Reading Order
King Lear Reading Order
King Lear (c. 1605–1606) by William Shakespeare is widely regarded as Shakespeare's greatest tragedy and one of the supreme works of world literature — the story of an old king who divides his kingdom between his daughters based on their professions of love, disowns the honest daughter Cordelia who will not flatter him, and is driven mad on the heath when his other daughters strip him of his power and dignity. The plot runs alongside the Gloucester subplot, in which the bastard son Edmund deceives his father into disinheriting the legitimate son Edgar, who disguises himself as Poor Tom and accompanies Lear on the storm. The play's ending, in which Cordelia is hanged despite Lear's rescue of her and Lear dies holding her body, is among the most devastating endings in world literature — so much so that the 17th century adapter Nahum Tate rewrote it with a happy ending, and this version held the stage for over 150 years. The play has generated more critical commentary than any Shakespeare tragedy except Hamlet and has been read as a meditation on aging, ingratitude, justice and the gods, madness, and what it means to be human in a universe that appears indifferent. Grigori Kozintsev's Soviet film adaptation (1971) and Akira Kurosawa's Ran (1985) are among the greatest film adaptations of Shakespeare.
Where to start
King Lear (c. 1605–1606) — the Folio text is the standard acting version; the Quarto text is longer and includes additional material. Best reading order: the Norton Shakespeare or Arden Third Series edition with commentary is essential; for readers new to Shakespeare, watching the 1971 Kozintsev film or the 2008 RSC production with Ian McKellen before reading helps enormously.
Complete King Lear Book List
- 1Buy
King Lear
William Shakespeare (Arden Third Series)·2008·The most complete scholarly edition — the Arden Third Series (ed. R.A. Foakes) is the standard academic text with comprehensive notes and the most important textual and critical apparatus - 2Buy
Ran
Akira Kurosawa (dir.)·1985·Kurosawa's adaptation transposing King Lear to feudal Japan — one of the great film adaptations of Shakespeare, changing Lear's daughters to sons and adding elements of Japanese Noh theatre; essential for understanding what the play means beyond its Elizabethan context - 3Buy
A Thousand Acres
Jane Smiley·1991·The Pulitzer Prize-winning retelling of King Lear on an Iowa farm — Smiley transposes the play to the American Midwest, with the Lear figure as a farmer dividing land between his daughters and the Cordelia figure as the youngest daughter who resists; won the Pulitzer in 1991 - 4Buy
The Stone Diaries
Carol Shields·1993·The Canadian novel in the tradition of King Lear's meditation on aging and the family — Shields' Pulitzer Prize-winning account of Daisy Goodwill's life from birth to death shares Lear's concern with what is owed between generations - 5Buy
Edgar and Lucy
Victor Lodato·2017·The contemporary novel in dialogue with the Lear-Edgar plot — a boy named Edgar and his grandmother's relationship in a blighted New Jersey town; the Lear theme of the stripped-down self surviving catastrophe runs through the novel - 6Buy
The Lear of Pretoria
Stephen Gray·2018·South African adaptation of King Lear — Gray transposes the play to colonial South Africa; one of many global adaptations that show how the Lear story translates to any political system based on inheritance and power
King Lear — Frequently Asked Questions
What is King Lear about?
King Lear (c. 1605–1606) by William Shakespeare tells the story of an aging king who divides his kingdom between his daughters based on their professions of love. He disowns his youngest daughter Cordelia for refusing to flatter him and gives everything to Goneril and Regan, who promptly strip him of his power and retinue. Lear is driven into a storm on the heath, where he goes mad. The play runs alongside the Gloucester subplot, in which the bastard son Edmund plots against his legitimate brother Edgar. Despite a rescue attempt, Cordelia is hanged, and Lear dies holding her body. The play is widely regarded as Shakespeare's greatest tragedy and explores aging, ingratitude, the nature of justice, and what it means to be human in an indifferent universe.
What is the difference between the Quarto and Folio texts of King Lear?
King Lear exists in two substantially different versions. The Quarto (Q1, 1608) is longer and includes about 300 lines not in the Folio; the Folio (F1, 1623) is shorter but includes about 100 lines not in the Quarto. Scholars now generally believe these are two distinct authorial versions rather than one corrupt and one good text. Modern editions typically print one text with variants noted, or print both; the Folio text is more commonly used as the base text for acting editions since it appears to represent the performed version. The Norton Shakespeare prints both texts separately.
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