crown for flattery
The play opens at the court of King Lear of Britain. He is old and tired of ruling, and he has decided to divide his kingdom among his three daughters, Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia. Before he does so, he asks each to say how much she loves him. The one who speaks best will receive the richest share.
Goneril and Regan, who are already married to the Duke of Albany and the Duke of Cornwall, answer with huge speeches. They say they love their father more than words, more than sight, more than life. Lear is delighted and hands each a large portion of the land. The speeches are plainly hollow, but Lear wants to hear them, and he rewards them.
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The author
William Shakespeare
1564–1616 · English playwright and poet
William Shakespeare was an English playwright and poet, born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564. He worked in London as an actor and playwright. He wrote plays, including Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth, and published sonnets in 1609. He died in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1616.
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What is King Lear about?
It is about an aging king who divides his kingdom among his daughters according to how well they flatter him. He rejects the one who tells the truth, and he suffers for it through betrayal, storm, and madness.
Is King Lear based on a true story?
Not on a documented one. Shakespeare drew on an old British legend of King Leir found in chronicles and an earlier play. He added the Gloucester plot, taken from a prose romance. The play was written around 1605.
Why does Cordelia say nothing?
Cordelia will not exaggerate her love to win land, as her sisters do. She says she loves her father as a daughter should, and no more. Her plain honesty is what Lear cannot accept.
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