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King Lear is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between his daughters Goneril and Regan, who pay homage to gain favour, feigning love.
His primary source is thought to be a play called The True Chronicle History of King Leir and his Three Daughters which tells a version of the story of Lear. It was probably written around 1590, and Shakespeare knew it well – he may have even acted in it.
Jul 25, 2020 · King Lear is based on a well-known story from ancient Celtic and British mythology, first given literary form by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his History of the Kings of Britain (c. 1137).
However, it is clear that Shakespeare relied chiefly on King Leir, fully titled The True Chronicle History of King Leir, and his three daughters, Gonorill, Ragan, and Cordella, the anonymous play published twelve years before the first recorded performance of Shakespeare's King Lear.
2 days ago · King Lear, tragedy in five acts by William Shakespeare, written in 1605–06 and published in a quarto edition in 1608, evidently based on Shakespeare’s unrevised working papers. The text of the First Folio of 1623 often differs markedly from the quarto text and seemingly represents a theatrical revision done by the author with some cuts ...
- David Bevington
Jul 22, 2020 · But in fact the story of King Lear was originally a happy one, when it first appeared in the chronicles of Geoffrey of Monmouth in the twelfth century. The anonymous play, King Leir , on which Shakespeare based his tragedy also ends on a somewhat more upbeat note.
Appearance and reality. Lear soon discovers that, by passing his authority to his daughters, he has damaged his relationship with them so much that he is refused a home with either of them. He finds himself banished into a storm with only his Fool (a jester) and the disguised Kent for company.
