Critical Insights: King Lear

Original essays in this volume begin with a treatment of the historical background of Shakespeare's play. Others offer a close reading of several key passages in King Lear, with an eye to the differences between the first published version and the revisions found in the Folio version of 1623. Two other new essays discuss the ways in which audiences and critics have responded to Shakespeare's tragedy and contrasts Lear with Marlowe's Tamburlaine.