Description
"Grace Ioppolo has prepared this Norton Critical Edition of Shakespeare's most important play from the 1623 First Folio text (with the most significant variants from the 1608 Quarto I interpolated). The edition provides a full discussion, in A Note on the Text and the comprehensive Textual Variants and Notes, of the textual transmission of the play, now the scholarly focus of discussions of Shakespeare as a reviser of his own work. A critical introduction, addressing King Lear's origins, its legacy, and its place in literature, theatre, and popular culture, makes clear that King Lear is now the central play of Shakespeare's canon for literary and theatrical audiences alike." "The "Sources" section helps readers navigate King Lear's rich history. Nine essential primary sources are reprinted, from which Shakespeare borrowed significantly in creating his play, along with two additional probably sources." "The "Criticism" section presents thirteen major interpretations of King Lear written since the eighteenth century as well as three adaptations and responses to it. A selected bibliography is also included." --Book Jacket.
About the Author
William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in April 1564, and his birth is traditionally celebrated on April 23. The facts of his life, known from surviving documents, are sparse. He was one of eight children born to John Shakespeare, a merchant of some standing in his community. William probably went to the King s New School in Stratford, but he had no university education. In November 1582, at the age of eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, eight years his senior, who was pregnant with their first child, Susanna. She was born on May 26, 1583. Twins, a boy, Hamnet ( who would die at age eleven), and a girl, Judith, were born in 1585. By 1592 Shakespeare had gone to London working as an actor and already known as a playwright. A rival dramatist, Robert Greene, referred to him as "an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers." Shakespeare became a principal shareholder and playwright of the successful acting troupe, the Lord Chamberlain s Men (later under James I, called the King s Men). In 1599 the Lord Chamberlain s Men built and occupied the Globe Theater in Southwark near the Thames River. Here many of Shakespeare s plays were performed by the most famous actors of his time, including Richard Burbage, Will Kempe, and Robert Armin. In addition to his 37 plays, Shakespeare had a hand in others, including Sir Thomas More and The Two Noble Kinsmen, and he wrote poems, including Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. His 154 sonnets were published, probably without his authorization, in 1609. In 1611 or 1612 he gave up his lodgings in London and devoted more and more time to retirement in Stratford, though he continued writing such plays as The Tempest and Henry VII until about 1613. He died on April 23 1616, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford. No collected edition of his plays was published during his life-time, but in 1623 two members of his acting company, John Heminges and Henry Condell, put together the great collection now called the First Folio.
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