In King Lear, one of Shakespeare's greatest and most enduring plays, an aging father's demand that his daughters publicly declare their love for him triggers a reaction that involves nations and brings suffering and death to his entire family. The play takes ordinary jealousies, demands for love, sibling rivalries, desires for money and power, and petty cruelties to the extreme. Designed to make Shakespeare's great plays available to all readers,...

King Lear demands that his three daughters tell him how much they love him. When his youngest, Cordelia, refuses, he casts her out and divides his kingdom between the other two. But, when those two reject him, he descends into despair and madness... This moving tragedy has been retold and adapted with new illustrations, making it perfect for younger readers. Adapted by Samantha Newman, it will enthrall young readers of 7+. ABOUT THE SERIES: Shakespeare's...

In this Shakespearean tragedy, King Lear decides to divide up his kingdom amongst his daughters, commanding them to proclaim their love for him. He is fooled by Goneril and Regan's proclamations and so infuriated by Cordelia's inability to put her love into words that he banishes her. When he discovers that Goneril and Regan are treacherous and ungrateful and Cordelia is truly loyal, he is driven mad! Disloyalty brings a terrible fate upon this royal...

Because Julius Caesar has been required reading in most high schools, it may be the Shakespeare play most familiar to students. However, as one reader protested, it cant be much of a play when the hero dies early in the third act. However, many of us have been instructed that Julius Caesar is not the protagonist; Brutus is. This is apparently made clear by Mark Antonys comment over Brutus body in Act V: This was the noblest Roman of them all. On a...

Henry Dunbar, the once all-powerful head of a global media corporation, is not having a good day. In his dotage he hands over care of the corporation to his two eldest daughters, Abby and Megan, but as relations sour he starts to doubt the wisdom of past decisions. Now imprisoned in Meadowmeade, an upscale sanatorium in rural England, with only a demented alcoholic comedian as company, Dunbar starts planning his escape. As he flees into the hills,...

An aging warlord decides to split his kingdom between his three sons, who will live in three separate castles. The two eldest sons are quite happy, but the youngest thinks his father has gone mad, and predicts that it won't be long until the two older brothers are fighting with each other.

A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's "King Lear," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Shakespeare for Students.This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Shakespeare for Students for all of your research needs.

This wildly imaginative collection of fourteen short stories won't move you to tears, but will very likely move you to laughter. Phillips writes about a "committee of grief," about termites in Africa, about Lee Harvey Oswald's can opener. He tells of how an angry consumer shows his disdain for the telephone company by sending out false bills which, ultimately, leads to the withdrawal of the state of Iowa from the union. In one crazy piece, Phillips...

Shakespearean Tragedy is a landmark work of literary criticism. It is at once the pinnacle of the nineteenth century love affair with Shakespeare and the starting point for a new century of Shakespeare scholarship. Critics have charged that A.C. Bradley attends to character at the expense of other elements of the plays, such as theme, dramatic structure, and historical background, Bradleys defenders have praised the work for its philosophical and...