Shakespeare Read A Long
King Lear. My ShakespeareReadALong selection for this quarter.
King Lear is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It tells the tale of a king who bequeaths his power and land to two of his three daughters, after they declare their love for him in an extremely fawning and obsequious manner. His third daughter gets nothing, because she will not flatter him as her sisters had done. When he feels disrespected by the two daughters who now have his wealth and power, he becomes furious to the point of madness. He eventually becomes tenderly reconciled to his third daughter, just before tragedy strikes her and then the king.
Derived from the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological pre-Roman Celtic king, the play has been widely adapted for the stage and motion pictures, with the title role coveted by many of the world’s most accomplished actors.
We as a group feel in the US we are currently living out a Shakespearean play… For our reading we’ve made it through ACT I and are reading ACT II this week. Having no sympathy for a white man who can’t take criticism, likes power, but doesn’t want responsibility seems timely..
