Description
Book SynopsisThis volume includes the text of the play as prepared by Craig Walker for The Broadview Anthology of British Literature—a text notable both for outstanding introductory material and annotations, and for the inclusion of parallel text versions of key scenes for which the texts in the Quarto and Folio versions are substantially different. Appendices in this edition include excerpts from key Shakespearean source material such as the anonymous True Chronicle History of King Leir, Spenser's The Faerie Queene, and Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae; excerpts from Samuel Harsnett's A Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures; materials from the Annesley Case; and the happy ending from Nahum Tate's version of the play, which held the stage for 150 years after its first performance in 1681. This is one of several Broadview Anthology of British Literature Editions being released this year; those wishing to teach the text will have the option of including the convenient stand-alone book as part of a specially-priced shrink-wrapped package together with a volume of the anthology.
Trade Review“The
Broadview chooses the Folio as the basic text, but, significantly, adds notes throughout that point out the differences appearing in the Quarto version. In addition, in the case of the three scenes in which differences are most pronounced, the anthology prints both Folio and Quarto versions side by side. This method opens up illuminating and exciting possibilities in the classroom.... I regard the unhesitating confrontation with the difficulties of
King Lear that is shown by the Broadview editors as a microcosmic illustration of the toughness, determination, and conscientiousness of the editors throughout this entire British literature anthology.” — Robert H. Ray, Baylor University (author of
Approaches to Teaching Shakespeare’s King Lear)
“... an exciting achievement ... It sets a new standard by which all other anthologies of British Literature will now have to be measured.” — Graham Hammill, SUNY—Buffalo
“The Broadview Anthology of British Literature is no mere pretender to the throne long held by Norton; it is the new standard.” — Richard Nordquist, Armstrong Atlantic State University
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- William Shakespeare 1564–1616
- King Lear
- King Lear
- In Context
- The Shakespearean Theater
- The Swan Theatre
- Titus Andronicus in Performance
- The Plot of an Elizabethan Play
- Early Editions of King Lear
- Source Material
- from Geoffrey of Monmouth, The History of the Kings of Britain (12th century)
- Cap o’ Rushes
- from Anonymous, The True Chronicle History of King Leir and his Three Daughters (1605)
- from Raphael Holinshed, The Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1577, 1587)
- from Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene (1590)
- The Annesley Case
- from Samuel Harsnett, A Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures (1603)
-
King Lear on Stage in the Seventeenth Century
- from Richard Johnson, “The Ballad of King Lear and his Three Daughters” (1620)
- from Nahum Tate, The History of King Lear (1681)
