num_pages: 215
description: The Annotated Shakespeare Series allows readers to fully understand and enjoy the rich plays of the world’s greatest dramatistKing Lear , one of Shakespeare's darkest and most savage plays, tells the story of the foolish and Job-like Lear, who divides his kingdom, as he does his affections, according to vanity and whim. Lear’s failure as a father engulfs himself and his world in turmoil and tragedy.This fully annotated version of King Lear  makes the play completely accessible to readers in the twenty-first century. It has been carefully assembled with students, teachers, and the general reader in mind. Eminent linguist and translator Burton Raffel offers generous help with vocabulary and usage of Elizabethan English, pronunciation, prosody, and alternative readings of phrases and lines. His on-page annotations provide readers with all the tools they need to comprehend the play and begin to explore its many possible interpretations. 
language: English
title: King Lear
titlecomplete: King Lear (The Annotated Shakespeare)
characters: Regan, Duke of Cornwall, Cordelia, Fool, Duke of Albany, Leir of Britain, Earl of Kent, Goneril, Edmund, Earl of Gloucester, Edgar
genres: Classics, Drama, Theatre, Plays, Read For School, Tragedy, School, Literature, Poetry, Fiction
ratings_count: 212601
publisher: Yale University Press