Lear
King who must lose a world to learn what a human being is.
Renaissance · Play · c. 1606
King Lear
William Shakespeare
An aging king divides his kingdom by a love-test and is driven into storm and madness. The play strips authority until only bare need remains.
Tragedy
Nothing will come of nothing. Speak again.
Characters
Cordelia
The daughter whose refusal of flattery is the play’s first truth.
Edmund
Bastard son who treats nature as a license for appetite.
Themes
Authority and nothing
Power without love is a costume the storm rips away.
Recognition
Seeing—too late—is the tragic remainder of love.